My HSP story
by Aldert Dreyer

When I was 6 years old, I began to find it difficult to put on my socks. When I started school, all the kids made fun of the way I walked and from
that moment on, I started seeing doctors and specialists.

Walking was very difficult because my foot would drag along the ground or it would fall behind my other foot and I would trip over myself. If I was unbalanced, I
would shake, but I could still manage to run and participate in sporting activities.

Every time I made a trip up to the hospital, the diagnosis would be different. First I was over clumsy and then it was Cerebral Palsy and another diagnosis was I was stupid. I attended physical therapy twice a week for a couple of years and then got involved in school sports. For 9 years I played hockey and 4 years basketball and after every game or training session my legs would cramp really bad and the pains began to grow (this was during my growth spurt years).

When I was 16 I was taken to a neurologist and he diagnosed me with Spastic Paraplegia. The specialist told me that my condition wouldn't deteriorate and it would stabilize after I finished growing. Then when I was 16 I had become ill with kidney failure, and a year later I was on a dialysis machine. Because of the kidney failure, I had a lot of swelling in my legs from too much liquid in them and due to this situation my walking had become irritable and the pain was more so, there was even spasms when I wasn't moving the muscle would just move but without moving.

When I was 18 I underwent a renal transplant and this was the year 2001. After the transplant I was giving medications and one type of the medication is known to cause shakes and tremors, as a result of this my walking has become a day to day thing. I do not use a walking stick or any other transport helping device. I'm 21 years old in March and I have had the condition for 15 years now.

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