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MY STRANGE AFFLICTION
Airing on "20/20" Friday, March 13 on ABC
"20/20" takes viewers into the lives of people with some of the most unusual medical mysteries. "My Strange Affliction" airs on "20/20," FRIDAY, MARCH 13 (10:01-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.
Reports include:
· Cynthia and Brandon Ross of Maine rushed their infant son to the hospital with swollen legs. When doctors examined the baby, they found fractures all over his little body. And almost immediately, they charged Brandon with child abuse and pulled the family apart, putting their two children in foster care. But Brandon and Cynthia now believe that their son suffers from a rare medical condition called EDS, or Ehler Danlos Syndrome, which often causes bruising and flexible joints. "20/20" talks to a world-renowned contortionist, who also suffers from this disease. Brandon is awaiting his day in court or for the charges to be dropped. Could the medical mystery be the answer to keep Brandon out of jail? Deborah Robert reports.
· What if you woke up one morning to discover your partner was no longer the person you thought you married? After Heather suffered a potentially life threatening brain trauma and two weeks in a coma, she awoke with a change in personality. Her brain trauma seemed to make her hypersexual, pursuing men in addition to her husband. Elizabeth Vargas also talks to Alissa, who says after her car crash and the brain trauma she suffered, she had the desire for sex all the time even though she did not want or enjoy it.
· Sixteen-year-old "beckie o" went viral when she disclosed her most closely held secret to thousands of fans on her YouTube channel. She's a "Trichster," suffering from a hair pulling disorder. She shares with us her years of documenting her experience. Elizabeth Vargas reports.
· Jessica Mellen, 29, suffers from a disease that 40 million Americans also share, Anxiety Disorder. Jessica's most intense fear, the one that completely devastates her and brings her life to a halt, is the fear of vomiting. Jessica tells her fiancé she does not think she can have kids because she is too fearful of morning sickness. Wanting to marry the man she loves, Jessica decides to put herself through "exposure therapy" and, for five months, our cameras follow her as she confronts her fears. Will she make it to the altar?
"20/20" is anchored by Elizabeth Vargas and David Muir. David Sloan is senior executive producer.
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