1 post tagged “charcot-marie-tooth”

No more excuses, no more quitting.

I've spent most of my life being quite sedentary, and with a somewhat okay reason, I think.  Not one that immobilizes me but one that brings pain, annoyance, and fatigue.  I have a type of muscular neuropathy called charcot-marie-tooth.  here's a run-down on what it is:

Charcot-Marie-Tooth, or CMT, is the most commonly inherited neurological disorder and is found world-wide in all races and ethnic groups. Discovered in 1886 by three physicians, Jean-Martin-Charcot, Pierre Marie, and Howard Henry Tooth, CMT affects an estimated 2.6 million people.

CMT patients slowly lose normal use of their feet/legs and hands/arms as nerves to the extremities degenerate and the muscles in the extremities become weakened because of the loss of stimulation by the affected nerves. Many patients also have some loss of sensory nerve function.

CMT is one of the 40 diseases covered by the MDA, but unlike muscular dystrophy, in which the defect is in the muscles, CMT is a disorder in which the defect is in the nerves that control the muscles.

CMT usually isn’t life-threatening and almost never affects brain function. It is not contagious, but it is hereditary and can be passed down from one generation to the next.

These are the symptoms I have:

• foot-drop walking gait
• foot bone abnormalities
• high arches and hammertoes
• problems with balance
• problems with hand function
• occasional lower leg and forearm muscle cramping
• loss of some normal reflexes
• pain in back and hips from abnormal walking gait
  

I'm listing all this to establish what kind of obstacles stand before me and my goal of dropping about 30 pounds.  That includes any muscle I may gain.  Currently I weigh 200 lbs give or take 1-2 for water weight fluctuation.

My plan is to follow the Abs Diet program, both for food and fitness.  Running has been sort of my 'White Stag'.  I've never been able to do it without a ton of pain.  My wife and I adopted a beagle from the Dane County Humane Society about 2 months ago and he's been instrumental in getting me off my ass and moving around.  When I got to the point where I could walk around this path by my house without being exhausted, I decided to try to run for part of it.  It worked out ok but the pain was still there...

Then a couple of weeks ago I was walking out of Petsmart and saw this woman loading her child from their minivan into his wheelchair... And I realized something.  I may have a slight disability, but I can take care of myself and should do so. So whatever obstacles may come, I must press through.

I'm picking up the abs diet book tonight, and am considering the P90X program... If I can scrape up the cash for it.