My late teens with Becker’s Muscular Dystrophy

As I entered my late teens I'd have to say my energy levels were still pretty good, I would hang out with my friends almost every day, the only difference for me is that this would all have to be done at my own pace. Honestly I am very thankful that I had a few very understanding friends especially at this point in my life. You see the biggest thing I have learned living with Becker’s Muscular Dystrophy is that when it comes to any physically demanding activity that it is always best for us to just take it easy. Throughout my teens I was still able to have plenty of fun, things ranging from; playing floor hockey before youth group, go kart racing to even spending a day at the local amusement park.

These are just a few of the things that I was able to do simply because I paced myself and took small breaks when I needed to. Now, sometimes I did learn the hard way that if I pushed myself too far physically that it would increase the likelihood of a slip or fall. This was due to fatigue and whenever this happened it would usually take about 2 or 3 days for my energy levels to return back to normal. I just learned to accept this and it also taught me that I need to stick within my limitations and do my best to not exceed them. So you can see even as a teen living with Becker’s Muscular Dystrophy if I paced myself I was still able to join my friends and enjoy life.

Thankfully I was still able to have a lot of fun in my teens

Now sure when it comes to living with Becker’s Muscular Dystrophy in your teens at times it can be quite challenging. There were many times when I faced some major obstacles in my teens but I didn’t allow them to limit my ability to have fun. In all honesty, outside of school growing up life was pretty good, and even though I faced difficulties in keeping up with my friends but in my opinion I grew up like any other teen. Sure there were times when I would push myself physically but always kept within my limitations and never to the point of exhaustion. Looking back I would have to say at times in my life I have been able to do some pretty amazing things, even some that surprised me.

You see at times what helped me through the difficult moments in my teens was writing lyrics for songs I hoped one day to record. Eventually this led to an opportunity to perform in front of my church youth group. Surprisingly to me I hated speaking in front of the class in school yet I got myself in a situation that put me up on stage and yes I was very nervous. Thankfully everything went okay as it actually led to even more performances but I had to keep them short to avoid facing any major issues related to Becker's Muscular Dystrophy. 

Now to be totally honest at times throughout my entire teens I wanted to ignore the fact that I had Becker’s Muscular Dystrophy. Many times I simply tried my best to hide the fact that I struggled physically. When you’re much younger this is easy to do but when I reached my late teens into my early twenties that’s when things started to change.

The story continues please (Click Here) to read

“My twenties and living with Becker’s Muscular Dystrophy.”