Living With Tourette's Syndrome

     Hi! My name is Cheryl Gilmore, and this is my first ever blog! I am thirty-nine years old, and I live in Merritt, B.C., Canada. (Eh?) Okay, so I'm here to talk to you about my life with Tourette's Syndrome.

     I was eleven years old, when I started doing weird noises. I began with clucking my tongue. I didn't know what was happening to me, but I knew I couldn't help doing them. I was in grade six, and kids were starting to make fun of me. I didn't understand, and I felt so incredibly stupid.

     My family didn't understand, either, as I started to do more noises and movements that I couldn't control. I was screeching, and shaking. At one point, my mom thought I was having a seizure. The doctor didn't know what was going on, either, and he ended up sending me to a psychiatrist. That doctor told me that I was just stressed out, and sent me to another "doctor." I use quotes for this "doctor" because he really wasn't much of a doctor, in my opinion.

     This "doctor" took me into a room, told me to lie down, then proceeded to tell me to life my pointer finger, and close my eyes. I did this, even though I thought it was stupid. Then, he told me to imagine a "guide" showing me a light at the end of a tunnel. As he was speaking about this "guide", I began to violently shake. The "doctor" told me to relax and imagine a place where I felt safe.

      He recorded my session on a cassette tape, (so you can tell this was a long time ago!), and told me to listen to the tape every night before bed. The first night, I, listened, and was really quite relaxed, until it got to the "guide" part. I, again, began to shake violently, and actually fell out of my bed. The next night, the same thing happened.

      One night, my mom was reading a Christian Fiction book, where the author called satan a guide. She ran into my room and told me to never listen to that tape again, and the shaking in my bed, immediately stopped.

      After that, we went back to my family doctor and told him that I was not going back to that "doctor." Meanwhile, I had been referred to a pediatric allergist in another city, for allergy testing. While I was there, that doctor told my parents that I may have Tourette's Syndrome.

       When I was told that I may have a medical reason for my noises and movements, I cried with relief. It was an answer to prayer. I no longer felt like a stupid idiot, because what was happening wasn't my fault. The allergist referred me to a Tourette's specialist, and a couple of months later, I was diagnosed.

      Having Tourette's has made my life challenging, but it has also made it rewarding. I have met many others who have dealt with this disorder, and who have gone through many of the same trials that I had gone through. I have been laughed at, teased, mocked, and even thrown out of restaurants and movie theaters. I have even been told a couple of times that I am possessed by the devil.

      Tourette's has made me a more kind, and compassionate person. I get so upset when people treat people with mental disabilities, and brain disorders, as lower class people. I am here to say, that we are normal people with difficult problems. We deserve to be treated like we are an important part of this world.

     I am now, 39, and I am an aspiring author. I would like to show the world that I have important things to say, too.

    Thank you for reading me, and God bless you in all you do!

Love in Christ,

Cheryl