Jeanne,
A close friend of mine has a son with spina bifida.  His is a low lesion,
around L4.  He has bladder and bowel difficulties (uses a catheter several
times daily) and uses braces and crutches or a wheelchair.  He also has a
shunt for hydrocephaly.  He was born six weeks prematurely.

He was breast-fed with no problems.  His mother nursed him for several years
and credits that and chiropractic care with the lack of illness that is often
seen in these individuals.  Most of their acquaintances with spina bifida are
on prophylactic antibiotics.  He has rarely, if ever (my memory failing me),
had a urinary tract infection.  He is now 15, in high school, and taking a
foreign language and regular track classes.  Children with shunts are thought
to be poor at mathematics and although it took him longer to learn to figure
change in elementary school he now has no problems with this.  His mother
recently told me that now as a freshman in high school he seems to have 'come
into his own'.  He plays wheelchair tennis, is on the computer a lot and is a
whiz at computer games and Nintendo 64 ;).

Hope this helps.

Mardrey Swenson
[log in to unmask]