On My Own Two by Young Lee

light, being present, exercise, grandmother, wariness

Young is a writer with CMT 1A living in Cary, North Carolina. He graduated from NC State University in 2013 with degrees in economics and international studies. After working for a few years in finance, Lee decided to shift his attention toward writing and library studies. Although Lee first learned he had CMT at a very young age, he didn’t participate much in the CMT community until 2018, when his friend and fellow BioNews writer, Kevin Schaefer, encouraged him to explore and learn more about this very important aspect of his life.

How cold weather affects my hand strength with CMT

It’s getting colder in my corner of the United States. I can feel it in my hands. For me, it’s not just the sensation of the chilly atmosphere nipping at my bare skin. My hand strength also seems to be drained after time spent in the cold. I’ve heard anecdotally…

Considering what it takes to be a bodybuilder with CMT

John Nixon, like me, has Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT). Based on how he tells his story, the CMT symptoms he’s dealt with since childhood are more severe than mine. When we spoke a couple of weeks ago via video chat, he told me that his feet have been deformed…

When is it appropriate to describe CMT symptoms as mild?

From a cursory internet search, it’s easy to find many articles that describe certain Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) symptoms as mild. Some even refer to types of CMT that way. For years, I didn’t think too much about it. After all, I first started seeing these types of articles as…

Making a space accessible should involve more than a checklist

After a recent conversation with Bernadette Scarduzio, my friend and fellow Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) advocate, regarding the inaccessibility of short-term rentals, I’ve been thinking a lot about accessibility. It’s a buzzword in the disability community, but for many, the concept is nebulous. This truth was highlighted by Scarduzio’s…

Fostering connections: It’s good for our health

Those of us with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) know it touches nearly every aspect of our lives. That’s true for anyone who is similarly disabled or has a chronic condition. For CMTers, the disease symptoms affect our mobility. Many of us have sleep apnea, which can lead to daytime…