Courtney

A movie script could not play out like this. There are very few occasions when a rare disease patient becomes the topic of a story that is truly uplifting. Often the stories are tragic or disheartening. That was not the case, however, with CMT patient Kim Goodsell.

One of the ways that some CMT patients first become aware of their disease is when they are given a drug treatment for another disease. This is termed chemotherapy-induced neurotoxicity. Drugs such as paclitaxel and the vinca alkaloids that are widely used in cancer treatment cause severe peripheral neuropathy and in some patients this exacerbates CMT, revealing it perhaps for the first time.

My name is Courtney Hollett, Fundraising Coordinator at the Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation. This time of year I count my blessing daily and wanted to share with you a Q&A session I had with a new supporter of HNF. Kara, like myself has many family members affected with CMT and I reached out to her to share her thoughts and advice about how to “support” a friend or family member that’s affected with Charcot-MarieTooth.

Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation (HNF) is pleased to announce the creation of a joint venture to develop drug candidates for the treatment of Charcot-MarieTooth (CMT) Disease with BioPontis Alliance for Rare Disease.