What the heck is Cerebral Palsy?

Hello beautiful people!

Today, I'm going to talk to you about what exactly is Cerebral Palsy and how I am affected by it personally. First, I'm going to start by stating that Cerebral Palsy (CP) affects individuals on wide spectrum and no two individuals affected by CP have the same symptoms. CP is common, there are more than 200,000 cases per year in the United States. With that being said, I cannot speak for other individuals who have CP because we are different and have different challenges. I will only speak about my case and my own perspective about CP.

CP is a congenital movement disorder, which further means, that the individual most likely has rigidity in the joints, involuntary movements, and exaggerated reflexes. In my case, these are all present. These group of disorders affects movement, muscle tone, balance, and posture. Going deeper into my case, CP has affected my speech as well. I do have the ability to talk and let me tell you I can talk your ear off. But strangers do have a harder time understanding what I'm saying, as oppose to, friends and family who are around me a lot and have gathered a knowledge of the way I talk. In order to get a diagnosis of CP, a speacialized doctor will need to examined the individual, lab tests or imaging are rarely required. I was diagnosed at around 6 months. There are a lot of treatments available to help manage the condition but there is no known cure, hence this can be a lifelong condition.

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What causes Cerebral Palsy?

CP is caused by abnormality or a disruption in brain development.

The problem in brain development could be due to:

• Mutation or changes in genes

• Infections during pregnancy such as herpes, rubella, and chickenpox

• Fetal stroke or disruption in blood supply to the brain of fetus

• Infection or inflammation of the fetal brain such as meningitis or viral encephalitis

• Head injury during infancy

• Reduced oxygen supply or lack of oxygen to the brain, particularly during labor

• Premature birth

There has been so many times where I have gotten asked if CP is a disease and if so, can they catch it. The answers are no and no. CP is not an intellectually disability, it is a physical one. Even though, there are some cases where individuals with CP are diagnosed a mental disability as well.

For myself, I had reduced oxygen supply or lack of, during my mother's labor and doctors did not supply me with the oxygen supply I needed in time.

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What Are the Symptoms of Cerebral Palsy?

Signs and symptoms generally appear during infancy or preschool years and vary greatly between individuals.

Disability can be on one side of the body or affect the whole body. For myself, my left side has been more affected than my right side of my body.

Movement and coordination problems:

• Impaired muscle coordination

• Involuntary movements

• Abnormal or exaggerated reflexes

• Slow and writhing movements

• Reduced movements at joints

• Spastic paralysis

• Floppiness or rigidity in the trunk and limbs

• Unsteady walking

• Abnormal posture

• Problems with swallowing

• Excessive drooling

• Difficulty in speaking

• Eye muscle imbalance

All of these symptoms, I have had at some point or another in my life, except for eye muscle imbalance. It excites me to say that I have 20/20 vision!

Neurological disorders:

• Hearing and vision problems

• Abnormal touch and pain sensations

• Intellectual disabilities

• Mental disorders

• Urinary incontinence

I do not have any of these neurological disorders, but I do have friends and acquaintances that do have these symptoms.

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What Are the Treatments Available For Cerebral Palsy?

Although there is no known cure for CP, there are many variations of treatments individuals can partake in to live a more comfortable life. Treatment involves a combination of medications and therapies guided by specialist doctors. For intance, there is:

Medication Botox injections- Botulinum toxins are injected directly into affected muscles or nerves. Muscle relaxants- Oral drugs to relax stiff and contracted muscles.

I have had Botox injections, and even though the procedure is very painful, in my opinion, the results are worth it. During about the 6 months period, I can feel my body loosen up and have the ability to move more quickly and have less overall pain.

I have also had muscle relaxants, which I take everyday as prescribed by my doctor and they have helped me release some tension from my body and allow me to be more comfortable. Although I do need to say, individuals do need to pay attention to how their bodies react or doesn't react because these drugs can become addictive and may not be helping you in the right or appropriate way so always concult with doctors and keep them up to date with everything.

Self care Encourage the individual's efforts to work independently.

I cannot stress this statement about self care enough! I thank my parents ever so greatly that they treated me just as my other two siblings. They did not keep a wall around me at all times. They let me explore and fall on my bum a couple of times to see if I used the resources around me to help myself get back up, even though they were always a few inches away from me, they refused to let me take the easy way out. For my parents, it was all about them teaching me how to use the resources around me and how to find easier ones the next time around.

Medical procedures:

Orthopedic surgery

Selective dorsal rhizotomy

I have never undergone a surgery due to my CP.

Therapies:

Physical therapy

Occupational therapy

Speech and language therapy

Recreational therapy

I have done all of these therapies and I will forever be thankful for them. If it wasn't for these therapies, I would not be writing this post, instead I would be in bed with a feeding tube and my body would be so tense I would probably only be able to move a little. I have shocked my doctors with my exceptional progress and how well my body is able to maintain itself and not regress.

With this being said, my body did outgrow physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech and language therapy because there's just so much you can do when you have CP that I hit my "limit" of increasing body functions capacity while having CP that all I can do is maintain where I am now. This is where recreational therapy comes in, in the past I have done horseback riding and swimming. Now, I go to the gym everyday and try to put each main muscles to work so they don't weaken. And who knows maybe I'll get lucky and see a little bit more progress.

Equipment:

• Wheelchairs (manual and power)

• Specially made bicycles and tricycles

• Walkers and crutches are just some of the types of cerebral palsy equipment available to patients.

• Symbol boards, voice synthesizers, and head sticks for computers are just some types of cerebral palsy equipment used for communication devices.

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Having CP means that you will never have the same day twice. It means keeping up with doctor visits, people asking you how do you feel very often, taken medications, and having to invite pain as a permanent guest in your body. BUT now that I have a lot of experiences under my belt, I wouldn't change for anything in the world, even if the was a miracle and someone found a cure, why? Well you just need to read my upcoming posts and see the many reasons!

THANK YOU FOR READING!!

If you want to find more information and/or support for individuals with CP, you can followw these links:

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/cp/facts.html https://www.cerebralpalsyguide.com/

https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Hope-Through-Research/Cerebral-Palsy-Hope-Through-Research

Feel free to leave any questions in the comment section below!

XO Ashley