Julian’s Journey! FIGHT DUCHENNE!

Hey everyone! My name is Tamika Murphy and the little guy you see in the picture is my 6 year old son Julian. On March 2nd we received devastating news from his neurologist. He was diagnosed with DMD, ( Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy). This is a rare, progressive ,fatal, genetic, muscle wasting disease with no cure at the moment. 1 in 3,500 male births are diagnosed with this. With steroid and gene therapy his disease can be slowed down which will allow him to have the ability to walk longer and prolong his life.

Julian is a happy boy who enjoys playing with his sister, friends and he has an obsession with the popular game Roblox

This diagnosis wasn’t a surprise to me. You see, a mother’s intuition is never wrong. From a little baby, I’ve always said, “something isn’t right!” I’ve had moments when I felt that I was crazy in my thoughts but I always pushed for answers. When Julian was 4, he broke his ankle which led to a diagnosis of retroversion. A condition which presents with femur’s that are turned outward, curved tibia bones and flat feet. Those 3 factors caused Julian to have an abnormal gait. (Duck walk). An abnormal gait is also one of the symptoms of muscular dystrophy.

When Julian turned 6, (Jan 29th), I noticed that his hand muscles couldn’t do what I knew they should be doing. He has trouble walking upstairs, getting up from the floor, even opening a bag of chips is a struggle for him. I started to research things. I prayed for a sign because I knew something was wrong.

After coming across a popular tv show, (NEW AMSTERDAM) I knew exactly what he had. I researched the test that was used to diagnose “DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY”, which is CK levels.(The amount of muscle breakdown in the bloodstream). I was numb at the list of symptoms because they were everyday things but Julian had every symptom on the list. The way he got up from the floor, his walk, enlarged calf muscles, random toe walking and his posture were all signs. I told his doctor what I thought he had and made her test him for it and I’m glad I did.

Now that we have his diagnosis we can treat his disease, but it doesn’t stop here. My goal is to spread awareness so little boys can get the help that they need in the early years! My prayers is to one day say that they have a cure! This is a heavy diagnosis and it will be a long road with extensive therapy, medications/mobility accommodations and countless doctors appointments.

Anything you can give will help! And we appreciate it from the bottom of our hearts!❤️