The great leveler...
They used to say smallpox was a great leveler but DMD is very similar. It doesn't matter whether you are rich or poor, from the northern hemisphere or from the southern hemisphere, white black or yellow DMD affects all cultures. Anyone could have a child with DMD, it can happen spontaneously as well as genetically. Mercifully it is NOT contagious.
Extract;
....These [blood tests] showed extremely high Creatine Kinase levels and [the doctor] thought I had something called Muscular Dystrophy .... Creatine Kinase is an enzyme, which when released in elevated levels could indicate amongst other things muscle disease. A few weeks later my parents were told to take me for a muscle biopsy .... It was explained to my parents that my biopsy result came back positive for a disease called Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy ... [a] severe terminal muscle wasting genetic disease that gradually kills all the body’s muscle cells...
That was all back in 1986 for me. In amongst all this bad news there are overwhelming positives. Especially the attitude and sheer determination found in all those living with DMD! The exceptional parents and caregivers that go that extra mile and the awesome interconnected DMD community. Read more about positive determination in my book DMD LIFE ART & ME!
EBOOK available here; https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/69702
Available on Amazon USA here; http://www.amazon.com/DMD-Life-Art-Ian-Griffiths/dp/1907652337/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1288120811&sr=8-1
Available on Amazon UK here; http://www.amazon.co.uk/DMD-LIFE-ART-AND-ME/dp/1907652337/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1288105302&sr=8-1
All links available in my website here; http://duchennemen.net16.net/Buy-my-book-s/
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.
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