Queen of Hearts "Little Whitney" (www.nisprogram.com)

Published: January 24, 2006

Local News: Rockford
9-year-old girl back home after attempt to fix spine, her 20th surgery

By CHRIS GREEN, Rockford Register Star

ROCKFORD — Steel prosthetic implants to correct a severely curved spine once broke a vertebra in Whitney Fritz’s neck. On another occasion, they broke through the skin on the back of her neck.

Never once did Whitney’s spirit break.

Whitney has undergone three surgeries in the past four months. The latest was her 20th since birth.

The nine-hour surgery on Jan. 9 at Riley’s Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis was an unsuccessful attempt to straighten a portion of her S-shaped spine by fusing it with a titanium rod.

As Whitney’s mother, Starr, puts it, “She is so twisted inside. The doctor didn’t have safe access at all.”

Through it all, the 3-foot-7, 39-pound 9-year-old still musters a smile, mainly because she knows her parents, Starr and Randy Fritz — her emotional and spiritual backbone — are there to support her.

“I love them very much,” she said Monday from her family’s rural Rockford home.

Last week, the tyke, a “girly-girl” as Starr calls her, sat up on the family’s living room sofa dressed in pink PJs and covered with a handmade quilt signed by her classmates and the faculty at Berean Christian School. Whitney was still in some pain, but comforted by the familiar surroundings of home and her cat, Miss Lizzy.

Whitney was born Sept. 17, 1996, with multiple physical problems: congenital arthrogryposis, curved or hooked joints; scoliosis/kyphosis, an abnormal outward curvature of the spine; and restrictive lung disease, a rare and fatal disorder.

Whitney’s plight was first brought to the public’s attention in 1999 when, at age 3, she had an expandable titanium rib, a 6-inch prosthesis, attached to an upper and lower rib. The device is designed to help straighten and support the spine and increase the chest cavity, allowing room for the internal organs to grow. The titanium rib is expanded every six months via outpatient surgery.

In Whitney’s case, the curvature in her spine is so severe, she has four titanium implants, two attached to her ribs, and one attached to her upper spine just below her neck and one to her lower spine, both of which are connected in the middle.

“There is no hope in expanding or straightening that part of her spine,” Starr said of the permanently implanted rod near Whitney’s neck. “The doctor said to think of it as the steel beam to her house so that her backbone doesn’t collapse and break her spinal cord.”

According to her parents, Whitney’s 1999 surgery was so new she was only the 87th person to undergo such a procedure in the world. The family’s insurance company did not recognize the experimental surgery as an established procedure. Although the surgery is now FDA-approved, as of March 2005, insurance still will not cover Whitney’s surgeries, one of which totaled more than $125,000 and another $75,000.

“The humanitarian aspect of it is not FDA-approved. Everything else is FDA-approved,” Starr said. “I know the first child to have this done is still alive and is 15 years old.”

When Whitney was born, doctors said she likely wouldn’t survive past her third day.

Now, the Fritzes say each day with their daughter is a gift.

“We’re thankful that she’s still here with us,” Starr said, “and that we get to spend another day with her.”


If you would like to donate anything, it would greatly be appreciated. Make checks payable to

Whitney K. Fritz Benefit Fund,
Amcore Bank
501 Seventh Street,
PO Box 1537,
Rockford, IL 61110-0037
Or

Whitney K. Fritz Benefit Fund,
c/o Starr Fritz,
4224 Lakeside Dr.
Rockford, IL 61101

Or drop donations off at any Amcore Bank payable to Whitney K. Fritz Benefit Fund.

Thank You to All,

Randy and Starr Fritz Parents 815-965-6965

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Journal

Friday, April 27, 2007 8:47 PM CDT

Whitney and Starr got home late this afternoon. Whitney is extremely sore and sick, but she is glad to be home.

Lizzy is happy to see them also.

Whitney sleeps most of the time but is very happy to have visitors.

Hospital Information:

Riley Hospital for Children
702 Barnhill Drive
Indianapolis, Indiana,46202

Links:

E-mail Author: rfritzyb@aol.com