My name is Terrence A Reed Jr, retired U.S. Army. I also served in four combat zones (1 Afghanistan, 3 Iraq). Now that I think back, I think I first noticed while still serving on active duty on Schofield barracks in Hawaii. We did a lot of physical training, and I noticed my hamstrings where always having spasms and it got harder to march in formation. I couldn’t do some of the facing movements but by that time I had enough rank that I didn’t have to march in formation.

About a year and a half ago is when I really noticed that I was feeling signs of the illness. My legs would hurt all the time from just walking to my desk and began to shake more frequently. I was retired from the U.S. Army and completed 2 master’s degrees. I was at the top of my career and what I felt was living my dream life. However, I had a feeling that it would affect me one day. I mean my grandfather, father, brother, Aunts (2), had the same illness.

I finally accepted the fact that I was sick after a year long depression. I quit my 6 figure job in Washington D.C. sold my condo and later returned to my mother’s house. I was already retired from the U.S. Army and had VA benefits anyway. While going through the testing, physical therapy and other VA screening I had enough savings to support myself while not working.

It took a while for me to accept my diagnosis. As a matter of fact, I didn’t want to get out of bed for months. Once I sort of accepted it, I was able to put a couple of things into perspective. Like, being there for my kids, which I never really was able to do. I feel that I have a lot of experience, knowledge and material things that I want to share with them. I feel that I’ve accomplished too much in life for my kids to have less than others.

I make sure that my legs constantly move daily. I constantly use leg air compression machines. I also have a portable steam sauna in my mom’s garage and get constant muscle massages. Doing these things stop a lot of the pain that’s caused by the muscle spasms.

My kids and grandkids give me hope. They make me feel that I need to accomplish several things with them first. I want to leave a mark on them and make a difference in their worlds. I don’t want them feeling less than anyone else like I saw a lot of young “URBAN” kids were.