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Living with Tourette Syndrome

videos.missoulian.com — Tyler Boshae, a 23-year-old Bitterroot Valley resident, suffers from brutal tics brought on by Tourette Syndrome. A dangerous surgery could give him a normal life. This is home video shot over the course of his childhood. Because of the severity of the condition, viewer discretion is advised.

Who dugg this? Made popular Apr 27, 2009

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179 Comments

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  • ProfChaosOmega, on 04/27/2009, -0/+132I had no idea tourettes could be this bad...
  • NookSeeker, on 04/27/2009, -4/+115I'm your average douchebag that loves watching people imitate retards. That is just my sense of humor. But even I was heartbroken to see this guy suffering. I'm really upset now that I've allowed movies and comedy to shape my view of Tourettes. Our culture's comedification of this disease has probably kept people from taking it more seriously and as a result the victims of it continue to suffer. I hold only myself responsible for laughing at the jokes in the first place, because I fueled the fire.
  • frostafa, on 04/27/2009, -1/+94I went to high school with Tyler and it would be wonderful if one day he could be free of this. He was always great personality in the school. It was good to see him come and try his hardest even on his worst of days. I hope this surgery helps give him a more peaceful life.
  • inactive, on 04/27/2009, -0/+73this is really,really hard to watch. i do hope one day he could be tic free, or tourettes free, along with the rest who suffer from tourettes.
  • inactive, on 04/27/2009, -3/+66It is sad and nothing to make fun of, but people still do. Such is life.
  • drkgodz, on 04/26/2009, -2/+53Wow...sad. :(
  • dlan4327, on 04/27/2009, -2/+52Nothing I love more than when digg shows it true colours.

    Barely a harsh comment & plenty of support & love. Go digg.

    Lets find a cure for Tourettes.
  • diggbury, on 04/27/2009, -0/+49 i cannot imagine how hard it has to be to live with this everyday, it is hell and agony all the time
  • CoolHandRemy, on 04/27/2009, -1/+45Can someone please help this kid?
  • Halsfield, on 04/27/2009, -0/+44I hope they were giving this kid some kind of pain help, that seems like over the course of even a couple days(let alone his entire life) that would be incredibly painful to go through. Bruising your chin because your chin hit your chest when you were thrashing...thats just unreal, especially for a kid.

    People seem to think its funny and that tourette's is just about saying profanity loudly but this shows you that its really more than that.

    What is even more sad is that so many doctor's claim they have cures or surgeries that will help,and people pay a lot to have them done and then they end up doing nothing. This could be seen with the girl during MTV's true life: i have tourette's and a couple other tourette's documentary's I've seen. I hope this surgery works for him though.
  • blinktude, on 04/27/2009, -4/+47it still does
  • Disruptpwnt, on 04/27/2009, -1/+43I have tourettes and while mine is nothing compared to this guy I know how much of a battle it can be to get yourself to wake up the next morning. Hopefully the surgery works for him.
  • Shadic, on 04/27/2009, -1/+40Kudos for having the balls to acknowledge you've done something wrong. I've never seen something like this, but to be constantly at war with your own body is terrifying to me. You can see in the video when he's in the kitchen that he's almost able to fight it, but it's impossible to ignore.

    Poor guy.
  • spyders, on 04/27/2009, -2/+40Total courage and respect ++
  • msparks789, on 04/27/2009, -1/+33i thought my life sucked...
  • tgulden, on 04/27/2009, -0/+29This is just heart-wrenching...
  • trapper2530, on 04/27/2009, -0/+28that must have been one patient tattoo artist
  • spoer, on 04/27/2009, -1/+27Must be hard to watch your kid go through that. Good luck, Tyler.
  • rationalist, on 04/27/2009, -1/+26As the father of a (now grown and coping remarkably well) child with Tourette's Syndrome who was the target of a lot of culturally-acceptable meanness growing up - thank you from the bottom of my heart for your comment, and your willingness to grow.
  • inactive, on 04/27/2009, -7/+31I think id rather be dead.
  • Absyrd2, on 04/27/2009, -3/+26Oh my god... I thought Tourette's was just random bouts of uncontrollable rage. This sucks.
  • tmyprod, on 04/27/2009, -5/+26Just about everything in Crank 2 was in poor taste...



    ... and that's why it was awesome.
  • GeekMommy, on 04/27/2009, -0/+20http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2009/04/17/news ...

    Dude - it's an old article. "This kid" has been helped... as of this month? The experimental surgery is a success!
  • ducksgoquak, on 04/27/2009, -0/+20You can. Follow the links to donate money towards surgery for him.
  • yacks, on 04/27/2009, -0/+19Tourettes isn't fun to live with. I don't have as bad of a case as this guy, but it is tough nonetheless dealing with the useless tics, the endless stares and not to mention the torture of going through middle/high school with it. It also gets bad when little kids start innocently copying you.. But well as with life, we have to strive with the hand that we get dealt.
  • c010rb1indusa, on 04/27/2009, -7/+24Not the right time or place man
  • andytronic, on 04/27/2009, -1/+17Err, I have dystonia. It's usually a fairly constant (and relatively slow) contraction of several adjacent muscle groups, like the hand and wrist, or the neck, keeping them in some (usually awkward) position most of the time. Muscle spasming is often involved, but not quite like you see in the vid. If a case of dystonia worsens, at it's worst the person's affected body part would just stay locked in one position almost constantly.

