Re: sand walking and a true story from Hawaii

February 8, 2000

<< you know, a long time ago, one of my first Dr.s who was only an

orthopedist (circa 1963 or so) told me to walk in the sand, that this would

help strengthen my calf and foot muscles. Since I lived to close to the

beach, I actually did this a few times a week. It was one of the few

" excercises " I actually enjoyed as a child and teen. To this day I absolutely

love walking in sand. >>

Once again, this shows how different CMTers we are. knew exactly what I

was talking about. I've been told by dozens of CMTers that walking in loose

sand is IMPOSSIBLE! They would love to walk in loose sand, but they cannot!!!

Some CMTers can, others can't.

For my first many decades I spent my summers at the beach, walking in sand

(hard and soft), walking on rocks, climbing on huge rocks, climbing over

logs, and so forth. After my CMT announced itself, I found I could no longer

do any of those activities, other than walk on hard sand. I first really

understood when I was walking with my husband, son and d-i-l on the beach at

Lake Winnipeg. The wind was blowing about 50 mph when we reached loose sand.

I could NOT walk in it and had to grab my hubby's arm or they would have gone

off without me, not realizing I couldn't walk. We could not talk/hear above

the wind. I have always been very independent, and for me to have to cling to

him like that was a revelation for all of us. (Incidentally, he liked it!)

Since then I stay away from loose sand, staircases that don't have handrails,

and so forth. I think many CMTers can relate to that.

One CMT friend (I'll call her Taffy) who goes to Hawaii for a month every

year says she can only sit at the edge of the loose sand, but she never tries

to walk in it anymore. A couple of years ago she was sitting near the sand

when she noticed a young Hawaiian girl struggling to walk in the sand. When

the girl got near Taffy she fell. She was so embarrassed she cried, so Taffy

asked her if she had ever been diagnosed with CMT. The girl said she knew she

couldn't walk normally, but thought she had cancer so she was afraid to see a

doctor. Taffy was able to convince the girl to get an appointment with a

neurologist, and to keep in touch. After her visit to the neurologist the

girl came to the chat room to tell us that she did indeed have CMT and would

be getting braces to help her walk better. This was all because Taffy

recognized a CMTer who was struggling to walk in sand. She was a teenager who

had been walking in the sand all her life, but it did not help her walk

better.

Some of you can walk in loose sand, but others cannot. We are all

different!!!!

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