Marine Veteran Faces Paralysis After Doctors Dismiss Symptoms as Depression, PTSD: ‘Constant Battle’

A marine veteran had her debilitating symptoms dismissed by doctors before she was diagnosed with a life-threatening brain disorder.

Ciera Buzzell, a 40-year-old from Warrenton, Virginia, had struggled with migraines since childhood. However, they really became an issue in 2004 when she joined the Marine Corps, she told Kennedy News and Media, via the Daily Mail.

During Boot Camp, she recalled her hip popping out of place. Soon after, she started experiencing other joint dislocations. “I remember doing a flex arm hang and my shoulder dislocated but it went right back in so I didn’t know what that was at the time,” she said.

“One day I was out for a run and my hip came out of place. I didn’t know at the time what it was because it slid right back in,” she added. “Then my sacroiliac joint [at the base of my spine] slipped out of place and would do that quite often.”

Buzzell served eight months in Iraq and Kuwait before being honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in 2009. Due to her continuous pain, doctors referred her to a chiropractor, but that only intensified her pain.

“It was this constant battle of trying to get better,” she said.

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Buzzell’s symptoms ultimately progressed, spreading to every joint in her body. She started losing her vision regularly, had to wear a neck brace to keep her stable, and even wear a device on her jaw to help eat.

The mom of two saw numerous doctors but said she was constantly dismissed and misdiagnosed for years, having her pain attributed to stress, depression and PTSD.

“Every single time the doctor would say, ‘Are you depressed right now? Is your depression flaring up?’ They blamed it all on my mental status,” she told the outlet. “I felt dismissed and felt like I didn’t want to live anymore. I felt like the lowest on earth because I started believing ‘I guess I am crazy enough to make my body do these things.’”

Buzzell’s debilitating symptoms continued for several years and ultimately resulted in her having to quit her job as an ICU dietician.

“These mind crushing headaches or migraines meant I couldn’t function to save my life. I couldn’t see at times and I was pretty bedbound at times,” she told the outlet. “The eye issues started becoming so severe and the falling and the fainting was too much to continue working.”

Finally in August 2022, Buzzell was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is a group of inherited disorders that affect your connective tissues — primarily your skin, joints and blood vessel walls, according to the Mayo Clinic. Symptoms include chronic pain, overly flexible joints and stretchy, fragile skin. Joint pain and dislocations are also common.

Buzzell’s EDS also led to a second diagnosis: Chiari malformation. It’s a rare condition where the skull is slowly compressing the brain stem down into the spinal cord.

“It’s ironic that doctors dismissed me as being ‘all in my head’ but ironically it is all in my head,” she said of her diagnosis.

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Buzzell said that her condition means that she is constantly facing paralysis. She is now hoping to undergo a major surgery to permanently stabilize her skull to her spine to save her from complete paralysis.

Her family has since created a GoFundMe account to cover the cost of the surgery, which is $70,000.

“As a mom with young kids it would be heartbreaking to completely lose my ability to move. It’s just going to get worse and worse,” she said. “We have to get in before, for instance, I lose total bowel function or I become paralyzed in an area, which could happen any day now.”

“I don’t want to live like this forever,” Buzzell continued. “I have kids that I have to raise. If there’s something out there that would alleviate even 10 percent of these symptoms then I will take it. I already feel like the inside of me has died and the only thing keeping me alive are those children.”