Meet our friend Gloria, who was recently treated to a VIP shopping spree at the Justice store in the Rivertown Crossings Mall.
Gloria was born with VACTERL Association which is a syndrome that can affect all areas of the body. Each letter in VACTERL stands for a different area of the body it can affect. Most people with VACTERL have only 3 of the letters to be determined to have this but Glo has all 7.
The V represents Vertebrae. Glo’s spine is not fully formed and she has severe scoliosis. This interruption of her spine has effected the nerves that control bowel and bladder causing incontinance.
The A stands for anus. Glo was born without one. Thankfully after several attempts to create one she has one. 😊
C is for cardio. Glo had a hole in her heart that was patched when she was 13 months old. She also deals with ongoing arrhythmia issues.
The TE stand for tracheal esophageal fistula. Glo’s trachea and esophagus were connected when she was born. Had we fed her everything would have gone in her lungs. When she was less than a day old surgeons fixed this connection and stretched Glo’s esophagus to attach it to her stomach. They also gave her a colostomy at the same time.
R stands for renal- Glo only has one functioning kidney that is very prone to infections.
L is for limb differences. Glo had surgery on both hips for Dysplasia and had two fingers on each hand fused.
In total Glo’s had over 60 trips to the OR and is followed by 16 different specialties. Right now here biggest hurdles are her kidney issues, esophagus issues, and severe chronic lung issues.

Thanks to the support of our donors, Glo was able to have a fun trip to Justice!
