Patricia Ballard: Personal Finance Teacher

Dr Ballard1

“What is Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) and how has it affected your family?”

“TSC is Tuberous Sclerosis Complex is actually a condition in which tumors grow on all vital organs and so it can be anything ranging from the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, skin. So as far as my family goes, my ten year old son, Nathaniel, we call him “Tre”, was diagnosed with TSC when he was five years old. He started having seizures that we didn’t know where they originated from, he’s spent a lot of time in and out of the hospital, but that was finally the diagnosis. It actually impacts his brain, heart, kidneys and skin. Some of his largest tumors are actually on his brain. And so he has a lot of cognitive delays. Wherever the tumors are is where you’ll see the effect and for him he functions at the age of ten, he’s maybe on a six year old level. So that’s usually kind of wherever it kicks in at the age is they maybe stop at that point, it could be major. There’s some people we interact with, I know one young lady she’s twenty-six years old, she was impacted when she was two, so she’s a twenty-six year old who behaves like a two year old so yeah it can be, you know a lot on the care giver, so you know the main thing is that there is no cure they just treat the symptoms as they come about but he’s [Tre] doing good, we are grateful, could be worse, so seizures are under control right now and he is on chemo, so that’s pretty much my story and our thing is where most people have never heard of it, I didn’t hear of it until he was diagnosed and you know for it to be the number one genetic cause of autism and epilepsy you would think more people would, but most people have never heard of it and I can’t say I blame them, I didn’t either like I said so that’s pretty much us.”