MDF Magazine Issue 72 December 2023
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adjust her schedule when she felt concerned that she was not<br />
physically able to see all the patients assigned to her. She was<br />
having trouble walking in the evening and getting out of bed<br />
in the morning and recognized that she needed to adjust her<br />
physical activity during the day. She worked with HR to adapt<br />
her schedule and allow more space and time between patients.<br />
Navigating at home and staying active<br />
Corinne lives at home with her husband, Luke, in Nashville.<br />
They had been married for 6 months when she was diagnosed.<br />
Corinne is quick to share that Luke is incredibly supportive,<br />
motivating, and helpful. He takes responsibility for<br />
the housework, cooking, cleaning, and laundry. He occasionally<br />
assists her with dressing or doing her hair if she is especially<br />
fatigued. She does not financially qualify for formal<br />
caregivers and is grateful for her husband’s unwavering informal<br />
support.<br />
Luke also assists Corinne in getting out of the house in the<br />
morning so that she does not need to make multiple trips<br />
between the car and home. While they are looking to move<br />
into a more accessible home, their current residence is not<br />
wheelchair accessible. Corinne leaves her powerchair in her<br />
van overnight and walks using a cane at home.<br />
Corinne and Luke researched and purchased an alreadymodified<br />
van on Craigslist. The van has a ramp on the side to<br />
wheel her power chair in and out and has a swiveling driver<br />
seat. Her vehicle does not have hand brakes at this time, but<br />
she anticipates needing them in the near future and plans to<br />
reach out to her local occupational and educational rehabilitation<br />
services for assistance in funding and modifications.<br />
Just as Corinne refused to allow her prognosis to slow her<br />
down in her career, she also overcame boundaries by pursuing<br />
adaptive recreation and staying active. Luke and Corinne<br />
both enjoy being outdoors and finding new adventures. Since<br />
her diagnosis, Corinne has gone adaptive skiing, hang-gliding,<br />
and scuba diving. She enjoys spending time with friends and<br />
family. And she also cherishes the new community and incredible<br />
friendships that she has found because of her diagnosis.<br />
The power of community<br />
Corinne shares that the most powerful resource for her has<br />
been building relationships with others in the neuromuscular<br />
community. “Reaching out to other people who have been<br />
through it is the most beneficial way to get practical advice,”<br />
Corinne says. “Googling and research is overwhelming. Sit<br />
down and talk to actual people, and they can tell you what to<br />
do and what not to do.”<br />
After she was diagnosed, Corinne joined Facebook groups<br />
and an online GNE page and she registered with MDA.<br />
Corinne shares that she has met and built significant friendships<br />
since becoming involved with the MDA community and<br />
MDA events. She met a local woman with the same diagnosis<br />
at her local MDA Muscle Walk and the two became friends.<br />
They chat frequently about their disease and about life.<br />
Corinne finds value in having someone whom she can reach<br />
out to her [sic] with questions and for support.<br />
Corinne also read an article in Quest magazine that featured<br />
an older man living with limb girdle muscular dystrophy<br />
(LGMD) nearby in Tennessee. She found his address and<br />
mailed him a letter. That letter sparked the beginning of a<br />
years long friendship between him and his wife and Corinne<br />
and Luke. He had been living with a neuromuscular disease<br />
for much longer than Corinne and became a mentor to her.<br />
Dinners, trips and visits, and long conversations set the foundation<br />
of an incredible relationship. While he has since<br />
passed away, Corinne and her husband stay in close contact<br />
with his wife.<br />
Corinne advises people living with a disability to connect with<br />
their community. The support and resources that others can<br />
share is both heartwarming and empowering. “Each person’s<br />
story is a reminder that you can achieve whatever goal you<br />
set for yourself – you are able,” Corinne says.<br />
Article available at: https://strongly.mda.org/quest-forsuccess-corinne-grgas/