Tourette
Syndrome Life Stories
Story No.'s 28-32
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Stories
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Story
No. 28
Three
Hours That Changed My Life
.
. . . a sad story with a happy ending from a
15-year old young man dealing with Tourette's
and the aftermath of a broken home.
Hello, my name is
Anthony. I'm 15 years old and I've had
Tourette
Syndrome since the age of three. Here is
my story:
When I was
younger, I never knew what Tourette Syndrome was
and nor did my mother or father (who also has
Tourette Syndrome). At school I
occasionally was teased and my opinion of myself
was never too high. My father would
physically abuse me as well as mentally.
He would never leave black and blue marks, but
would slap me and chase me. Whether it was
a side effect of his
Tourette Syndrome I'll probably never know.
When I was about
9, my parents took me to a psychologist due to
my "habits" as I called my tics
previous to knowing the proper meaning.
The psychologist said that she had no idea what
this "Tourette Syndrome" my parents
were asking her about after hearing somewhere
was, and her assumptions where quite far
off. It wasn't till a year later at Dupont
Children's Hospital that I learned I had
Tourette Syndrome and that my parents began to
read into it.
That year, or
right into the next if I may say, my parents got
separated. It was about two weeks after
Christmas and I and my sister were brought into
their room and told exactly why they had to
break up. At the time, as do most
people who's parents break up, I thought it was
my fault.
In middle school,
my mother fully moved out of the house with the
help of a friend of hers named Dwight. Her
new house was nicer and larger but I could never
feel truly at home in it. Though she
denied that she had any relationship with
Dwight, I continued to believe otherwise as did
my father.
As I grew to be
14, life was becoming difficult for me. My
Tourette Syndrome was getting worse and signs of
ADD and OCD were showing up. My parents
didn't have the money any more to schedule
neurology appointments for me anymore so all I
could rely on was my medication. That year
I dropped out of everything. Soccer,
track, boy scouts, and I began to build an
emotional
mask over myself.
In the summer of
that year, signs of homosexuality began showing
up. Three months later when school
started, I was bisexual. I started to get
heavy knots in my stomach. I couldn't fall
asleep at nights and was being cursed by
constant insomnia. Dwight and my mother
began seeing each other much more and my
father's hatred for the man grew equally in
size. Many nights at his house I heard no
conversation but one of hatred towards Dwight.
In late February,
my mother could no longer afford the rent of her
house and while crying one night, told us we'd
have to move back to my father's
house. June 23rd of this year, on my
father's birthday, my mother took my sister and
I too a water ice parlor close by and confessed
to us of her affair with Dwight. But no,
it wasn't over there, she had had a child with
him and three hours later on that very night my
mother went into labor and brought Gillian to
this world. All that time she had been
hiding her stomach with large clothes, lying to
us, and sleeping with a man while separated
which is legally married, yet I could feel
nothing but love for her.
Gillian changed
me. She was brought into this world for
me. As a sign that good things can come
out of bad things. After she was born,
life has been much better. I've been going
to a good psychologist, I am in many activities
in school, and I have many friends. No one
ever makes fun of me in school anymore and
that's because I don't let them. I dress
well and feel good about myself. I respect
myself and people respect me for it. And
all because of Gillian and those three hours
that changed my life.
Story
No. 29
My
Nervous Conditions
By
Keegan McKay
.
. . . a beautiful story from a young 19-year old
that describes the
gamut of emotions she had to deal with Tourette
Syndrome during
her high school years.
Hello,
This is a story I wrote of my battle with
Tourette's Syndrome. I wrote it
for a magazine competition but unfortunately I
did not win. I would really
love to have my story on your website, and I
would appreciate it if you
could read it and consider putting it on your
site. I would like you to use
my real name if you do decide to put my story on
your site. If it is too
long, I would be glad to edit it for you.
Thanking you,
Keegan McKay
NERVOUS CONDITIONS By Keegan McKay
In my 19 years of life I have been through a
gamut of emotions. For as long as I can
remember I have always had one form of nervous
habit or another. This is not uncommon in
today's society as many people have
idiosyncrasies that they would struggle to
abstain from, if they ever had the desire to do
so. These habits could be as subtle as
biting your fingernails, or as serious as
compulsively washing your hands up to ten times
a day for fear of germs.
