Gray i'm sorry to hear that,
I wish your family well, it has to be ruff on every one. hope this can answer some of your questions;
Spinal muscular atrophies are inherited diseases in which cells in the spinal cord and brain stem degenerate causing progressive muscle weakness ans wasting. Symptoms first appear in infancy and childhood. The muscle weakness of acute spinal muscular atrophy(Werdnig-Hoffmann disease) appears in babies 2 to 4 months old. The disease is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern, which means that 2 nondominant genes are required, one from each parent. Children with intermediate spinal muscular atrophy remain normal for a year or two and then develops weakness, worse in the legs than in the arms. They don't usually develop respiratory, cardiac, or cranial nerve problems.THE Disease progresses slowly
Chronic spinal muscular atrophy begins in children between 2 and 17 years of age and worsens slowly, so people with this disease live longer than those with other types of spinal muscular atrophy
Diagnosis and treatment;
Doctors test for these rare diseases when young children develop unexplained weakness and muscle wasting.Because these diseases are inherited, a family history may help make the diagnosis. The specific faulty gene has been found foe some of the disease. No specific treatments are available. Physical therapy, wearing braces, and special devices can some time help
Info came from The Merck Manual of medical information
