About Me

    On December 17, 1995, at the Greenville Memorial Hospital, is where it all started. When I came out the womb, I wasn’t your average 8-pound baby that came out crying and looked normal. I was born with a disability called, Arthrogryposis.  Arthrogryposis is basically just a fancy word for saying that joints and muscles are stuck where they are. “It sounds bad, right?” Trust me, it’s not as bad as it sounds. Fortunately, I have the less severe case of it. Therefore, my joints and muscles being stuck aren’t such a bad thing. I often get asked the question, “Is surgery available to help you?” Of course, but I believe I’ve taken all the surgery I’m going to take. I’ve had surgery on both of my feet and my right hip. Surgery wasn’t the only treatment I went through. Up until about middle school, I was in therapy, both occupational and physical. They helped me with muscle strength and the guidance I needed to do a lot of everyday task. I was in a body cast until I was 3 or 4 years old. Since I was not able to walk, I rolled around to get where I wanted to go. After the body casts, I was in a wheelchair, scrapping off all the wallpaper in the house! And along with that, was my feeding tube to help me eat. I never had surgery on my wrists, but I was supposed to have splints on them to straightened them out. I wasn’t having it though. I used to pull them off with my teeth. I absolutely hated those things! When I started walking, which was when I was about 5, I had to wear leg braces that came almost to my knees. They were to support my feet and help maintain balance. But the thing is… since I’ve stopped wearing them, I’ve fallen less!  They were a pain as well. I couldn’t wear certain shoes like I wanted to, because they all had to be wider to fit the braces. Shoe shopping was the struggle back then.  And please, “don’t get me started about the summer!” Those things were so hot and itchy…..Ugh!! Growing up, and right now today, besides support from doctors and nurses from Shriner’s Hospital, my friends and family and others, my stubbornness has played a huge part in the progress I’ve made.  My Nanny always tells the story about when I was little, she would come home from work and we’d all be in the kitchen. I’d say, “Look Tee Tee” (she’s had many names over the years) and take a few steps. I would fall, but I’d always get back up. Another story she’d tell is right before church, she or my aunt would feed me and a soon as they get me all dressed up, I would throw it right back up. She eventually got tired of me tricking them and every day after work, she’d feed me a little until I no longer needed my feeding tube. When middle school came around, my braces had to go. I remember just walking every now and then without them in regular shoes. My Papa was always concerned and kept telling me that I needed to wear them, since the doctor hadn’t given me permission to walk without them. The next time I went to the doctor, we told him I was walking without them and so as long as it wasn’t affecting me in a negative way, he saw nothing wrong with it. Ever since then, I’ve worn regular shoes and my braces have been in the closet collecting dust. As a result of my disability, I’m not able to ball a fist, nor am I able to squeeze your finger if you’d ask me to. For safety reasons, I can’t play sports and do other physical activities. Yet I have refused to let it define who I am or who I’ll become. The Doctors said I wasn’t going to be able to walk, nor talk. “But now look at me now!” Doctors have some answers, but not all of them. Without God and my family by my side every step of the way, I wouldn’t have gotten this far!  It’s cliché, but you really can do whatever you want as long as you put your mind to it!

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For More Information on Arthrogyposis: http://www.webmd.com/children/arthrogryposis-multiplex-congenita http://otaonline.stkate.edu/blog/occupational-therapy-vs-physical-therapy-whats-difference/ http://www.aanem.org/Patients/Disorders/Arthrogryposis-Multiplex-Congenita