Thirteen-year old Davina Ronquillo finally got her smile back, but she can't do much more. Lying in her hospital bed since Thanksgiving, the teen is practically paralyzed.
Davina's been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome. She said it started with a mild virus and a tingling in her body.
"I thought something bad was going to happen," Davina said.
And it did. Instead of her body fighting the virus, Davina's nervous system shut down.
"She was so severe that her breathing muscles stopped working so we have to breathe for her," Davina's doctor Jennifer Crocker said. "She couldn't talk or swallow or really even communicate until we were able to get her eyeball muscles working."
Dr. Crocker, who is the director of the rehabilitation program at Central California Children's Hospital, said Davina's case is one of the most severe she's ever seen. Crocker said anyone, children and adults, can come down with this syndrome.
"It's really a scary event for someone especially a very healthy active girl like she's been," Crocker said.
Davina's a softball player and cheerleader at Sequoia Middle School in Bakersfield. Now the typical teen who loves Twilight and Hello Kitty will have to learn to walk and talk again. Davina's heart and brain remain intact, but she can't breathe or eat on her own.
"I can move my arms," Davina said. She is working on moving her hands next.
Part of Davina's recovery requires getting her out of bed to the hospital's rehab center. Every day Davina drives an electric chair down the hall using her head to steer. It's a big accomplishment for Davina and her mother who has been by her side through her recovery.
"I cry for everything she does even if it's just a shrug," mother Gina Ronquillo said. "The day she smiled it was just a half a smile, but I cried."
Dr. Crocker leads the team of Davina's physical therapists. Lying on her back, they bend and stretch Davina's muscles, hoping to wake them up so they will one day work again.
"The rate she is going now, she's doing a great job," her mother said. "Even though there is days she doesn't want to do it I tell her that's the 13-year old in her."
Doctors said Davina's come a long way in her recovery.
"It's really just a matter of teaching her muscles how to recruit and work again," Dr.. Crocker said. "The nerve cells do recover so she has to work with what she's got and be patient for the rest."
Whether or not she will fully recover remains to be seen, but Davina's eager to get back to her normal spunky self.
The teen is scheduled to come home to Bakersfield where she will start an in-home rehabilitation.
Doctors said anyone can get Guillain-Barre syndrome, in fact, studies show 3 out of 100,000 people get some form of it.
Doctors said there is no genetic predisposition for the illness.