Looking back at
my early childhood, although there were signs, I
don't think anyone could ever have predicted I
would end up as I am today. The earliest
age I can remember was when I was about
five. It was probably the most care-free
time of my life. I, like all other
children, had the desire to touch things, to
explore and to investigate. Only with me
it was different: it was more of a compulsion,
and I was too young to understand.
I remember
staring at the toaster, having the sudden desire
to touch the filament inside. Of course,
the result was a literal shock to my system.
It's hard to explain, but I don't know what made
me do the things I did. When
I was nine, my family and I went on a trip to
Rustenburg in the Transvaal. We had a
fabulous time, and it was only during the middle
of our holiday that I developed a need to clear
my throat about once every minute.
I managed to get
rid of this 'harmless' nervous habit by timing
myself and seeing how long I could go without
making a noise. Little did I know that
this experience was a sign of things to come.
The following year
was a tough one for me. I moved to a new
suburb and to a new school. I remember
sitting at breaks, with only my solitude,
underneath a beautiful Cyprus tree.
I used to watch as all the children flew by,
playing all their games and having fun. I
felt like I was pariah.
I would sit by myself and tell myself that I was
fine, and that everything was going to be
okay. I wasn't fine, and not everything
was going to be okay. When I look back at
that time of my life, I disconnect myself from
that situation. I see a lost, little boy,
lonely and afraid, and I want to cry for him,
because he was so helpless and innocent.
It took me awhile
but I eventually made friends; what a pity they
have left me memories of being teased about my
weight and a self-esteem lower than rock
bottom. In fact, from grade 4 onwards, I
was at all times verbally abused by one person
or another, and to this day I still deal with
issues because of that, and I have had to work
hard to gain self-confidence.
From that moment
on, I began to suffer from depression, I still
continue to do so to this day. Back then I
was constantly listless and lethargic. It
was in grade 7 that my life became more
complicated, far more complicated than a 12 year
old could handle. I think it was in the
middle of the year, when all I was concerned
about were projects, homework and orals, that I
began to shake my head. At first it was
hardly noticeable, just a slight tremor that
looked like it would last a short time, or at
least I hoped it would. Five years later I
was still hoping the same thing...
I had always been
a fidgety child and struggled to sit
still. But now it became more serious when
I had the constant need to move my head around.
Of course, the other children soon began to
notice, and I had curious looks and snide
remarks coming at me from all angles. At
home, I was relaxed, safe and secure and there
was no sign of a problem at first, but at school
I was shaking all the time. To me, at the
time, it did not feel like something
uncontrollable; I had a desire to shake my head
and I was in total control when I did so, even
though I had no control over the feeling of
wanting to do it.
Eventually the
problem escalated, and I soon began to do it all
the time, not just at school. My mother
became concerned when she noticed what was going
on, and said to me that she did not want anyone
to tease me about it. I reassured her that
I was fine, but I was lying to her, and to
myself. The children at school were unable
to understand that I had a problem, and I don't
think I was ready to accept it either. As
the year dredged by, I once again started to
clear my throat as I had done when I was
younger. I used to disguise it quite well,
and most people were oblivious to the unbearable
torture I went through to stop myself before I
made my throat raw. I was in a state
of perpetual melancholy and there was little
anyone could do to get me out of it.
High schol was
one the most testing times of my life, even more
so than primary school. Looking back now I
feel exhausted thinking about all I had to
endure while I was at my prestigious boys
school. I was still shaking my head, and
there was no way of masking it. It was the year
before I started high school that I sat in a
claustrophobic room to write a scholarship exam,
and I had noticed that the boy sitting behind me
was someone who I had been friends with a long
time before. I decided to talk to him
after the exam to ask him how he had been.
It was after the test was over, when I was about
to turn around and re-introduce myself, that I
heard him whisper to his friend beside him,
"this guy in front of me keeps shaking his
head". I don't know whether I was
more upset that he had noticed my tick before I
had even started at the school, or that he had
not recognized me because I had put on so much
weight since he had last seen me.
I don't remember
when exactly, but I started blinking my
eyes. This might sound harmless enough,
but it must have looked comical to an outsider.
I would blink often, sometimes one eye at a
time, sometimes both. Honestly, it was
probably one of the least horrible ticks that I
had, because I could easily disguise it by
covering my face with my hands. It lasted
on and off for awhile, and it seemed to fade
away after not too long. If I could have
swapped the blinking for the head shaking, I
would have done it in a second.
