The View’s Alyssa Farah Griffin is sharing a health update on her baby boy after he underwent skull surgery at 3 months old.
“The helmet he has, I never really explained quite what he had,” Griffin, 37, shared on the Wednesday, September 23, episode of the “Behind the Table” podcast. “He had to have craniofacial surgery, which is performed by a neurosurgeon. It’s actually surgery on the skull. It’s a condition that isn’t rare, but it’s not common. The skull can fuse together prematurely. The brain can grow into it, and it can cause both physical issues but also developmental.”
Fortunately, baby Justin Jr. is “doing great” and is expected to make a full recovery.
“We have the best doctor. … It’s just to help correct as it’s healing,” Griffin shared when describing the helmet that will likely be used for a year. “He doesn’t mind it one bit.”
The conversation came up after Alyssa shared a photo of her husband, Justin Griffin, holding their son. In the picture, Justin Jr. was seen wearing a helmet before attending church with his parents.
“I had an incredible pediatrician who spotted it,” Alyssa recalled. “I think that’s so remarkable that she saw a slight inconsistency in his head and said, ‘You need to go see a neurosurgeon soon.’ Because if you do it at 3 months, it’s a less invasive surgery and you have time to correct it before it could be more significant and harder for him to heal from.”
While she is quick to share her opinions on the latest “Hot Topics” every morning on The View, Alyssa explained that she’s hesitant to reveal everything going on in her family’s life.
One boundary Alyssa has made is not to reveal her son’s face on social media.
“It’s my comfort level. If it was just View fans, I’d show them everything,” she told podcast host Brian Teta. “But there are people out there who aren’t nice and people out there who steal images and there’s AI and all of that, so I’m wanting to protect his identity for the time being.”
In her first months of motherhood, Alyssa has been reminded of the importance of trusting your partner, healthcare workers and community.
“I think doctors and nurses are absolute angels,” she said. “To me, in the scariest moment of my life, knowing he was going under as this little boy, knowing the biggest risk for the surgery is actually not the outcome, it’s blood loss during the surgery, having to sign off on him getting a blood transfusion and all that was so scary, and that’s the moment you have to trust the people that know better.”
She is also grateful for her faith that helps her believe she is never alone in her parenthood journey.
“You have to trust God,” Alyssa said. “There is something bigger than us, there’s something more powerful, and I also want a guiding force of something bigger and wiser than myself in raising this little boy.”
The View airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings online.
