30 Days of MD: Kae Tran

by Kevin Schaefer | September 24, 2020

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Day 24 of 30 Days of MD Topic: Empowerment and Perspective With LGMD2B This is @lettereleven’s story: There are many things in life you can’t control, and having a degenerative disease is one of them. Living with MD is life-changing. It’s scary. You know you will never be the same again. You live every day knowing you’re headed toward a slow, steady, and inevitable decline. It really feels like the end of the world. Who are you now? Life is suddenly a sprint against time and the inevitable. You’ll be filled with anger, sadness, hopelessness, and a dizzying amount of fear with each passing moment. You’re losing control over your life. You will feel robbed and so you will end up spending a lot of time living in the past, longing for your former self. That’s expected but don’t get trapped. Don’t stay there long, it’s hell and I’ve learned this the hard way—it’s suffering. We can’t avoid suffering but we can choose how to respond and cope. Learning how to surrender, accept, and step into a new life with MD isn’t an overnight act of courage—it’s a work in progress. You will continue to grieve as your muscles decline, but you will find a new appreciation for life—if you choose to. You will have to want it and you will have to shift focus on the things you still can do. The little things will make you happy. You will learn life is about the little things—that is the gift MD gives us. MD gives us a great life filter. MD lets us live life more presently. We can now choose very quickly what to spend our limited energy on, to spend it on what truly matters. You will only do things that feel good for your soul. You will move more with purpose. My perspective shifted and expanded. I am no longer me. I am a better me. I’m shaped by my challenges and I operate from a deep place of gratitude. I learned I’m stronger than I ever imagined I could be and I continue to learn there is life after MD. It’s not the life I expected, but it’s a life filled with meaning. Choose life over your disability. #MDAwarenessMonth #MDAwareness #30DaysofMD

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