I was in grade 9
when the strangest habit occurred: when I walked
I had a sudden need to hop every now and
then. I know it must sound peculiar, but
there I was hopping away. Luckily it was
also easy to hide at school, since
we were sitting most of the time. But of
course I was under a constant
microscope, or so it felt like. A boy
asked me one day why I hopped when I
walked. I kind of shrugged him off without
giving an answer. I was highly
embarrassed and I could not believe I had been
spotted. I don't think that
habit lasted too long, but I still remember
thinking what an odd one that was.
It was at the end
of grade 11 that I could finally exhale: all of
my nervous ticks went away. It felt so
wonderful, and it was a very good time of my
life, because even though I was busy at school,
my health was at a good place, and I was finally
able to relax. Every now and then when I
was under extreme pressure, I would feel like I
wanted to shake my head again, but that was not
very often. And whenever I was in a
position where I had to sit still, I found I was
always a little fidgety, but that did not stop
me from going to see plays, choir recitals and
all the other fun things that were happening at
my school.
The first four
years of high school flew by and I could not
believe that I was finally in my last year of
school. I started off by telling a friend
of mine that this would be my year, and
everything would be going my way. But I
was horribly wrong, and I was soon to discover
this late in the first term...
Everything was
still running smoothly when I started to make
grunting noises. Immediately, I could tell
that something was wrong, but I tried not to let
it bother me. After a couple of weeks of
making these noises, my mom asked me why I was
doing so and that it sounded like it was
becoming a habit. I felt irritated
because, although it was not yet a big problem,
it was a nuisance that I could easily do
without. The noises developed into a kind
of a laugh; I would literally go "ha
ha". Not only that, but I also soon
began to repeat words. I would listen to a
person speaking, and then want to imitate the
words they were saying, sometimes repeating one
word over and over again. When all this
started happening, I struggled a bit at school,
but I was fine at home. I knew that I
needed to do something, and several times I came
close to seeing the guidance counselor at my
school, but I just did not have the
courage.
Luckily, holiday
time came, and I was able to pull myself
together. When returned to school, I
was still making noises, but I was handling it
well. Only one person had made a
comment about it so far, and I was
satisfied that I was hiding it well
enough. Exam time came and I was happy
that I would be able to keep quiet for an hour
or two in the writing hall, and I did. It
was only during the last exam that I became
really tense and struggled to keep quiet.
But I survived without too many stares.
That was in June, and was a turning point
for me, when everything just became so much
worse.
I could not help
myself, I was making so much noise when I was
around people,
but when I was by myself I was fine. My family
were confused about what was
happening, but they did not want to say anything
to me in case they hurt my
feelings. Then one day, my mother came
into my bedroom and sat down.
She wanted to know what was happening, and I
realized it was time to speak
about it. I told her that I knew I was
making noises, that it was not just something
that I was not aware of. There was a lot of
honesty in that room and a lot of tears.
I felt drained
after our talk and all I wanted to do was
sleep. I asked my mother
to make an appointment with our GP so that I
could go get checked out. I
was nervous when I went to the doctor to speak
about my problem, but I was as open as I could
possibly be, and it was at that moment that
realized that I had done the right thing and
that I was going to get help. After one false
start, when I had a bad reaction to the
medication he gave me.
I was referred to
a neurologist, who finally diagnosed me: I had a
mild form of Tourette Syndrome. I was put
on strong medication that was supposed to help
my symptoms. I struggled to accept the
word "Tourettes" and at first when I
started telling people about my problem, I would
call it a "nervous
condition".
It was only
recently that I began to associate the word
Tourettes with myself.
I was later advised to see a psychologist to
help me deal with the emotional
side of my problem. This has helped me
tremendously and as a psychology
student I have gained invaluable insight.
At this time I realized that I also had
obsessive-compulsive tendencies, which include
checking and rechecking
that doors are locked, counting and doing
everything in fives and pushing
buttons. The harder I try to stop
doing these things, the more I want to do
them.
After my
diagnosis, I still had the rest of my school
year to get through. I was so excited at
my matric dance that that was not a problem at
all. I could not believe how relaxed I
was. But regular classes at school began
to become a problem, and by this time everyone
was talking about me. I had to, unfortunately,
take some time off school. I went to all
of my teachers to explain what was going
on. It was a difficult time because the
final matric exams were just around the corner,
and taking time off school was something that
most people could not afford to do. But I
managed to get through it; they even made
special arrangements for me to write my exams by
myself. It was a great help, and I even
managed to gain an A symbol at the end of matric.
