Medical Mystery Solved -- It's Moyamoya!

Jan. 8, 2007— -- Thirty-three-year-old Jennifer Kawamura has battled Graves' disease, one of the most common of all thyroid problems and the leading cause of hyperthyroidism, for 10 years. But that hasn't stopped her from living life to the fullest. Last fall she and her husband Chad took the test to become certified scuba divers.

It was a cool autumn morning and high winds were whipping up the surf along San Diego's Pacific coastline. This was a big day -- Jennifer and Chad were just two dives away from becoming licensed scuba divers. Before the test could begin, they had to swim about 100 meters to the dive site, against the powerful surf, with 60 pounds of scuba gear strapped to their backs. A daunting task for most people, but Jennifer was in excellent shape, and loves a challenge.

As she began to swim against the powerful waves, Jennifer became extremely fatigued: she could hardly move, and her legs began to cramp up. Chad asked his wife if she wanted to quit.

"She didn't even respond," he said. "You could see the look in her eye…she was going to do it no matter what." When Jennifer finally made it to the dive site, they began their decent. "We went from 15 feet, 20 feet, 30 feet, all of a sudden, it was just a cliff going down. It was dark and freezing," she said.

They descended to a depth of 55 feet below sea level. When they resurfaced, Jennifer was so exhausted that her fellow divers had to help her back to shore, but she passed the test and otherwise felt fine.

Over the next few days Jennifer experienced intermittent numbness in her right hand, but didn't give it much thought. Then, about a week after the dive, Chad suddenly noticed a much more alarming symptom. Jennifer was trying to tell him something, but he couldn't understand her.

"I heard syllables coming out of her mouth, but they didn't sound like any words that I recognized," he said.