Tag: dysferlinopathy

Now What?

On By Chris AnselmoIn Uncategorized8 Comments

I took my final steps on May 11th, when I fell in my bathroom at home and had to be helped up by paramedics. To continue trying to walk was just too risky. Two months have passed since that day, and I have had a lot of time to think about what losing the ability to walk means for my life going forward.

I see my legs every day. I can still move my toes, bend my knees, and flex the flabby remnants of my calf muscles. I can still feel the pain of tense muscles, the ache of sore hips. I still get random itches on my feet that never seem to go away. My legs are still very much a part of my life, and I am thankful I still have them.

But in the task they were designed for, to get me from point A to point B, they don’t work. They are accessories, not workhorses.

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The Storm

On By Chris AnselmoIn Uncategorized14 Comments

When I took a break from my blog back in February to focus on my book, I said that I would still write a post from time to time. But I didn’t mean for it to take four months!

Well, I’m back. I hope you are all doing well and find yourselves returning to pre-COVID activities. This world is in desperate need of more in-person connections and conversations. Social media is its own form of isolation and is not an accurate representation of the real world. There’s nothing quite like talking to someone in-person and pretending to listen.

I am just completing a two-week vacation. It was a staycation, but relaxing nonetheless. I live five minutes from the ocean, and there is nothing as relaxing as seeing the waves rolling onto the beach and feeling the warm breeze off the water.

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Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy Awareness Day

On By Chris AnselmoIn Daily Musings, UncategorizedLeave a comment

September 30th is International Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy (LGMD) Awareness Day. It is a day to educate and bring attention to a group of similar conditions that affect the shoulders, hips, arms and legs. It is also a day to celebrate LGMD patients, their caregivers and family members.

I have LGMD type 2B, also known as dysferlinopathy and Miyoshi myopathy (actually there’s subtle differences between them, but for all intents and purposes, they lead to roughly the same outcome.) As of this writing, there are more than 30 subtypes of LGMD identified. They actually ran out of letters in the alphabet, so they are beginning to switch over the classifications to D1..2..3.. and R…1..2..3.. (D for dominant and R for recessive).

It is not the easiest disease in the world to live with. That is probably an understatement – it is quite difficult! You only have to look at my other blog posts to see what it’s been like to live with a weakening body. Yet, despite the difficulties, I have had the chance to meet others living with the various LGMDs and it has made all the difference in navigating the ups and downs of this condition. Many members of the community are my role models, and I try to be that to others. They are what make this day so special.

There are many resources to learn more about LGMD. The best aggregate resources are:

The LGMD Awareness Foundation

The Speak Foundation

The Muscular Dystrophy Association

For me, The Jain Foundation has been a life-changing organization, as they are working on my particular condition and have been a valued resource along my disease journey.

If you have any questions about what it’s like to live with LGMD, or regarding any other LGMD topics, I’m always happy to connect!

Final Steps

On By Chris AnselmoIn Through My Eyes7 Comments

A couple weeks ago, I experienced a milestone in my disease progression that I knew was coming, but I still wasn’t quite prepared for: I stopped walking.

Technically speaking, I stopped taking steps forward. I can still shuffle around while holding onto my dad, but for all intents and purposes, I have taken my final steps.

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A Weekend at the National Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy Conference

On By Chris AnselmoIn The Reluctant Traveler4 Comments

Three weeks ago (time flies!), I had the opportunity to attend the first-ever Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy conference, which took place in Chicago over Labor Day weekend. Although everyone who attended the conference had to contend with the logistical challenges of traveling over a holiday weekend, it was well worth the frustration and hassle.

This was an opportunity too good to pass up.

The idea of having a conference for all limb-girdle patients, regardless of one’s subtype, is not a new one. There are Facebook groups with thousands of members where limb-girdle patients of all subtypes communicate with one another and share advice and experiences. Many are good friends, but have never had the chance to meet in person. Until this year, there has never been an opportunity to bring all these different patients together, under one roof, for any length of time.

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Back to Zero

On By Chris AnselmoIn Through My Eyes14 Comments

In the back of my mind is an internal clock, one that tracks the time that has elapsed since my last fall. Well, it doesn’t count the exact days (it’s not that good), but it knows that my last fall was on the Fourth of July 2018, a little more than six months ago. I remember that day vividly. I was in North Carolina visiting my sister, and after watching the fireworks on TV, I retired for the night. As I was about to climb into bed, my right knee bumped into the box spring, causing me to lose my balance and crumple to the floor. I was shaken up but otherwise unhurt.

