A SWANSEA couple is desperately seeking a diagnosis of their daughter's mysterious illness, which has seen the once independent teenager become as dependent as a toddler over the past year.
Just over 14 months ago Morriston Comprehensive pupil Katie Smedley was a normal 16-year-old hoping for a career in the police force. But now her life has been turned upside down.
A sudden illness has seen her needing round-the-clock care and left her with several side-effects, including memory loss, severe epileptic-type shaking and hallucinations.
Now at their wits' end, parents Chris and Tracy Smedley are hoping the new year will bring a diagnosis and an end to the family's torment.
Mrs Smedley said: "We first knew something was wrong when she collapsed 14 months ago.
"We thought it was a stroke or meningitis as she had a rash and she couldn't speak without slurring and she couldn't move one side.
"She was in hospital for a few days and she had scans and a lumbar puncture but they couldn't find a cause."
The family is still waiting for the diagnosis. Mrs Smedley, who along with husband Chris, has given up work to care for her daughter, said: "After months of tests doctors now believe it could either be anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis (severe brain inflammation) or Sydenham's chorea (a disease characterized by rapid, uncoordinated jerking movements), we still do not know."
Mrs Smedley, who also has three sons, Rhys, 14, Dylan 13 and Scott 11, said her daughter's symptoms, which come and go, can last for hours, days, weeks or months.
She said: "It looks like she is having an epileptic fit all the time, it doesn't stop. She is also confused and suffers hallucinations from time to time. It's also like she is someone with Alzheimer's disease."
The couple, whose youngest son Scott has Cerebral Palsy, have had to adapt their home to care for their daughter as well.
Mrs Smedley said: "We have a hospital bed at home and she requires 24-hour care. It's as if she is back to being a child, she can switch from a 16-year-old to a baby at will."
Summing up how their lives have been changed she added: "Katie was a model pupil who wanted to go into the police force."
So far tests have failed to reveal the exact nature of the illness but the family is hoping for better news in the New Year.
Mrs Smedley said: "We have had one lot of tests done but they came back negative. The next appointment is at the end of January.
"I just hope that we can find out what it is.
"There may be a cure but until we know what is wrong we just don't know."
