Deep Brain stimulation surgery

      My name is Tomas, my family calls me Tommy, and I have Tourette’s and OCD. I was in 5th grade when I started to have the urge to make noises and move, say random words, and move. I didn’t know why it was happening, I just knew I could not stop it. Soon after, I was                  diagnosed with Tourette’s, a disorder characterized by chemical imbalances in the brain that causes involuntary vocal and motor tics.

I remember being relieved to find a diagnosis, but I did not realize at the time how these two diseases would so profoundly alter every          aspect of my life. My tics have been so severe, that I have pulled out most of my teeth. I have lost friendships due to the uncontrollable          nature of my tics which have been annoying to others. I couldn’t attend a regular high school and had to live in schools away from my              family. 

I’ve been asked my colleges and jobs to leave due to the intrusive nature of coprolalia, the excessive and uncontrollable use of foul or            obscene language. I have been bullied, mocked, and even expulsed from a church. Rather than having adventures with friends and family,  my childhood and adolescence have been spent with a never-ending succession of doctors. Visit after visit we found that most medications did not work, or if they did the relief was short-lived, providing only a temporary reprieve from my increasingly persistent tics.  Even ECT    did not  improve my symptoms.  

  I have researched a brain surgery called DBS where electrodes are inserted into the areas of the brain thought to cause the problems of    Tourette’s and OCD. I completed several days of assessments by experts at the Mayo Clinic, they all agree I was a good candidate for this    procedure which is only offered in the most severe cases.  

I am older now, and tired of this non-life, tired of being told to leave, tired of never having a place to belong.  The possibility of this                     treatment has given me hope that instead of merely existing, I could have a life. I could try for college and a job again and maybe find somebody who will see ME, not my tics or quirks, and love me for who I am. Sadly despite having health insurance – my surgery will not be covered. I have a strong support system in my family, who are working day and night to come up with funds, but out-of-pocket neurosurgery fees are just too much.

 I am here to tell you my story and ask for help if you can. It does not matter how much or how little you can contribute, even 1 dollar gets  me closer to a chance at a reasonable life, to accomplish my dreams of becoming a special education teacher, taking part in a theater play,
having friends, and a job, help my family, and hopefully, one day make my own family. 

     Thank you for taking the time to hear my story
Tomas