Sept 9 My CMT Journey continues....

My older sister, Laura, was my role model when I was growing up. She was popular, beautiful, fun and smart. Laura excels in everything she sets her mind to do. We have had a lot of good times together. She always made me laugh. Laura does not have CMT. Laura's friends, boys and girls, always treated Patty and I with kindness during our childhood. One day Laura and her friends were kicking a soccer ball around. I joined in the fun and started kicking the ball. I lost my balance and my right knee popped out. It was so painful. I had no idea what happened. I was lying on the ground trying to crawl to the front stoop. Patty saw me and asked what I was doing. She said, “Get up you look silly doing that.”Patty didn't know that I couldn't get up. “Because our knees take the brunt of our many falls and with our foot and walking problems they can become weak, the knee caps can dislocate.” (CMT and Knee Problems, CMTA) My knee dislocated, many times causing me to loose balance and fall. It has happened at weddings, church, parking lots, at home and in public. It could just be a slight turn, tripping over something, or someone just accidentally bumping into me. No warning and could be quite comical. Although as I am laying in pain I don't find it funny. The falls and dislocated knee didn't cause any serious injuries and the pain receded quickly. Because I have no fore warning it was and is a concern and scare for me. When I was about 17, I tripped over our  miniature poodle, Taffy, and fell into the wall and floor. My head put a hole in the wall. What an uproar that caused for my parents. We were all quiet watching TV before hand and I got up to go into the kitchen. Our dog used to lay right by the kitchen entryway. Boom, I fell right on top of the dog, she turned around and bit me, not hard but enough to break the skin. Dad yelled at mom, blaming the dog. He didn't know I had also inherited his knee problem. Thank God my sister Patty doesn't have problems with her knees dislocating. If you feel led to give any donations for researching a cure, you can give online at http://www.cmtausa.org or to the MDA http://www2.mda.org/goto/CMTChallenge 

Laura

Me at 16