Q: Will your arms be affected?

Q: Will your arms be affected?

A: Some versions of HSP leave the arms and hands completely unaffected, and some affect them as much as the legs. My version appears to closer to the torso and legs version. My arms are already slightly affected. Neither of them can do what they used to do. My right arm is much weaker than my left arm. I can do daily tasks, but, for example, I can’t lift my right arm up in the air for more than a few seconds, and even though I’m right-handed, I usually prefer my left arm to do things because there is so much less effort required to move it.

The hope and the theory is that my arms and hands will not get any worse, that they will stay the same as they are now. Arms are rarely fully affected in this disease. The minor impedances to my arms and hands have not gotten worse in the past few months like my lower body has. Evidence now shows that in the future I will only get worse from the chest down. I can live with that.