Wyatt turned his journey with Shriners Children’s St. Louis into a children’s book.
With his natural thumbs tucked into fists, even ultrasounds couldn’t spot what he was hiding: two extra thumbs.
Wyatt was born with 12 fingers, ten typical digits and two extra thumbs. As his mom, Amanda, explained, “There was just more of him to love.”
The diagnosis is called polydactyly with a triphalange component.
"Wyatt had an unusual combination of extra thumbs on each side and an extra bone creating angulation in the primary thumb," Charles Goldfarb, M.D., said.
When he was 1, Wyatt had surgery to remove the extra thumbs and to straighten the primary thumb. Goldfarb explained this can be tricky due to Wyatt’s extra bone being part of the growth plate. “Surgery must take care of the growth plate to allow continued growth while also aligning the thumb,” he said.
The surgery was successful.
“Dr. Goldfarb and Dr. Wall simultaneously operated on each hand. They did that so he was only under anesthesia for 45 minutes,” said Amanda.
That level of compassionate care is what keeps Wyatt’s family coming back to St. Louis. They live six hours away, in Wichita. So far, they’ve had 19 appointments and two surgeries on each hand. Eventually, when Wyatt is a teenager, he’ll likely need another surgery.
“From the care coordinator, the nurses, the receptionists, to transportation: it is a family venture, and the kids receive the benefit,” said Amanda.
Wyatt’s about to start fifth grade, but when he was just a kindergartener, he told his parents he wanted to write a book about his adventures with Shriners Children’s.
That’s exactly what he did.
I wrote my book because I wanted to prove that it's ok to be different and little kids can do amazing, great things.
He dictated his book to his mom – from the bathtub. The illustrations he drew when he was 5 acted as the model for the final pictures of the book. Every revision and edit had Wyatt’s seal of approval.
“I drew the earth with a Shriners hospital on it. On that page, it read ‘Shriners is the best hospital in the whole wide earth’,” said Wyatt.
With every book sale, Wyatt and his family split 20% of the proceeds between the hospital and the Midian Plane of Mercy transportation fund. That fund helps families get back and forth from southeast Kansas to Shriners Children's St. Louis.
His grandfather, a 54-year Midian Shriner, couldn’t be more proud of how Wyatt is giving back to the organization he’s supported for half a century.
"I'm so proud of Wyatt and his goal of helping others, not only at Shriners but in his daily life also," said Kyle, Wyatt's grandfather.
Wyatt’s successes are a far cry from the initial prognosis his family received from a doctor closer to home. They were told he’d need 8-10 surgeries and wouldn’t be able to write his name as a kindergartener.
“Shriners changed my life by fixing my hands,” Wyatt said.
Spoiler alert: Wyatt wrote his name – in cursive. Additionally, he wrote a book.
The ending line of Wyatt's book shows: “God made me different and that is just awesome. I love who I am and can’t wait to blossom.”
Lindley Wall, M.D., checks the angles of Wyatt's thumbs during a hospital visit.
Wyatt shares a moment with his mom, dad and grandfather.
