Mistery Diagnosis

MISTERY DIAGNOSIS

THE TODDLER WHO STOPPED WALKING

Alexa Catherine Jennings was born in August 23, 2008 as healthy and beautiful as every single baby does. While she was growing, she had normal development and turned into a happy and strong child who was learning to walk and talk.

At a typical day, when she was 13 months old, mom told Alexa to follow her to the kitchen to drink some juice, but, as soon as she stood up, she rapidly lost the balance and felt. After trying it six times, she started to cry, and her mom, a little worried, made her take a nap. When the baby woke up, her mother realized that her little eyes were moving uncontrollably fast, back and forward. Her mother told she had thought that Alexa was possessed by an evil spirit and she felt like in a horror movie, so she took the baby to the children´s hospital. Doctors didn´t know what she had, so they recommended her parents to make some blood, urine, brain x ray and other tests. But unfortunately, there wasn´t a concise answer and Alexa was sent home with a possible brain virus that doctors said it would be cured within 3 weeks.

She showed improvement with the medicaments the doctors sent her, but a few weeks later, the eye movement and loss of balance came back with other symptoms like sitting problems, emotional change and arms and legs shaking, as she had Parkinson disease. The scared parents hadn´t stopped searching information about the weird disease, so they immediately went to Texas Childrens´ Hospital and finally, Doctor Angus Wilfong, a pediatric neurologist, told them that Alexa had a rare autoimmune disease called OMS (Opsoclonus Myoclonus Syndrome).

Dr. Wilfong explained that OMS made that antibodies mistake viruses on brain cells as they were foreign substances producing impacts on the brain ability to coordinate arms, legs and eyes movements. He also said that it hadn´t cure but could be treated with some drugs.

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