Hallandale Beach Man's Medical Mystery Gets Solved
HALLANDALE BEACH (CBS4) - Hallandale Beach resident Nicolas Gonazalez went from being a seemingly healthy young man to not being able to walk, chew, or even speak. He was living a medical mystery that was so debilitating he was ready to give up.
"I mean, I literally wanted to walk off my balcony to make a long story short; literally wanted to walk off my balcony," Nicolas Gonzalez said.
At 32-years-old, Nicolas and his wife were watching his life completely slip away from him.
"When I was totally bad; I couldn't chew; I couldn't speak," Nicolas said. "I had double vision so I couldn't see straight. I couldn't focus on anything. I couldn't squeeze my hands; so in other words, I couldn't grip anything. I couldn't grip a cup I couldn't lift a cup. I couldn't walk more than about 8 to 10 feet."
Nicolas lost his job, became bedridden and after dozens of tests and several different diagnoses, he finally learned he had myasthenia gravis.
"Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease which means your body sort of attacks itself of the nerve endings," said Cleveland Clinic Doctor Edward Savage.
Dr. Savage then performed a thyectomy on Gonzalez. A thyectomy involves removing the thymus gland which is in front of the heart, and behind the sternum.
"So the thymus gland which is involved in developing a certain type of immunity, seems to have an association with myasthenia gravis," Dr. Savage said. "So if you take out the thymus in some of the patient's they'll have a significant improvement in their symptoms."
Gonzalez said following the surgery, his condition improved almost immediately and the medical mystery that had been plaguing him for months was finally solved. He said he's still weak, but is improving.
"Every day I feel a little bit better," Gonzalez said. "Every day I'm a little bit stronger; every day I can do something I couldn't do yesterday."
