My Introduction!!!!!

[Guest guest]

Hi my name is .

I joined the group awhile ago but have been " watching from the sidelines " ,

reading, listening and learning and now would like to introduce myself.

I'm 45 years old and live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. My physical challenges

started when I was 6 and I was finally diagnosed with CMT at the age of 13.

The type is unknown and I am the only one in my family that has ever been

diagnosed with CMT. Then, at the age of 15, I was in an accident. My left

foot was crushed by a car driving over it. This resulted in multiple

surgeries to rebuild my foot so that I could walk again. After this, I was

walking, but unable to participate in sports such as track, baseball,

etc.or march in the school band, although I was playing an instrument

with them.

To this day, I have always wondered if this accident and the surgeries I needed

to rebuild the foot added to the severity of my CMT. For example, my left foot

is completely immobilized and the bones are fused. I also think that to some

extent, focusing on this accident, gave me a reason to pretend I didn't have CMT

and that all my problems were due to the accident.

Currently, my CMT is in the advanced stages, I use AFOs, have difficulty with my

hands, and pain is a constant companion.

Like some of the previous posts I have read, I can relate to not having

emotional family support as a child and have had my share of challenges in

coming to grips with the reality of living with CMT. I have had some times of

deep depression, have never " finished anything " i.e. educational courses, had

multiple short term jobs, personal relationships with no long term commitment or

emotional ties, led my life " blindly " without direction and am only now starting

to see myself in a positive light. Looking back in

retrospect, I feel that not having had the proper emotional support as a child

in dealing with CMT and how it would shape my life led to a lot of my

withdrawal/depression, becoming a " rebel " and therefore not following the

traditional path that most people take of school, job, marriage, family.

I am now starting to try and like myself and deal with the current advanced

stage of CMT and I look forward to being a member of this group and the support

we can offer to each other. There are two people currently in my life that have

helped me start to bring myself out of my past. One is my cat (lol) and the

other is someone I originally met online that has become very special to me and

has helped me to understand my past and is helping me to understand my present

and how I can look forward to a future.