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Show -13- Peppermint Monday Chapter 2: Old Jake I'll never forget the day pa and ma told us Russ had muscular dystrophy. It was a brisk November day, with a lot of dark clouds overhead. Pa and Russ had been to a doctor, which wasn't unusual, they had gone to the doctor a lot lately. Only this doctor had been a specialist in muscle disorders. We knew something was wrong with Russ when he had so much trouble learning to walk. I knew babies were supposed to be clumsy, so I wasn't concerned when Russ fell so much. Ma was. I walked at nine months, and Jason at a little over a year, so she was concerned when Russ had still not mastered walking at two. Our local doctor didn't know a whole lot about his problem, and I guess we all hoped he'd grow out of it. But he didn't, he just got worse. The specialist wasn't encouraging. He told pa Russ' muscle cells were degenerating at a rapid pace. He would never walk, but rely on a wheelchair for as long as he lived, which in most cases wasn't beyond twenty years. Some people with the disease could walk with the aid of special braces and crutches. Russ' condition had already progressed past that possibility. At first Russ' muscles were over large and firm. He couldn't lift his arms above his head while patty-caking or throwing a ball. Later on, he'd become weaker and thinner, as if he was slowly wasting away, which according to the doctor, was exactly what he was doing. It made me so mad that somebody hadn't found a treatment for people like my brother. He was slowly shrinking away, and nothing or nobody could help him. Anyway, pa had us all sit down in the living room, with the television off so Jason and I would pay attention. Russ was there too, on ma's lap, too young to understand any of what pa said, which was good. Pa said the doctor gave no hope! for Russ to ever get better. He would just get worse and worse, |