Lindsey Hawkins had never even heard of gastroschisis.
So when she was still five months away from delivering Bobby, her first child, she was understandably concerned when something odd showed up on what was supposed to be a routine ultrasound.
Her doctor said Bobby could have gastroschisis (pronounced gas-tro-skee-sis), a relatively rare herniation of the abdominal wall that allows the intestines to protrude outside the body. In the womb, fetal intestines develop outside of the abdomen for a brief time. Usually, they return to the abdominal cavity, and the opening closes. But sometimes the hole doesn’t close, creating a potentially life-threatening situation. Her son would have to have surgery immediately after being born.
Then she and Bobby’s father, Glen Thomas Camp, talked to a doctor with a French accent.
“I could tell he wasn’t from Springdale, but I could also tell that he was very confident. He calmed me down a lot,” Lindsey said of her conversation with Pediatric Surgeon Guy Rosenschein, who also specializes in minimal-access surgery and Pediatric Urology.
Dr. Rosenschein (a native of France, who moved to Northwest Arkansas in 2001), is a member of the active medical staff of Northwest Health System and is an integral member of Northwest Health’s Level IIIC Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), now located at Willow Creek Women’s Hospital.
Dr. Rosenschein’s reassurances now appear prophetic.
Six years later, Bobby is a boyish bundle of energy who bears few signs that he faced such a serious problem on the day of his birth, back in March 2003.
“The next time I saw Bobby after they took him for surgery, he just had four stitches, with a little scab in the middle of them in his belly button,” Lindsey recalls. “He looked like a normal baby boy.”
In the intervening years, the family has called on Dr. Rosenschein to intervene in a few unrelated matters requiring a surgeon’s touch.
Through it all, the little family has developed a close bond with the surgeon and marvel at the outcome they have witnessed.
“He barely has any scars,” Lindsey reports with a smile.
“You can hardly tell he had any surgery by looking at him or watching the way he plays.”
Dr. Rosenschein says the case is one he won’t soon forget.
“Only about two cases of gastroschisis occur in every 10,000 live births, and although I have taken care of dozens of children who suffer from this condition, it is not something we see every day,” he explained. “To think back to the drama of that day and to see him now is pure joy. Transformational cases like this are a large part of why I became a surgeon.”
The feeling is mutual. “We love Dr. Rosenschein,” Lindsey added. “I call him my ‘miracle doctor.’ Bobby calls him his ‘best friend.’ ”
Today, the kindergarten student who started life with such a big challenge loves learning and has unusually grown-up aspirations for a boy his age. “He wants to be an actor,” his mother reports. “And he’s a very active child. He plays golf and baseball and soccer and does gymnastics and swimming. He does flips off the diving board like it’s nothing. I just believe Bobby is here for a purpose. I thank God and Dr. Rosenschein that Bobby is here, and I can’t wait to see what he is going to become.”