My outlook on life has changed quite drastically because of Friedreich’s Ataxia. I live life for today; for this very moment. Not for yesterday, that’s done. Not for tomorrow either, that’s not looking too bright. I make an effort to get the most out of each moment.
Let’s backtrack a bit… my kindergarten teacher noticed that I was “different” than the other kids. Different being that I sat down a lot instead of doing the standard kindergarten thing; I didn’t play to exhaustion like all the other kids. I went through elementary school with everyone thinking I had a balance problem, because that is what I understood, and told them. The doctors had no idea why. I was finally diagnosed at about 10, after years of seemingly pointless testing. Now I am in my thirties, and I’m happy to say that I live on my own, I have my own apartment and my own car, just like everyone else. I have also experienced various sports, extreme sports you could say.
I continue to struggle against my FA, and enjoy doing it. Why should I sit back and make it easy for FA to run its course? I take an adaptive PE class twice a week, do hippotherapy (horseback riding) every other week, go swimming once a week (when it’s warm enough) and go to the gym whenever I can. This is my weekly routine.
On the more extreme side of things, I snow ski each winter, I go camping, rafting, and skydiving numerous times in the summer. I’ve been parasailing, and I am going to try paragliding.
I may be stuck in a powerchair, I may require a lift to get around my apartment, I may need a speech amplifier and hearing aids, but the world keeps spinning, life keeps changing, and I’ll enjoy each moment as it comes.
