Family stability

A stable family is definitely important when dealing with DMD. I know for many this isn't possible but a family is more than just mom and dad, the whole family can ease the load.
My Dad is great and if I need something made to help I ask him. Mom gives me the best care. My sisters help out when they can. My niece and nephew bring happiness. My aunts and uncles help out where possible and are cool to talk too.

Extract about my mom;
...I always remember her as being strong and loving throughout my childhood and now into my adulthood. She has always backed me up when things piled on me, instilling a ‘get up and go’ mentality that continues to drive me. We’ve always tried to attack things positively and if I just need a hug or reassurance she’s right there behind me...

Love you mom!

Read more about my family over my entire life, from childhood to adulthood in my book DMD Life art & me! Available here; http://duchennemen.net16.net/buymybook.html



Foreword

I’m Ian Griffiths from South Wales. This book is a story of my life so far up to the age of twenty five years. I live with and suffer from the ill effects of DMD which stands for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. It is a severe muscle wasting disease and a life limiting terminal illness. It won’t kill you in six months in the traditional sense of ‘terminal’, but it’s far crueller than that, it steals every muscle in your body first and then kills you, anywhere up to the age of thirty. There have been cases of men living past that into their forties and fifties but only with drastic interventions such as ventilators and tracheotomies, more on this can be found by reading on.
I hope to cover a few things in this book, from a history of my childhood years to a more detailed history from sixteen years onwards and finally onto my current problems and triumphs. At times things I write may make you smile or may make you pause and think about the seriousness of life with this devastating disease. I really hope there will be a cure but currently for us supposedly ‘older’ guys with DMD (over twenty one), there seems very little hope. If I don’t see a cure in my lifetime, I hope my campaigning helps in some way bring it about for future generations, so another child won’t have to see their body wither and die before their time.