Joel and Jessica Gramm have a beautiful family of 7. Here's their story.
"On April 10th, Josie had an MPFL reconstruction surgery on her left knee. 6 weeks post-op a muscle twitching/spasming began in her left quads. This twitching would go on, without stopping, for the next month. On June 15th, her doctor sent in a referral to Mayo’s Clinic Pediatric Neurology. We settled in to wait to hear from them as Josie’s condition was unchanging and not life-threatening. On June 17th, Josie began experiencing numbness and loss of sensation in her leg and some vision loss. On June 18th, we took her to Billings Clinic ER where her condition deteriorated further and quite rapidly. She had no reflexes on her left side. Her left leg was paralyzed and she was so dizzy and off balance and could see very little out of her left eye with the pupil not reacting the same as the right. On June 19th, we were flown out to Children’s Hospital of Colorado where a team of neurologists met us and immediately began assessing Josie. After MRI’s, labwork, a spinal tap, and multiple neurological assessments, we finally received a diagnosis on June 21st. Josie has a very serious disorder that presents with neurological problems which in Josie’s case are quite severe. It should not be a lifelong condition, however they can’t say that it won’t reoccur either. Because of the nature of it and some of the more personal symptoms that we have not shared, Josie would rather that I not share publicly what the exact name is. She feels uncomfortable at the thought of people googling and reading “about her.” I will respect those wishes. The best way for me to describe it is as a nurse told Josie and I. It’s almost like if she had a stroke and the results of that happening, yet she did not actually have a stroke. She has to re-learn the mind and body connection. While her knee injury and surgery did not cause this current problem, it most likely was a sort of “trigger” for all of this happening. Just know that her neurological symptoms are very serious (paralysis of her left side among other things) and will require an intense amount of effort and time and treatment to reverse the effects of this disease, but God-willing she WILL regain what has been lost and go on to live her life in glory and honor to Him. Your continued prayers are welcome and so, so needed as we start to walk this long road of rehabilitation. We will probably still need help in multiple areas because of the intense amount of care and assistance that Josie will require. Please continue to pray for us as the reality is starting to hit and will continue to intensify as we process this. All Glory to God!"