much to be thankful for

[Guest guest]

Thank you for your greeting, (and Gretchen):

Prior to the loss of sensation in my fingertips my CMT only showed up in a

general clumsiness and lack of athletic ability, although I do have the

" upside-down champagne bottle legs " I've read about in the literature.

When I was 40 I began to notice the very tips of my fingers seemed a

little numb. And this kind of scared me because it was indeed

noticeable. Much of what I do for a living requires typing and

agility of my fingers - and being able to feel things with my

fingertips.

When I was 30 my otherwise excellent doctor told me there was no way

I had CMT like my siblings. He was quite confident. But the

neurologist I saw at 40 told me otherwise, and insisted that I get

tested. So... they did the conduction tests. And sure enough the

diagnosis was that I had mild CMT.

My disease seems to go into, or be in, remission for many months or

even a couple of years at a time. Then all of a sudden without

warning I get some new noticeable symptom. And usually whatever

present the disease gives me doesn't go away after that.

Fortunately after a while whatever new symptom I've developed seems

to become part of me and it begins to feel somewhat normal. Until

along comes another symptom.

Overall it is progressing very slowly (thankfully) and I am still

functioning just fine. I have a very mild case of CMT compared to

what others write about, so I have much to be thankful for.

-carl-