Thursday, October 9, 2008

Chorea...

"Jasmyn does not have what is known as 'tremors.' What Jasmyn has is better classified as Chorea," Dr. Arndt, a Pediatric Neurologist, told me Tuesday afternoon. "Chorea is unrhythmic muscle twitches. Please don't look it up or what you may find will lead you to a lot of information that will have you worried. It is better to just understand that Chorea is the description of the muscle twitches."

Those were the key words to set in motion research on my own. I honestly have to say that I am no more scared or at ease, then what I was before looking it up. The doctor was correct. It is a vague classification describing the muscle twitches.

**Chorea sancti viti (Latin for "St. Vitus' dance") is an abnormal involuntary movement disorder, one of a group of neurological disorders called dyskinesias. The term chorea is derived from a Greek word χορεία (a kind of dance, see chorea), as the quick movements of the feet or hands are vaguely comparable to dancing or piano playing.

** Chorea is characterized by brief, irregular contractions that are not repetitive or rhythmic, but appear to flow from one muscle to the next.**
I think I may have found the proper web page. This one wasn't full of the usual scary blah information that most tend to have. It was very precise and to the point. It did however, go into more specific types of Chorea, but Jasmyn has not been diagnosed with any of those yet. I say yet because she hasn't been diagnosed with anything to cause the Chorea. We have to go back November 11th, so Jasmyn can have an EEG done. An EEG is an EKG, only done on the head.
As far as what the doctor asked, and thinks, I will give more detail about that later. Some is rather scary and admittedly, I don't even want to think about it. Some time within the week I have to have Jasmyn video taped and send it to the doctor. They want to see her in a more relaxed environment. They also had to draw blood. She really does NOT like needles, and because they needed blood without the use of a tourniquet, it took 5 tries! It was difficult to watch, but because I am the Mommy, I was strong and held her hand. Rather, I should say let her squeeze my hand until it was numb. The whole appointment took approximately 4 hours. They were very thorough and Jasmyn liked them. I will post more when we find more out. Thank you to those who kept Jasmyn in your thoughts and prayers.

2 comments:

Blackmans said...

I'm still praying!

Darlene said...

Well at least you're a step closer to figuring it out! You're all in my prayers!!! Keep your faith up! Hugs...