Sudburians Walk For Dystonia

Posted By RACHEL PUNCH, THE SUDBURY STAR: Mother of three Corinne Fewster-Gagne knew something was wrong with her infant son when he was about three-months-old."If he was awake, he was crying," Fewster-Gagne said. His fists and arms were clenched tight and weren't moving. "If I put him under a mobile he would just lay there all stiff. I knew something was wrong," Fewster-Gagne said.


 Friends and family told her nothing was wrong. She was just an older mother and things were different this time around, they told her.

"It took a really long time for people to actually listen ... It thought: 'OK, I'm spoiling my son and he's crying all the time. It doesn't make sense,' " Fewster-Gagne said.

As Beckham got older, his symptoms started getting worse. Fewster-Gagne and her husband Jason Gagne were then told Beckham might have Cerebral Palsy.

"When we went to Ottawa, the doctor looked at him for about three hours and said: 'I'm not really sure what he has, but I don't believe it's Cerebral Palsy and I think I can fix it," Fewster-Gagne said.

Doctors then thought Beckham might have dopa-responsive dystonia. Treatment for the condition began in December and his diagnosis was confirmed about three months later.

"Dystonia is involuntary muscle spasms. There are days when he's OK. He's rigid, but he's not actually spasming," Fewster-Gagne said. "One night he was spasming for three hours straight. His entire body was in Charley Horse. There is nothing you can do for them." Read entire article here
 

Last update: Jan 2016