Parents notice strange symptom in daughter: doctor makes terrible suspected diagnosis
Gympie (Queensland/Australia) - In June, while playing in a park, Abbe Baker noticed that her little daughter Bella was limping. What the family didn't know at the time was that the strange symptom triggered a veritable medical odyssey that ended with a serious suspected diagnosis.
Baker and her husband Joshua took the one-and-a-half-year-old to hospital in Gympie immediately after the symptoms appeared. But an X-ray examination revealed no signs of broken bones or sprains.
As the limp got worse and painful muscle cramps were added, the family went to the University Hospital on the Sunshine Coast the following day.
There the girl had to undergo various blood tests, a lumbar puncture and an MRI. None of the tests were positive, but little Bella got visibly worse.
Within two weeks, the child lost the ability to speak and her strength diminished. "She was a very clever girl. By the age of one, she could formulate sentences with five words," Baker, who has another child, told the Daily Mail.
At the moment, Bella can "basically just watch TV".
Doctor makes a suspected diagnosis of pediatric dementia
Another doctor, whom the family also consulted, has a guess as to what condition the girl might be suffering from. "The doctor said she definitely has a neurological regression disorder, which is basically another term for dementia," the mother of two continues.
If the diagnosis is confirmed, the parents will probably have to seek palliative care. Those affected usually die before the age of 30, often much earlier.
Their daughter's condition has turned the family's life completely upside down. "We have to think about selling our house," worries Baker.
An acquaintance has therefore launched a fundraising campaign , which has already raised almost 15,000 Australian dollars (the equivalent of around 9250 euros).