Cheboygan 3-year-old girl has neurological disorder, but doctors don't know which one
CHEBOYGAN -- It's hospital visit after hospital visit for one Cheboygan family, as they try to find out what's wrong with their daughter.
But as the effort continues to pinpoint the problem, money is running out for the family.
Shalynn Robinson is like any other three-year old. She likes to play, she has a favorite stuffed animal, in her case, Gatorade the Alligator, and she can call me silly. But there's one thing that does set her apart.
"It shakes like that," Shalynn described. “I go to the doctor for it."
"she shimmers all the time, she has body tremors all the time, and then it progressively got worse, to where it'd last for hours," said Shalynn’s mom Michelle Robinson.
Shalynn has been to several doctors and recently, a doctor in Grand Rapids determined it was a Neurological Disorder. The question is which one?
“Words exactly from the doctor: "we're throwing out a fishing net to see what we can get." They've done blood work, they've done a sleep study, they've done a lot of things, and we still can't figure out what's going on," said Michelle.
Michelle's husband Jason is a member of the National Guard and has served two tours in Iraq. He said he first heard of the problem when he went overseas. He's on leave now, expected to head over for a third tour sometime next year, but he says the strain has started.
"She's my life, I've survived two wars for her," said Jason.
The Robinson's say the price continues to rise to take care of Shalynn, and because of the financial hardships placed on their family, they're going to hold a softball tournament in Shalynn's name on September 3rd and 4th.
Jason says it'll be a 10 team tournament at $100 a team. The money will go toward the trips downstate to the doctor and take a little stress from the family.
"$1000 will start to alleviate some of the debt we've acquired. Because of her illness and stuff like that, I've pretty much forgone paying rent to get her down, because she's more important than any rent or anything else," said Jason.
And as doctors continue fishing for answers, she'll just continue to fish.
Call Roz' Matlack at (231) 445-2617, Michelle at (231) 268-8220 or e-mail at maginkwa@yahoo.com for more information.
