Bringing the World Together One Foot at a Time

I work for an international organization, so as you can imagine, I have to travel to international destinations as part of my job. . . and, I am sure you can also imagine how difficult lengthy, international flights can be for someone like myself who has had limited mobility recently.  Well, after a non-stop onslaught of "so, when does the doctor think you can get on a plane?" from my boss since January, I was finally able to successfully complete my first business trip since surgery last week.

I flew to Sao Paulo for a week of meetings and training with the staff in our local sales office.  And, once Michele found out I was going, she insisted I meet her sister Milena, a fellow CMT'er, who lives there!

Since Michele and I found each other in cyberspace a few months ago, we've grown to be good friends, sharing our stories with one another and being there to support each other through each of our painful surgeries.  So, you can imagine how excited I was to meet her sister and to hear her story as well!

Milena and her boyfriend Jesse picked me up at my hotel to take me to dinner at their favorite local Indian restaurant.  Just seconds after they pulled up in their car, Milena jumped out and rushed to give me a big hug; she just wouldn't let me go!  It was such a special moment; I think that we both felt like we already knew each other from everything that Michele had told us about the other!

We had a wonderful dinner filled with plenty of laughter; amusing Portuguese translations for Jesse, who sadly couldn't keep up with our "fast" talking in English; and touching moments of sharing our own experiences of diagnosis and struggles with CMT.  Our favorite finding:  both of us share the lack of a "knee jerk" reflex and we're the only two people we know who have this symptom!  The docs can bang all they want on our knees, but our legs will not kick . . . and, we can tell you why!

Milena and I agreed (and we're confident that Michele would have also agreed if she were with us) that we're so lucky to have found each other . . . thank goodness I found Michele's blog and cyber-stalked her until she agreed to become my friend!  And, as painful as it has been, my foot is moving beyond borders and bringing all corners of the earth together (so it seems).

Safety In Numbers

In my efforts to build 'this little blog of mine and let it shine', I've been spending hours seeking out other CMT sufferers online in the hopes that I can use this blog as not only a therapeutic journal to express my inner feelings and thoughts, but also to create an online support community that could recognize the challenges that we CMT patients experience.

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon Michele's blog and was delighted to discover that she lives right here in the tri-state area and is around my age!  Plus, Michele was planning her own surgery and was about to embark on the exact same path that I was now trekking.  We had the chance to connect on the phone last week and talked to each other for nearly two hours sharing stories back and forth about our own symptoms and challenges.  It was so great to finally find someone with whom I could connect on so many levels and who completely understood where I was coming from, instead of someone just trying his/her best to understand.

Yesterday was her surgery and I took the opportunity to visit her in the hospital this afternoon.  She was struggling with the pain, but after some adjustments, the doctor managed to make her feel more comfortable by the time I arrived.

I showed off my new foot to help give her a visual pep talk and we talked about everythng that is ahead of her in the recovery process.  We had such a great visit and I am so glad that I have made a great new friend.  Good luck Michele!