Right now, I am
at a happy place in my life. I still have
my problems but the medication I am on is
helping me tremendously. I can't attend
regular lectures at university so I am studying
through correspondence. The worst part is
that I am unable to go to church on a Sunday,
but I do try to go whenever possible during the
week when not many people are around. Although
this has been a long, hard journey for me, in a
way it has also been a blessing. I look at
life in a new light, and I have a greater
appreciation for everything. I am happy
where I am at the moment, and I try not to let
my problems be a burden, but rather a
challenge. I thank God every day that this
happened to me, and not to someone I love,
because I feel that I am strong enough to cope
with it. I have had my fair share of
trials, but I can honestly say I wouldn't want
it any other way. I will
come out on top!
Story
No. 30
Packaged
Nutrition - A Natural Treatment for Tourette
Syndrome
.
. . . a story from the mother of two Tourette
children who has found relief for them and her
husband through natural supplements and amino
acids.
Webmasters
Note: About once every week or two I
get an email from the parent of a Tourette
Syndrome child who claims that their child's
Tourette's tics have been significantly reduced
and sometimes gone into total remission by
changing their child's diet and administering a
large daily regiment of natural vitamins,
minerals and amino acids.
I
was once very skeptical of this treatment and
these claims until I came across a lady and
fellow webmaster named Shiela Rodgers at http://www.latitudes.org.
Shiela does an excellent job in explaining why
this natural treatment for Tourettes works with some
children (but not all). It is believed
by some that Tourette's tics can sometimes be
the result of a combination of food allergies
and the genetic predisposition to have Tourettes.
Sometimes
I still remain skeptical when I receive email
messages or stories that leave you hanging, only
to find out that the person who wrote the story
is selling the natural supplements.
However, since the bulk of the medical community
will not even listen to claims of a
"natural alternative" to Tourette
treatment, I can understand why many parents who
believe in this practice because they've
witnessed and experienced great results with
their own children or family members, must also
feel the need to promote and sell the
supplements used in this treatment.
My
inclusion of the following story does not
represent an endorsement by me or this website
of these products, but is given for information
purposes only. Note that the author never
tells the reader what this "packaged
nutrition" is, hence my concern over the
underlying purpose of the story.
Nonetheless, since I do get several emailed
messages about this subject each year, I felt
the story should be published.
Although
I do not endorse any type of treatment due to
legal liability concerns, I am encouraged
by the letters I have received from parents
who've tried natural alternatives. However,
I believe that I most likely only hear from
those who've found success in this treatment and
never hear from those who've tried natural
supplements and seen little or no reduction in
Tourette tics.
My
name is Cheryl and I'm just a mom and housewife,
three kids and one husband. My daughter
began some really strange movements when she was
8 yrs. old. We saw so many doctors early
on that I lost count. We even made two
trips to the emergency room because she just
"couldn't stand it" another
minute. We had no idea what was wrong with
her. Had her symptoms (early on) been more
severe she most likely could of been diagnosed
much easier...but...as things were it took
nearly three years to get a diagnosis of
Tourette syndrome. We were actually
RELIEVED just to have a name for it and a
prescription that was suppose to help.
The
meds had to be switched quite a few times, they
caused her to do some pretty scary things too!!
She eventually ended up on Fluphenazine three
times a day. It helped somewhat, but we
had really hoped for a much better improvement
after finding out what it was and all
Her
tics worsened over the years. She began
hitting herself, especially in her abdomen, head
and hip area. Her arms were never still,
she "cracked" her joints constantly,
bending at the waist, paced the floors.
Vocals tics began with allot of sniffing and a
little snorting. Her facial grimaces
became more and more obvious and I knew it was
only a matter of time before things really
"cut loose!!" It sounds silly
but I was truly fearful for her, for what her
life would most likely be like with tourette
syndrome.
Entering
her teenage years was not what we'd always
dreamed of. She tried hard to fit in but
as anyone reading this knows, that's not always
so easy. She'd always had a few friends
and several of them stuck by her. Others
would look her funny like
about
a year ago I noticed in our daily paper a
very small, very unusual ad (that still hangs on
my "fridge" today) that simply
stated: "Help for ADD/ADHD and
tourette syndrome. Without Drugs."
