Medical pump helps teen with cerebral palsy move a little easier

Fourteen-year-old Andrew Brettner from St. Petersburg was diagnosed with cerebal palsy when he was just 10 months old.

The condition causes stiff muscles and exaggerated reflexes, called spasticity.

"As he gets older, some of the bigger challenges we've had have been dressing," said his mother, Marilyn Brettner. "The spasticity is so tight, he scissors a lot in his legs. He has trouble sleeping at night because there's so much spasticity. His legs lock at night."

The Baclofen Pump recently implanted in Andrew's abdomen is working to change that.

Dr. Sarah Gaskill, a pediatric neurosurgeon at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital in Tampa, said the pump, which is implanted beneath the skin, administers Baclofen more efficiently than any other way. 

"It can be refilled as needed just with a simple needle stick," she said. "The catheter threads around to the back and delivers the medication into the spinal fluid itself."

The medication is used to treat spasticity and helps patients use their arms and legs better.

"It's treating the nerves that supply the muscles," Dr. Gaskill said. "So, those nerves that have too many bad signals get calmed down and the patients can have a more normal movement."

Brettner has had his pump about a month, and his mother said she already sees a difference.

"He, for the first time, could open his hands and was looking at his hands," Brettner said. "He can lay flat now, he doesn't scissor. It's easier to dress him, his speech has gotten a lot better, and he just keeps progressing."

Brettner says there's one change that's really touched her.

"He can actually extend his arms enough to actually give a hug," she said. "To be able to do that is pretty neat."