Caleb's Story

This is the story of Caleb Smith.

Caleb was six when he started to complain of “brain aches,” which were followed by an inability to cope with almost any sound--a crayon rolling on a desk would have him screaming in pain. Caleb would stay in his dark room and his mother, Dawn, would play quiet games with him, but his behavior was becoming as dark as the room and she was afraid she was losing him.

Dawn had taken him to doctor after doctor but none of the tests they did showed anything unusual. When Caleb started complaining that the whole world looked pink to him, Dawn turned to a neurologist for help. An MRI was performed and it showed that Caleb had a cyst on his brain…one that looked like two inflatable balloons about the size of a plum. It was pressing against Caleb’s skull and causing his many symptoms.

Called arachnoid cysts, they are usually small and asymptomatic causing no difficulty for the people who have them. But, Caleb’s was a large mass that was blocking the normal flow of his spinal fluid. And that meant Caleb was in serious danger.

Fortunately, Caleb’s neurologist, Dr. William Brown knew that Hasbro Children’s Hospital had Dr. Petra Klinge on staff. Dr. Klinge is a renowned neurosurgeon who is expert in performing the delicate surgery needed to deflate the cyst without damaging the brain or the spinal cord.

“Dr. Klinge is such a warm, caring person. She took my hands when I met her and she told me she knew exactly what was wrong with Caleb and that everything would be okay. She told Caleb he had a bubble in his brain and she was going to pop it. He was happy he would have no more pain. It was so hard when he had asked me what was wrong with him and I had no answer. He was happy though when he knew that he would be able to go back to school and be with his friends again. The cyst had made his life so painful and lonely. There is no way to thank Hasbro Children’s Hospital enough. The hospital is so close, so good, so caring…and they gave me my son back again.” said his very grateful and relieved mother.

The surgery went off without a hitch.

“In these kinds of operations, there is always the risk of vascular bleeding, even stroke. The surgeon has to be extremely careful while collapsing the cyst. You want to get the spinal fluid flowing again without disturbing other parts of the brain. With the cyst now successfully deflated, Caleb’s pain is gone. His MRI looks good and his other symptoms are abating. He is going to be okay,” Dr. Klinge said in an interview.