Re: What is meant by mild CMT /exercise

September 23, 2003

I wanted to chime in on this, since I have used the term myself. I have

been told repeatedly by my doctors that my CMT is " mild " in that the

strength in my arms, hands, and legs is very good to excellent. The

muscle weakness I have is in my feet only, although my right calf muscle

is larger(almost twice the size) than my left- probably due to favoring

the right leg. I have however, the " classic " presentation of " pes cavus "

and areflexia. It seems that the doctors think that by comparison to

many other cases, my symptoms are mild. I have bad balance, but I don't

fall often. As for what I think, On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being " normal "

and 10 being severely impaired, I'm probably a 2 or 3. I think there are

many in this group who are much more affected than me. It's really hard

to quantify though, and now that I think about it- what is normal

anyway? Is there a normal? Maybe I'm no longer " mild " if I need AFOs, or

maybe the scale of 1 to 10 is totally inappropriate for comparison. It

makes me wonder if there is an accepted scale, something like the apgar

test for newborns... ratings on different functions that tell a larger

story???

Anyway, I still walk, drive, swim, ride bikes, etc. I don't really

follow any set exercise schedule, and I don't feel that's ever going to

really happen. I just do what I like and what feels good at the time. I

have been stretching twice a day or more for the last couple of months

under the advice of PT. I have been doing that for most of my life

anyway, because it feels good to be limber. I used to take Karate

lessons, and while I don't practice regularly, I still enjoy it once in

a while, mostly the slow movements and I often use the pool for added

resistance. The only problem that I had with Karate, was running (hard

floors) and some of the kicks (floppy feet) in water, that doesn't cause

a problem.

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