Teen Shocks Doctors With Condition That Makes Her Shake Violently & Unable To Walk

#1 Alicia Goss Was A Typical Teenage Girl

She enjoyed her friends, playing games, dating, after school activities, and cheerleading. But that was before something terrible happened to her that left doctors baffled.

#2 She Beagan Suffering Tremors

Her life turned from happy and positive, with a bright future, to total disbelief in a matter of a few weeks. She had just started classes at Canterbury University studying sociology and was forced to leave to return home to be cared for by her parents.

#3 She Could No Longer Control Her Own Body

Alicia would lie on the ground, shaking. It came on suddenly and she had no idea what was happening. At first, she just shrugged it off until it became so bad that she could barely walk. She finally went to see a doctor.

#4 The Doctors Had No Diagnosis

She saw a series of doctors over a 9 month period and they were all baffled by her condition. They were completely stumped as to why she couldn't control her body. And sadly, her symptoms were continuing to get worse. By now she was crawling from room to room to get around and could no longer control her body's movements.

#5 They First Thought She Had Low Blood Platelets

After several tests by several doctors and specialists, original results came back from doctors and Alicia was told she had low blood platelets, which meant her blood would not clot easily. This would be a reason for her brain to stop functioning normally and sporadically.

#6 Doctors called Her A Medical Mystery

"I was a medical mystery. They were just baffled," she said. "They said I don't know how you lived this long in your life not having platelets. The average person's platelets is 150,000, my platelets were 32,000, they were so low."

#7 More Testing Need To Be Performed

Still not satisfied with the diagnosis, and no way to cure or ease the suffering, the doctors sent Alicia to a bone marrow specialist to rule out the possibility of leukemia. By now she was in agonizing pain with headaches and bad stomach aches.

#8 She Was Losing Her Quality Of Life Very Rapidly

Her life was deteriorating as the days and weeks went by. She could no longer hold a fork to feed herself and was losing her memory as well. Leaving school behind because of her health, her parents were caring for her in their home, and it was becoming a nightmare for the entire family. Alicia was forgetting names,places, and how to use the bathroom facilities. And her body would not stop shaking.

#9 Her Parents Were Concerned But Remained Positive

"She wasn't in control of her movements,she was shaking, her body wasn't doing what she was telling it to do," her father explained. "It was one thing to have to leave university, but to come home and be like a baby again and have to lift her off the toilet floor and help her out of bed it was horrendous." Still, her parents were her lifesavers, sticking by her and seeing her through every doctor's visit and examination.

#10 They Finally Figured Out What Was Wrong

Alicia was found to have Wilson's Disease, a rare hereditary disorder characterized by a copper overload in the system, which can cause tremors, memory loss, and psychosis. It usually begins at age 6 or 7 then hits in the later teen years after the body is full of copper. We all need copper in our system but Alicia had too much, which means that her metabolism wasn't clearing the mineral from her body and liver. If the body doesn't rid itself of the excess copper it acquires through everyday living, it builds up and eventually accumulates in the liver or unfortunately in the brain, where it can cause serious illnesses and become deadly.

#11 She Will Need To Manage The Disease With Medications For Her Entire Life

It took her nine months to regain her strength and get back to her university life that she had so desperately been looking forward to. A full year behind in classes, she will need to take medications for the rest of her life to keep the copper flushed from her system.

Thankfully, they caught this problem early enough. This shows why it's so important to get medical treatment quickly.