Baby Beibei can already paint with his left hand. Photographed by Nina Ji.
A ten-year-old boy from Jiangyin suffered from a rare form of encephalitis, and to save his life, his entire left brain was removed. As a result, he suffers from low intelligence and complete paralysis of the right side of his body. According to reports from Wuxi Tongren International Rehabilitation Hospital, after six months of arduous rehabilitation training, the boy has been discharged to return home. Following the rehabilitation goals set by the hospital and family, the boy is expected to return to school in September after the summer vacation.
Term Explanation:
RE Encephalitis
RE Encephalitis is commonly seen in children and teenagers aged from birth to 14 years old. It is a rare central nervous system disease. There have only been around 300 reported cases worldwide. It is a specific progressive disease. Clinically, it manifests as gradually worsening focal motor epilepsy seizures, often developing into continuous partial epilepsy. Anti-epileptic drugs cannot satisfactorily control the seizures, and surgery remains the most effective treatment method to date.
Left Brain Removed, Right Side Once Paralyzed
Beibei (a pseudonym) has a robust appearance. Aside from the scars left on his head from surgery, he appears no different from other healthy children. Upon closer observation, it can be noticed that Beibei uses his left hand for dressing, writing, and playing with toys, while his right hand hangs limply by his side due to weakness. Beibei's mother, Ms. Yao, introduced that since 2008, originally healthy and lively Beibei began experiencing numbness in his hands and feet. Later, he even experienced nearly a hundred convulsions every day, unable to eat. After diagnosis, Beibei was found to have contracted the rare RE encephalitis. The family took him to various places seeking medical help, undergoing two surgeries at Huashan Hospital in Shanghai and Sanbo Brain Hospital in Beijing. After the second surgery, Beibei's symptoms were somewhat alleviated. Ms. Yao recalled, "Since the left brain was removed, the child's right side became completely paralyzed. After the surgery, his primary task was to restore limb, language, and other functions."
To treat Beibei, this ordinary rural family from Jiangyin not only spent all their savings but also borrowed nearly 600,000 yuan from relatives and friends. Beibei's parents had long quit their jobs, and the whole family relied solely on Beibei's grandfather's monthly income of over 1000 yuan to barely get by. The child has a special sensitivity to music and can even sing Peking Opera and Huangmei Opera. Due to the brain surgery, Beibei's intelligence developed slower than that of children his age; currently, he can only count from one to ten.
Through rehabilitation training, the right brain gradually takes over the functions of the left brain.
After admission, the hospital organized experts to conduct comprehensive evaluations and examinations on Beibei's limb function, brain function, language function, etc. Dr. Cai Deliang, Director of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Wuxi Tongren Rehabilitation Hospital, recalled that when Beibei came to the hospital, his right limbs were stiff, unable to walk or stand, and he could not sit for long periods. His right hand was curled into a ball, unable to grip, and his language expression showed certain intellectual disabilities. The evaluation results showed that Beibei's convulsive symptoms disappeared, but due to the removal of the left brain, it led to paralysis on the right side of his body.
Dr. Cai Deliang explained that physiologically speaking, the human brain is divided into left and right sides, separated by a middle layer. The left brain controls the person's right-side limbs and functions, while the right brain controls the left-side limbs and functions. Beibei's diseased left brain functions have basically ceased to function, and the healthy right brain has partially replaced the functions of the left brain. Therefore, doctors removed the occipital lobe, frontal lobe, parietal lobe, and temporal lobe from Beibei's left brain. Dr. Cai explained that young children, especially those under ten years old, possess an astonishing ability for the brain to reorganize itself. After losing the left brain, the healthy right brain can readjust its functions through certain training, taking over some functions that should originally belong to the left brain. Thus, Beibei, who only has the right brain, will not be affected in terms of related physiological functions.
The hospital formed a rehabilitation treatment team to help Beibei gradually restore the functions of his right side through training. Dr. Cai recalled that Beibei's paralysis on the right side was similar to that of general stroke or cerebral infarction patients, and in some cases, it was even more severe. For instance, if an apple was placed at the foot of the bed, Beibei couldn't crawl from the head of the bed to touch it. Subsequently, the hospital broke down the rehabilitation plan. First, like a newborn baby, they taught Beibei how to turn over and crawl autonomously on the bed. Second, how to kneel and stand. During the training process, since maintaining balance was relatively difficult, the rehabilitation therapist placed Beibei on rehabilitation equipment to find a sense of balance with the aid of instruments, then practiced on the ground. The final step was learning to walk independently. Dr. Cai said that among all the rehabilitation processes, independent walking was the most challenging, taking several months. Each time, Beibei moved step by step, and sometimes, after half a day, he might have only walked a couple of meters. Although the rehabilitation training was arduous, Beibei never cried once and was very cooperative. Additionally, while undergoing rehabilitation exercises, the hospital also taught Beibei to write with his left hand. On a handwriting and painting book, there were countless strokes, numbers, and whimsical doodles made by Beibei using his left hand.
The Thoughtful Child
Persuading Grandma "Not to Cry"
Pain did not break this strong child; he remained optimistic at all times. When his grandma shed tears due to his condition, the thoughtful Beibei would wipe away her tears: "Grandma, don't cry anymore; it's bad for your heart." After six months of rehabilitation training, it was comforting to see that Beibei recovered well. Initially, Beibei's mother only hoped that "he could eat by himself," but as the child's various functions improved, her expectations grew day by day. Ms. Yao said, "When he first came in, his little hands were tightly clenched into fists, unable to move. Now, all five fingers can freely stretch out."
President Guoyang Qi of the hospital explained that treatment and rehabilitation are different concepts. Treatment targets the cure of the disease or stabilization of the condition, whereas rehabilitation focuses on functional recovery so that patients can take care of themselves. Nowadays, many people prioritize drug treatment over rehabilitation training. Many patients remain bedridden at home after acute phase treatment, passively waiting, which leads to severe "disuse syndrome," causing many to miss their best chance for rehabilitation. He said that after six months of exercise, if Beibei continues rehabilitation training at home after discharge, by September when school resumes, Beibei has the potential to enter school and receive formal education. Although Beibei's IQ is lower than that of peers, he can only receive the most basic education, but for a child who has lost the left part of his brain, being able to enter school represents a significant step forward.
By reporter Nina Ji. Comments are welcome. I want to comment. Weibo recommendation | Today's Weibo hot topics (Editor: SN029)