Interesting I thought...what could these two
disorders have in common??? Except that
her big brother was the worst case of add/adhd
and associated behavior problems I'd ever
encountered!!! I tore it out of the paper
but didn't call at first. I figured it was
some money making gimmick. My husband and
I had "chased so many rabbits", as
he'd say, looking for help for the 17 yr. old
brother that I was probably more skeptical than
most would be. And I was certain I had
exhausted any thing on the local level that
might help my son with his problems. But..
being an inquisitive type of person, curiosity
got the best of me and I did finally call.
It
was another mom and housewife a woman who has
since become a very dear friend of my
family. She too had a child, a son with TS
and ADD/ADHD but he no longer
displayed ANY symptoms!! I pride myself just a
bit, with my discerning abilities. I felt
quite certain this woman was sincere and she
definitely believed what she was telling
me. We met the next day and I listened for
hours as she told me how certain nutritional
supplements had changed her family's
life. She felt certain that not only could
my daughters TS be helped and my sons ADD/ADHD
but also my husband...he had experienced
terrifying episodes of Panic and anxiety for
years. He'd been on all the meds
imaginable and nothing helped too much.
Just like the Ritalin my son took and the
meds our daughter too.
As
Christians we'd often prayed that God would send
healing someway someday...by the time I left
this lady's home I was nearly convinced our
prayers were about to be answered!! I
brought home some of her own personal
"products" and started my husband and
daughter on them the following morning.
(the 17 yr. old refused as he did anything we
might suggest!) That same evening my
husband came in from work and his exact words
were "Cheryl, I don't know if it's that
stuff you gave me this morning or what, but
today was the best day I've had in
years!" He was elated, but still not
firmly convinced of why??? the change. I
also thought I began noticing fewer tics in my
daughter.
When
she got off the bus, her arms were usually
"just a going" but it seemed
less. I didn't say a word to her for fear
of bring ing attention to it and maybe
"jinxing" what I thought might be
happening. By the following day, I was
certain her tics were greatly reduced, but still
refrained from mentioning it. The third
day was a Sunday. She awoke and was
getting ready for Sunday School when she said to
me,,,"Look Mom.. and she held her arm
directly out in front of herself and held it for
what seemed like forever...with no motion at
all!! She cried, I cried, the lady who'd
placed the ad cried when she called at about
that very time!
We
slowly began weaning her off her meds which took
abut 4 weeks. Today she remains off all
medication. She still experiences a tic or
two once in awhile. Usually when she is
overly tired, over stressed or has eaten lots of
sugar.
Her
big brother eventually tried this "packaged
nutrition" also. It wasn't easy but
we resorted to what any parent of an ADD/ADHD
child would do.. we bribed him!! I know I
know, sounds terrible.. but you'd have to know
this child to understand!! Anyway, we paid
him to take it the first time and have never
paid him since. He takes it all on his
own, usually without me even reminding
him. Unfortunately he had already dropped
out of school by the time we'd found these
supplements but at least now this young man can
think. He use to just REACT and usually it
was explosive. Today he's working as a
carpenter and doing pretty well. Of course
he still has allot of "learned"
behavior problems to work on, but that's the
difference. Before there wasn't even a
remote possibly (short of a miracle)
that this young man would ever work on
anything, certainly not his problems!
I've
checked into all this nutrition stuff.
It's actually been researched and scientifically
studied over the past 40 years with much of it
being published in various medical
journals. After my own studying I now
believe that many people have a deficiency of
neurotransmitters caused by a lack of amino
acids, essential fatty acids and other nutrients
brought about by the drastic changes in our
standard diet. Things are so processed and
refined that even when we cook good meals for
our family's if the nutrition's not in the can
or box to begin with it certain isn't providing
our brains and bodies with all they need.
Sorry
I've rambled on so long....You didn't ask for a
book. But I can't hardly help
myself. It's criminal to know what I know
and not tell other.. I simply must share
it!
I
thank you for this opportunity to tell others my
family's story
Be
Blessed and Be a Blessing to someone else!!!
Story
No. 31
Tourette's
- Discovered at Age 50
.
. . . a story from a 68-year old man that was 50
years old before
his Tourette's was correctly diagnosed.
Once told by a doctor that
he had St. Vitas Dance, this man is still trying
to find relief for his
symptoms.
Dear Craig,
You are
right. For too many people the symptoms do
not go away. I am 68 years old and still suffer
from the symptoms that I have had since I was
about 4 years old.
