March is National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month. Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare is the world-renowned leader in the treatment of cerebral palsy. We enhance the lives of individuals who have cerebral palsy and promote their well-being by improving diagnosis, management, and care through research, innovation, and collaboration. The Harkness family shares their story of why selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) surgery at Gillette was the best choice for their daughter.

March is National Cerebral Palsy (CP) Awareness Month and Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare is one of the world’s leading centers for cerebral palsy diagnosis, treatment and research. We enhance the lives of individuals who have cerebral palsy and are advocates for CP patients and research.

Mpls. St. Paul Magazine recently released its “Top Doctors list,” which includes the names of 24 physicians from Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare. The magazine determines award recipients based on a survey sent to physicians each year, asking them to nominate one or more doctors (excluding themselves) whom they would visit if they or a loved one needed medical care.

For 123 years the doctors, nurses and employees at Gillette have worked every day to provide the very best care for all children. This dedication has led to treatments and outcomes that have influenced cerebral palsy care worldwide. 

They came to Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare with twice the hope. Twice the dreams. Twice the determination.The Bracho Diaz family left their native Venezuela eager for another round of expert care for their 10-year-old twin daughters Maria de los Angels and Maria Antonieta. Yes, identical twin sisters who share the name Maria and a diagnosis of spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy.

Rehabilitation therapy helps patients learn how to maximize their abilities and become familiar with new ways of moving. Locomotor training, a form of walking therapy that involves body weight support, can help eligible patients increase function in their lower extremities and improve their mobility.

There are few moments in life as exciting and anxiety inducing as the day you have your first child, but for Andrew Bailey and his wife, Amanda, things were a bit more complicated. Amanda was home in Connecticut getting ready for her baby shower. Andrew, a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, was in Seattle for an away game.

“I don’t think it would surprise anyone to learn that a lot of children love dogs,” says Emily DeBreto. “While we’ve had volunteers bring in therapeutic dogs at the hospital for comfort, we wanted to get our dogs more involved with the actual functional aspects of the therapy we’re providing.”

In 2016, Connor Church finally went to his first Minnesota Twins baseball game. Even more exciting than that: His doctors at Gillette deemed him a Gait Lab Graduate. Meaning after more than 12 years and 30 procedures, Connor would spend the rest of his summers surgery-free.

After children who have cerebral palsy undergo rhizotomy surgery, they spend several weeks using something called a prone cart when they're not in therapy. Learn more about the prone cart and watch a virtual demonstration to see how it works.