    So there.
  • Narcism, on 04/27/2009, -2/+18He... got a tattoo? http://missoulian.com/articles/2008/08/03/news/top ...
  • huangpyc, on 04/27/2009, -4/+20This makes me appreciate how lucky I am.

    I pray he gets better.
  • sonofabiscuit, on 04/27/2009, -2/+17Suddenly "Tourrettes Guy" doesn't seem funny at all.
  • commentposted, on 04/27/2009, -1/+16Dugg for maturity.
  • snickysnack, on 04/27/2009, -0/+14I have Tourettes (albeit much milder than this guy) and a HUGE thing growing up with it was just dealing with the fun people made of it.
    A huge hurdle throughout my life has been the fact that peoples' association with the disorder is through popular media. In a lot of comedy, it's the disorder that it's okay to make fun of because it's so exotic to people. I've met people who, when I told them I have Tourette's have said, "I thought that was fake".
  • Neiby, on 04/27/2009, -0/+14Done. They still need about $85,000.
  • orangederange, on 04/26/2009, -3/+16mirror: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mi6IN9YGXE
    more about his surgery: http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2009/04/19/bnew ...
  • DesertTripper, on 04/27/2009, -0/+13YES

    "Marijuana And Tourettes Syndrome, Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology

    May 15, 2003 - Hannover, Germany
    Hanover, Germany: A primary compound in marijuana, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is effective in reducing "tics" in patients suffering from Tourette's Syndrome (TS), according to clinical trail data published in a recent edition of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry."

    Is there ANYTHING pot can't help with? Even if it can't help directly combat a specific illness, there is a significant palliative effect to be gained.

    I've known a couple of people with TS; their tics were mainly non-verbal vocalizations.One guy played the piano beautifully and the tics were under control when he was playing (kind of like Tyler's tics going away for a couple of seconds as he poured the milk.) I had no idea that tics could be so severe that they cause the sufferer to physically injure himself! If pot can alleviate such nasty symptoms it should be available for this condition, without restrictions.

    To keep this herb illegal is not only absurd, it's a sin against humanity.

    It is way past time to re-legalize this once-ubiquitous and always-valuable plant.
  • smacksaw, on 04/27/2009, -0/+12The fundraising, however, is not.
  • sonofabiscuit, on 04/27/2009, -0/+11There was obviously somebody behind the camera.
  • Roundbadge, on 04/27/2009, -0/+10Oh man ... when he sits crying from pain in class ...
    I'm a father, and this gets right to me
  • wautrey, on 04/27/2009, -0/+10In fact, his "tics" more resemble dystonia than tourette's.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystonia


  • Formaldehydex2, on 04/27/2009, -0/+10Damn, that was painful to watch, hope the surgery helped.
  • c010rb1indusa, on 04/27/2009, -0/+10@NCH8
    "you can't joke about rape. Rape's not funny."
    I say, "***** you, I think it's hilarious. How do you like that?"
    I can prove to you that rape is funny. Picture Porky Pig raping Elmer Fudd.
    -George Carlin

    There is a time and a place to joke about tourette syndrome, however this is not one of those cases, I'm trying to be respectful, a virtue you obviously don't possess based on your comment.
  • fooken, on 10/01/2009, -2/+12DON'T TALK ***** ABOUT TOTAL

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCguIMsls_Y

    Seriously though, RIP TG and I hope this kid gets the operation.
  • Neiby, on 04/27/2009, -1/+11The guy's own website says he has Tourette's.
  • a76fr423, on 04/27/2009, -0/+9Its not like an uncontrollable "attack". Tourette Syndrome makes you feel like you have an "urge" to do a tic. If we concentrate, we can suppress the tics for a time - but the longer we do that the more intense the urge becomes.

    I noticed for myself, that concentrating on something, such as playing the piano, tends to make the tics disappear.
  • yacks, on 04/27/2009, -1/+10yes it could.. I have a pretty very minor case compared to this and what I have isn't fun to say the least.
  • commentposted, on 04/27/2009, -0/+9I thought it was when people just randomly said strange things, but I guess it's physical as well.
  • WiretapStudios, on 04/27/2009, -0/+9I was laughing at all the horrible comments, and then I watched the video and I cried.
  • Gorzki, on 04/27/2009, -0/+9I will never find "Tourrettes Guy" funny again.
  • Vladamir, on 04/27/2009, -1/+10While my Tourette's is nowhere near as serious as his, it can still be infuriatingly stressful. It's a challenge to stay away from drugs, and many people who have Tourette's don't, because drugs can calm it so much. If only we could find a cure huh?
  • GeekMommy, on 04/27/2009, -0/+9Guys? Read the follow up:
    http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2009/04/17/news ...
    Tyler *had* the surgery. As of this month, it looks successful.

    Congrats to him though for showing such courage and determination to have a full life. Married, working, and refusing to give in to that horrible condition. Way to go man.
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