At that time no
one I knew had any idea of what Tourette was,
not even the doctors. I was just thought
to be an extra "nervous" child.
I was taken to more Doctors than I can even
remember. I was ridiculed continually,
even by my step-father, who continually told me
to get control of myself, that I could control
it if I really tried.
One Doctor said
he thought I had St. Vitas Dance. Another
prescribed bed rest and I was kept out of school
and in bed for an entire school semester,
needless to say without any results. Kids
in school continually snickered at me
and said things like "What's he doing
now?"
Another Doctor
said he thought there was something wrong with
my spine and for months I went to a Chiropractor
every day after school for an adjustment.
I went into the Marine Corps when I was out of
school, during the Korean conflict and one of my
most prominent tics was a
"snort". I remember marching
with our Platoon and having the Drill Instructor
yell at me, in front of the whole Platoon, while
marching, "Smith, you better get that nose
fixed."
I was about 50
years old before I ever had any idea of what was
wrong. My wife worked in a Dental Office
and during one of her breaks was reading a
magazine from the waiting room. I believe
it was "Discovery" magazine, and she
came across an article about Tourette. She
brought the magazine home and told me she had an
article she wanted me to read. I told her,
"okay, leave it by my chair and I would
read it later." She said, "no, I
want you to read it now." I again
said that I would read it later, and she very
adamantly told me that I was to read it right
now. So I sat down and read it and my eyes
were really opened. When I finished she
asked me if I recognized anyone in the article
and I told her, "yes, me."
I was elated that
after all the torturous years there was finally
an answer to what was wrong. I felt some
relief to know after all this time that there
wasn't something wrong with me because I
couldn't control it, because it couldn't
be controlled by me.
The next day I
called the University of Washington Medical
Center and asked them if they could put me in
touch with someone who knew something about
Tourette Syndrome. They gave me the phone
number of local Tourette Syndrome chapter.
I contacted them and they referred me to a
Neurologist in my area who was familiar with T.S.
I had an appointment with him and started to try
the various medications that were known of at
that time.
One was
eliminated because to take enough to control the
tics made me so dopey I could hardly work.
I believe that was one called Orap. I was
on Haldol and it seemed to do the best job, but
my Doctor wanted me off of it because he was
afraid of Tardiff Dysconesia (not sure of the
spelling, sorry). One medicine was
eliminated because it could cause speeding up of
the heart rate and possibly an irregular heart
rate. And, as some people have complained,
sometimes the side effects of the
medication are worse than the disease
itself. As one Doctor stated,
"sometimes what you get is worse than what
you've got."
I was discouraged
when my Doctor told me not to plan on
eliminating the tics,
just to get them down to where I could live with
them. He said the main goal
was to eliminate as much stress in my life as I
could, to keep the tics to a
minimum.
I am, at present,
on Clonazepam, which helps, but if I get under
an excessive
amount of stress it doesn't really do that much
good either. I would like to go back to Haldol
if the possible side effects weren't of such
serious consequences. I tried
Prozac, which actually seemed to make things
worse, and Welbutrin, which didn't do
anything at all.
So here I am at
68 and still experiencing a lot of the trials
and problems I experienced as a youth and have
experienced all my life. People still
don't understand what is going on and still
point fingers and snicker or laugh. But at
least I have some peace of mind in knowing that
I am not lacking in any qualities because I
can't control it. It doesn't always make
it any easier to bear, but if I really stop and
think about it, I feel a little better.
I would say to
those who are just coming in contact with this
problem for the first time, to just have faith
and courage and do the best they can to cope
with it. There is a lot of help and
support available and a lot of people who share
the burden.
I was very active
in the Seattle, Washington chapter of the
Association and have been on panels at
symposiums and have gone to schools and made
presentations to teachers and staff to help make
them aware of how to handle
children with T.S., and have appreciated the
opportunity to try and make life easier to
whatever degree I could, for those who are just
coming in contact with what, for many, is a very
devastating situation. It is still
surprising how many people who deal with
children on a constant basis are so ignorant of
the facts.
Best regards,
Gordon
Story
No. 32
From
"Twitch" to Minister
.
. . . a story about how religion and faith in
God helped one man
overcome Tourette Syndrome
Dear Craig:
I am married to a
wonderful man with tourette-syndrome. We
have been
married for over a year. Here is his
story.
