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tafarezz

Muscular Dystrophy

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I'm a 28 years old whuffo with a muscular distrophy (the right name is Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy), not that much hardcore but pretty annoying sometimes.
I walk and live without a problem, but running feels difficult, as jumping over a chair : I got a lack of power in my legs. It's not painful and easy to forget.
I was asking myself how hard are landings in parachuting, I deeply want to jump on my own. I've seen many jumps on skydivingmovies.com, it's been a year i'm sneaking through the web, through videos, but I can hardly estimate if I'm able to do it without taking too much risk. Some doctors say I can, others say it's not a good idea (but none of them jump actually...), that's why I'm posting here. Does any of you can give an estimation of how the average landing feels ? Like jumping from a chair or from a 3 feet table or... whatever !

thank you soooooo much, if I feel confident, I think I'm gonna try a first AFF jump next month...

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I have a Limb-Girder variant mixed with other junk such as spasms, tremors (at times) pain, fatigue and as you've mentioned - weakness. When were you diagnosed? As you know, its progression is slow especially if you manage your activities. It was also thought that I had MS in addition to the MD, but thankfully that's been ruled out.

Anyway, I've 131 jumps this way.....some days better than others.........I try to "rest up" a day or two before going to the DZ........so far no problems. As for landings, that is going to be up to you for the most part............your flaring, etc. Many landings are soft as if stepping off a stool and the ones that weren't, I was no worse for the wear. :P

This is totally up to you...........how far have you progressed with the LG MD?


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How far I am with the LG MD. It depends on lots of variant. Me and my 2 brothers we've been diagnosed 12 years ago.

Objectively, i'm not that far. I can walk easely, stand up from a chair, I can even run a bit (but not far away and without much speed), to climb stairs is ok if I use a hand to lift me a bit. If I don't say it to people, they don't even notice. I can dance all night long when at a club, I can stand up and walk through a city all day long without too much suffering.
As for recovering, as long as I keep focus on not doing too much, the day after is OK. If I've been too far, even just a bit, I may need up to 3 days to fully recover.
I try to manage activities, I try to understand how my body reacts, so far I adapted myself without to much frustration.

I know that the worse side by now is psychological. My brain realizes that my body won't follow him on every things he wants to do. I did some bungee jumps, on the first jump the amount of stress was so high that after I couldn't barely walk. But now I can jump whenever I want, practicing exits even on high jumps (650 feet), and I'm still quite fit after it. I just need a bit of mental organisation.

Any ideas or tips on how to not screw the first flares? I know it may sound obvious (i know we are radio connected with an instructor and he says when to flare) but maybe.... :$

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A plus...........you're aware of your body and know how to manage it........that's great and is in your favor. The psychological aspect can be and is (at times) a bummer, but as you already know.......you can adapt there also.

I really can't give you advice on flaring as I'm not an instructor.........your instructor is the best source. You will be on radio and under a "huge" student canopy. The large canopy will be in your favor as the larger the canopy/the lighter the wing loading - the slower you will come in. Your instructor will tell you when to flare as your depth perception (at first) my not enable you to judge the proper height to begin your flare which is (if I remember correctly) 10 to 15 feet above ground........don't quote me on that as now I just "eyeball" my approach. A common mistake with beginning students is flaring too soon......that will "drop you" once the canopy stalls. All of this sounds like a lot, but it really isn't...........if you go with the program.......you'll adapt and learn, trust me. Personally, I don't think (although you're the best judge of that) you will have any problems landing relative to the MD and probably won't for a while.

If you make your jump, decide to keep with the program and eventually get your "A" License, stay with a large canopy. That is what a new license holder should do for SAFETY; however, in our particular cases (MD) - the larger canopy makes for slower and more pleasant landings (overall). I jump a PD280 - student size although it's my personal rig - does great and I'm happy with it.


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Nope, not yet ! :( But it was only a matter of time, quit hard to handle work and the AFF session !

I spent a lot of time at the DZ just to check landings, from experienced skydivers as from student, I definitely think my legs can handle it.

I can't wait to find the time to jump !! :P

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