Congresswoman with brain disorder skips therapy to serve in House of Representatives

Photograph: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty ImagesCongresswoman with brain disorder skips therapy to serve in House of Representatives

Virginia Democrat Jennifer Wexton has been using assistive technology since diagnosis, with a life expectancy of six to nine years.

To keep up with the demanding schedule of the U.S. House of Representatives, Virginia Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton has had to miss some of her speech and physical therapy appointments as she battles a rare, life-threatening brain disease, she told CBS News in an interview published Saturday. .

«It's been a hard road, but I'm working hard as always,» Wexton, a Democrat, said in a social media post promoting an interview chronicling her life since she was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy in September (PNP). A post on X, formerly known as Twitter, added: «I'm sharing my experience to raise awareness of what PSP is and why finding a cure is so important.»

Wexton also pointedly lamented in an interview with CBS that she was forced to forgo re-election in 2024 due to a disease for which the typical life expectancy after diagnosis is six to nine years, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

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“It pains me that I had to give up something I loved after so many years of serving my community,” Wexton, 55, said. , who won her House seat by defeating the Republican incumbent in 2018.

As CBS reported, Wexton struggled to both walk around the sprawling U.S. Capitol complex and and put her thoughts into conversations as she battles the disease, which she described as “Parkinson's disease on steroids.”

In fact, Wexton was initially diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. But after she didn't make as much progress in treating the diagnosis as she had hoped, her doctors concluded she had PSP.

The National Institutes of Health reports that most people with PSP develop eye problems as the disease progresses and tend to lean backward while extending their neck. On the other hand, people with Parkinson's disease tend to lean forward.

Despite the challenges her symptoms pose, Wexton said she has sacrificed going to therapy sessions aimed at relieving them. because Democrats are only eight seats in the minority in the House of Representatives.

The House schedule was particularly tumultuous after Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California was historically removed from his position as House speaker on Oct. 3 in retaliation for participating in bipartisan negotiations to pass a stopgap measure to temporarily avoid the government shutdown days earlier.

In numerous rounds of voting, sometimes held late at night, over the following weeks, several Republicans made unsuccessful attempts to replace McCarthy. Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson eventually won enough support to seize the speaker's gavel on Oct. 25.

The House has since had to approve another stopgap measure that averted the possibility of a shutdown government until January.

Wexton says the House is often a hostile environment given its state, making it increasingly difficult to work in. But, she told CBS, she uses text-to-voice technology to help her communicate, and she moves around the Capitol with canes as well as the assistance of aides.

While Congress As Wexton's chief of staff Abby Carter prepared for the Thanksgiving break, she sent an email to her House colleagues to explain the changes they may have noticed in her and advise them on how to interact with her.

“Our team knows that her current neck strain can be harsh and members of Congress may have difficulty understanding the Congresswoman, especially on the floor when it is loud. We ask that you be a little patient with her when you speak with her in person,” part of Carter's letter read. “It’s completely normal to ask her to repeat herself (we do this regularly), ask her to write down what she says on her [tablet computer], ask our staff member who is on the floor with her to help, or simply tell her that you will be monitoring them in text messages.”

Wexton told CBS that the decision to serve until the end of her final term in Congress — and making the necessary adjustments — left her exhausted. Still, the trial lawyer and former state legislator is counting on her family, staff and congressional allies to help her see out the rest of her time in elected office.

» I still have a lot of things I want to do,” she said, according to CBS.