Jonathan was diagnosed with tourette-syndrome
when he was 12 years old. He had a habit
of clearing his throat, blinking his eyes,
twitching his arms and neck, etc. He was
made fun of by his peers and even his
teachers. He was nicknamed
"Twitch" and other awful names.
He also was diagnosed with ADD and mild dyslexia
and he also had severe OCD's. He had much
difficulty in school due to these
problems. His teachers told him that he
was dumb and that he would never graduate.
He had few friends. Sometimes girls would ask
him out and would then say that they did not
mean it and would laugh about it.
When Jonathan was sixteen he was put into a
psychiatric hospital because his family and his
teachers were convinced that he was on
drugs. He had never taken drugs, he was
just having problems as a result of his
disorder. He had to stay in the hospital
several months because the doctors remained
convinced that he had a drug problem. He
felt empty, afraid, and alone. He had no
hope.
When Jonathan was released from the hospital he
was put into a special school to finish his
education. This school housed students
with learning disabilities, behavior problems,
and rehab needs. In this school he was
given the equivalent of an 8th grade
education. He did not get to have a
graduation ceremony and he never went to a
prom.
Even through his
hardships with his disorder, Jonathan still
wanted to go to college. He was still
harassed and teased by others, but he was able
to make some friends who looked beyond his
disorder. He was accepted into college at
Northern Kentucky University. He took
remedial classes and was tutored and he did real
well. He decided to major in political
science and he decided to minor in
communications. He even became the
president of the college Republicans. He
graduated with a BA in political science with a
3.0. College was hard for him, but he
succeeded and was able to persevere with his
disorder to finish well.
During this time he was still dealing with his
disorder. He tried many different meds
which affected him in various ways. His
doctors sent him to a psychiatrist to discuss
his disorder. The problem with sending a
tourette-syndrome patient to a psychiatrist is
the fact that tourette-syndrome is a
neurological disorder, not a psychiatric
disorder.
This doctor
basically did not know how to help
Jonathan. He told him to go out and drink,
party, and sleep around. This did not help
him with his disorder. These things did
not help him at all. They made him feel
emptier, more confused, and sometimes
crazy. He was finally able to find a
doctor who helped him, worked with his meds and
put him on Clonadine. This helped him with
his symptoms. Another doctor later added
Luvox to his daily meds.
Jonathan still often got discouraged, felt
alone, and sometimes even wanted to end his life
due to his frustrations over his disorder.
But one day he found a hope. He found hope
in Jesus Christ. His sister, who was a
Christian, and some of his friends, who were
also Christians, started telling him about Jesus
and how Jesus loved him and died on the cross
for him. They told him of how Jesus could
give him the hope he needed and how Jesus would
never make fun of him for his disorder. Jesus
would never call him names and would never tell
him that he was stupid and could not make it in
life.
Jonathan learned that through Jesus we can have
forgiveness and eternal life as shown in this
verse "In Him (meaning Jesus) we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins" Ephesians 1:7a. He also learned
that forgiveness is available for all as shown
in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish but
have everlasting life."
Jonathan also
learned that it is impossible for God to allow
sin into heaven because God is love and He is
just and man is sinful "For all have sinned
and fall short of the Glory of God" Romans
3:23. Jonathan then asked the question of
how can a sinful person enter heaven where God
allows no sin? And he was told that he had to
turn from his sin and his self and turn to
Christ because "Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures; and that He was
buried, and that He rose again the third day
according to theScriptures" and "If
you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and
believe in your heart that God has raised Him
from the dead, you will be saved" Romans
10:9.
Jonathan then
learned that he can have heaven and God's
forgiveness if he turned from his sin, received
Christ's forgiveness, and trusted Him as his
personal Lord and Savior. Jonathan did
this and his life has been so much better ever
since. He now has someone that he can
always go to about his disorder twenty four
hours a day, seven days a week. If you are
suffering with situations in your life you can
have assurance too by doing what Jonathan did
above.
Jonathan now is studying to be a minister.
He is working on his masters of divinity.
He has come a long way from that kid called
"Twitch" who was told that he would
never make it! He is now married and hopes to
have children some day. He still suffers
tics, throat clearing, neck twitches, etc. but
the are not as bad as they used to be. He
is able to mask most of his symptoms. He
hopes that this story will help others and he
would love to hear from anyone that needs to
talk about tourette-syndrome. Please e-mail him
or me if you would like to discuss this story
more.
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