Welcome Seth

[Guest guest]

Seth-

How shocked I am! I must pass down my place as youngest member of

the group to you.

I'm Marta, I'm fourteen years old and I live right near Seattle. I

was diagnosed when I was in sixth grade.

I also had to get an EMG to diagnose my CMT. I did not enjoy that

at all, I started sobbing at one point. Getting diagnosed for CMT was

a long a painful process for me, doctor after doctor, appointment

after appointment, it took nearly two years before I was correctly

diagnosed.

I always imagined it would be more difficult for a young boy to

have CMT then a girl. Mostly because of the social interaction, to me

it seems many young boys are encouraged to be as physically active as

they possibly can. I always avoided things like PE, and since I know

I have CMT I no longer am required to take that class. However,

people my age would still wonder why I couldn't do certain things,

and I had to learn to be content with my limitations.

Regarding what your mother said about love, that is important and

it does help a great deal. My mother also has CMT so we were able to

relate to each other's experiences. My father doesn't have CMT,

actually he's always been incredibly active. He is acutely conscious

of how I'm feeling or what problems I'm having. Having supportive

parents is ideal and wonderful in these situations.

One of the things that helped me confront my CMT was a couple of

very supportive friends I had. They were wonderful when it came to

being aware of what I could handle and what I couldn't. Sadly, some

people who don't understand sneer at me out of ignorance if they

happen to notice I'm having difficulties. Being unique when you're a

teenager certainly presents you with some interesting challenges, but

I prefer it this way.

I'm glad you joined the group, good hearing from you. I hope your

situation improves as much as it can.

Marta