To go six months without a fall, given my advanced weakness, is a miracle in itself. But I knew my good fortune wouldn’t last, that eventually the clock would reset one of these days, in sudden and violent fashion.

That day was Thursday.

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What I’m Grateful for This Thanksgiving

On By Chris AnselmoIn Through My Eyes5 Comments

Although my life is chaotic, with its share of frustrations and challenges, on the whole, I can’t complain.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a list, so rather than write a sentimental essay to commemorate Thanksgiving, I figure instead I’d rank everything that I’m thankful for this year. Why not?

Without further ado…

Things that give me joy

18. TV shows. Outside of sports, I never really watched a lot of TV as an adult. Now that I live with my parents and have the post-dinner energy level of a tranquilized sloth, I have become a fan of many shows. I don’t have Netflix, so I watch what’s on cable. Some of my favorites: Chicago PD and Fire, MacGyver, Hawaii Five-O, The Good Doctor, NCIS: New Orleans, and of course that hot new intellectual thriller, Jeopardy.

Bonus favorite show that my mom hates with a passion: The Curse of Oak Island.

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The Reluctant Traveler: The NORD Breakthrough Summit

On By Chris AnselmoIn The Reluctant Traveler, Through My Eyes2 Comments

On stage at the NORD Breakthrough Summit. Dr. Gupta leading the discussion on the right.

Last week, I had the exciting opportunity to speak on the opening panel at the NORD Breakthrough Summit in Washington, DC. NORD, which stands for the National Organization for Rare Disorders, is a patient advocacy organization dedicated to individuals living with rare diseases and the organizations who serve them.

The purpose of the conference was to bring together different stakeholders in the rare disease space to discuss topical issues that affect the community. The theme of the conference was “The New Era of Patient-Focused Innovation,” and my panel, titled “The Next Generation of Rare Disease Advocates”, was slated to be the keynote. I wish you could have seen my face when I found that out! It looked something like this:

As the keynote panel, we had the task of setting the tone for the entire conference. The plan was to have each of us share our personal story and how we became a rare disease advocate. Once I learned who else was on the panel, I knew we would knock it out of the park. I was thrilled to take the stage with such a distinguished group, and even more thrilled that I still qualified as “the next generation”.

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Invaluable

On By Chris AnselmoIn Through My Eyes12 Comments

Note: This piece has been entered in the Patients Have Power Writing Contest run by Clara Health designed to raise awareness about clinical trials. I am passionate about this cause and hope it will help raise much needed awareness about the power of breakthrough research.

About three years ago, I read a news article that I thought had changed my life. A new gene therapy clinical trial was being developed for my disease, Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy Type 2B (LGMD2B). I was on cloud nine. For the first time since I started experiencing muscle weakness in 2008, I felt like there was a cure on the horizon.

Reality soon set in.

Two years later, I checked in on the progress of the clinical trial – a pilot Phase 1 trial – and saw that it was still struggling to meet its recruitment goal of three patients, even though it had been open for almost a year. I groaned. I sighed. I welled up with frustration. What had once seemed like a surefire path to a cure now seemed elusive, yet another false hope on my patient journey. Reality had sunk in – this drug discovery stuff is hard.

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Test Drive

On By Chris AnselmoIn Through My Eyes17 Comments

This disease likes to mess with me.

I can go from months where I don’t notice any change in my strength to days where it feels like I am weakening by the hour. Over the last couple months, another wave of weakness has infiltrated my muscles, right as I was starting to adjust to my new level of strength.  I can track my decline based on the everyday activities I perform, and whether or not they are harder to do than the day before.

Lately, getting out of bed with my walker has become a chore. It requires all the upper body strength I can muster, which is not much these days. My biceps have just about shriveled away, following the lead of my triceps which dissipated a couple years back. My chest and abdominal muscles, once muscular (I’m not talking beach body, but I used to be in shape!) have been replaced by fat. I press with all my might to get up, and although I am still able to stand upright, I worry in the back of my mind about the next time. What if my arms give out or I throw out my back? It’s a long way to the floor.

There are different pieces of equipment out there to aid in the transfer and lifting process, equipment that I am going to need to entertain at some point. I also have my dad who can help me, but I can’t rely on him forever – he is going to be 70 in September and has back issues of his own. Unfortunately, every time I go through weakening fits like this, I procrastinate on getting new equipment. It is a bug in my program.

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