The pain is "like getting hit with a hammer ... with a real hammer." And that's just the initial hit.
Describing the excruciating pain he feels, 12-year-old Brayden Wendorff says it's like being hit on the head with a hammer "all the time."
Brayden, the son of Amanda Wendorff from Middleburg, Florida, is afflicted with a rare neurological disorder called Chiari Malformation, which triggers debilitating headache that can last for days, often accompanied by nausea and vomiting, according to PEOPLE.
Medical experts say the headaches are caused by the intense pressure in the back of the head and are brought on by the simplest of activities like exercising, bending over, coughing, sneezing or even laughing.
Brayden's condition is not the only thing that burdens the Wendorff family. After Amanda, 34, and her husband Dan, 39, found out about Brayden's medical problem in the fall of 2009, their two other sons—Skyler (now 13) and Zachary (now 9)—were also diagnosed as having the same disorder. Zachary underwent surgery in June 2011.
Even Amanda herself was diagnosed with the same condition and also underwent surgery in September 2012.
Moreover, in addition to the multiple Chiari diagnoses, Amanda and her sons were diagnosed as having Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a connective tissue disorder marked by hypermobility of joints.
To top it off, Amanda's daughter Kami, 9, has several kidney issues.
"We are a medically complex family," Amanda told PEOPLE.
But despite the huge medical and financial problems they have been burdened with, the Wendorff couple is taking it all in stride.
"We don't make any long-term plans," Amanda said. "We just live day by day."
Among the Wendorff family members who are afflicted with this neurological disorder, Brayden is the worst hit. He has already undergone 33 brain and spine surgeries and suffered four strokes aside from dealing with other related medical problems.
Notwithstanding the pain he has endured and other serious health issues, Brayden refuses to yield to depression and continues to think positively, saying the strides made in treating his rare medical condition will hopefully help other sufferers.
"God only chooses the people who can handle it and I feel thankful and blessed for what I have – still being alive, my family, my doctors, my supporters, everyone," he said.
