According to Treena Cheveldayoff, her son Brody has one of the worst cases of Tourette Syndrome doctors have seen.
Her 14-year-old son suffers from a variety of tics, including saying physically spinning, and repeating certain words over and over.
These are only his mild symptoms. Starting at age 4, Brody began to rapidly clear his throat. “At first we weren’t quite sure what was going on, and then it started to escalate,” Cheveldayoff said.
Brody would repeatedly scream as loud as he could, and eventually a new tic set in and he began to hit himself.
“Brody would take a spoon or a fork and shove it into the back of his mouth,” his mother explained.
“Brody was attracted to hot elements when he was younger. He touched a stove and it caused a blister. That blister, he became addicted to chewing it. That became a tick. It wasn’t just an obsession, it was a tick,” Cheveldayoff said.
Eventually Brody was diagnosed with Tourette’s, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and an Autism Spectrum Disorder.
After years with no support, another mother whose child suffered from Tourette’s, Rachelle Brockman, started up the Saskatoon resource unit of the Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada.
While his daily life comes with challenges, Brody said he’s much more than his disorder. “I can’t control it, there’s nothing I can do about it,” he said. “There’s no cure for Tourette’s yet, but I’m really hoping there will be.”
