childhood to a severe debilitating condition now cured. >> he suffered from a severe case of tourette's syndrome but today he's thriving. abc's chief health and medical editor dr. richard besser has the story. >> i try not to think about it. when i do, it's like looking back at a nightmare. >> reporter: robby's nightmare began at age 7 with a diagnosis of tour ret's syndrome. miss firings of the brain with involuntary movements and vocal lieizations like these called ticks. >> yes, yes, yes! >> reporter: by the time he was 8, they were brutally overwhelming, taking over his life. sometimes they'd last for hours. >> i had no control over it. i'm conscious. i hear everything, feel everything that's going on, but it's like someone has a remote -- hey -- remote control and is just taking over my body. >> reporter: no medication can control his symptoms. so in 2011, robby tried a radical experimental surgery for tourette's. deep brain stimulation.