introduction

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

I'm 42 years old and was officially diagnosed with CMT Type 2 when I

was 30 years old. CMT runs rampant in my family (father, brother,

uncles and aunts). When I was 30 I sprained my ankle while walking

across the parking lot, and thus I was forwarded to the MDA clinic.

They didn't help me much because I was so active (played 2nd base on

the company softball team, commuted to work via bike 4 days a week,

hiked, swim, and a whole bunch of other stuff). I was outfitted with AFOs in

order to help the foot drop and the lack of muscle/tendons in my ankles. The

AFOs have been a life saver for me. I can do just about anything someone

without CMT can do. But past that, the doctors really don't know what to do for

me. Actually, I think they have thrown in the towel and write it off as another

casualty of CMT.

So I hired a personal trainer 3 weeks ago. I figured maybe he could

get me back on track, as I have been becoming weeker and weeker. He

doesn't know anything about CMT, so I've been teaching him everything I know.

That's how I found this support group. Anyway, he doesn't have a biased view

about me. He treats me just like anyone else, yet he's gentle when it come's to

strengthing my legs. He doesn't push if I start to struggle. In fact he's the

opposite, if I start to struggle, he stops me right there and we move on to

something else.

The first day I sat down and did a leg press...I couldn't move the

bar. My legs just shook, and I felt humiliated. He pushed the

weight for me until I learned how to move the weight. Three weeks

later and I can now leg press 55 pounds on my own! He has been

teaching me balance with the use of dumbbells. My DH still can't

beleive the transformation in just 3 weeks.

However, the other aspect that he has been teaching me...is nutrients. We

relized early on that I wasn't getting enough protein. So basically, by body

has canabolizing itself to obtain the protein it needed to substain life. I

never realized that protein is what makes muscle. Without it, the body will eat

the muscles to obtain it. We increased my daily protein intake and it's been

great. I'm still looking for scientific information in regards to the effects

of lack of protein for people with CMT.

I look forward to being part of this support group. Of the posts I

have read, I can relate to many of them. It's nice to know that I am not alone.

Jean