bones that should surround the spinal cord fail to fuse in utero, a loop of the spinal cord then protruding outside of the body. Treatment of such defects was poorly developed, the field being known as teratology, after the Greek word teratos, meaning monster. There are many potential consequences of spina bifida, implying that the concept of comorbidities is somewhat redundant, as is that of the inflection point.

At one point, Riva described her ‘life in scars’ on the basis of the following:

• Lumbar spine, seven inches, opened three times
• Linea alba, center line of abdomen, ten inches ‘thick as rope’
• Twenty – forty punctures scattered from clavicle to pubis
• Two scars, four inches each, medial and lateral sides of right knee
• Horizontal scar above pubic symphysis, five inches, opened three times
• Short, wrinkled curving scar, left hip iliac crest
• One long scar that hugs the inside arc of the ribs
• Five round scars on neck and breasts
• Nine one-inch scars on wrists, arms, and ankles
• One diagonal keloid slash on right side of the thigh.

Figure 6. Riva Lehrer, reproduced from the cover of “Golem Girl”.

Many tissues and organs were affected, and many of the ‘experimental surgeries’ were unsuccessful; in fact, it appears from her descriptions, several critical procedures made her worse off rather than better. No