ET is not confined to the elderly. Children and middle-aged people can also have ET. No matter the age, people with ET lead active lives. They use their intellect, gifts, innate talent, and cultivated interests to make the most of their life. The IETF is proud to share their stories with you.
Service Dog Becomes Life-Changing Hero for Teen with Essential TremorAugust 11, 2022
It was the most meaningful gift Gracie Key has ever received. In 2019, her former teacher gave her a German Shepherd puppy named Saber. Saber became a “Life-Saber” for this Missouri teenager. Saber was not an ordinary pet. He was a service dog, trained to support individuals with disabilities. Gracie’s disability is essential tremor (ET). […]
ET Taught Me to Work Hard and Never Give UpJuly 27, 2022
Each semester, the IETF awards four $1,000 college scholarships to students who have essential tremor through its Catherine S. Rice Scholarship Fund. As part of the application process, students are asked to write an essay on the topic, “how essential tremor has affected my life.” The following essay is from one of our fall 2022 […]
Essential Tremor Has Turned Me into a Problem SolverJune 29, 2022
Each semester, the IETF awards four $1,000 college scholarships to students who have essential tremor through its Catherine S. Rice Scholarship Fund. As part of the application process, students are asked to write an essay on the topic, “how essential tremor has affected my life.” The following essay is from one of our fall 2022 […]
I Was Fighting an Invisible Enemy, and I Was Losing
Each semester, the IETF awards four $1,000 college scholarships to students who have essential tremor through its Catherine S. Rice Scholarship Fund. As part of the application process, students are asked to write an essay on the topic, “how essential tremor has affected my life.” The following essay is from one of our fall 2022 […]
ET Has Taught Me about Self-Acceptance
Each semester, the IETF awards four $1,000 college scholarships to students who have essential tremor through its Catherine S. Rice Scholarship Fund. As part of the application process, students are asked to write an essay on the topic, “how essential tremor has affected my life.” The following essay is from one of our fall 2022 […]
Smile and the World Smiles with YouJune 7, 2022
Janet’s ET Story When I was a little girl, my dad introduced me to a beauty queen. (Her name was Ann Sidney). Dad was friends with her father. He knew it would be good for his shy, young daughter to meet this beautiful woman, who actually went on to become Miss World. Her body measurements […]
My ET is Not a WeaknessMarch 11, 2022
Irem Sara’s Story My name is Sara. I’m 21 years old and I was diagnosed to essential tremor two years ago. The first time that I heard this I felt exhausted. The first medication I started caused complications with my heart. After I took my medicine, I was feeling like I was fighting with a […]
The Process of Accepting My ET DiagnosisMarch 7, 2022
Jennifer’s Story “You have essential tremor (ET). It’s a neurological movement disorder that has no cure, and is progressive.” This is what my doctor told me. How does one process that at 34 years old or at any age? The fact is it may take time. It has taken me two long months and hours […]
Accepting and Managing My ET
Judy’s Story Sometime in the 1970s my sister asked me, “Why is your arm twitching?” Since I had always seen her as a bit of an alarmist, I shrugged it off and forgot about it. Whether that was a precursor to my essential tremor (ET) I would never know as I was not diagnosed for […]
Getting Used to the Stares
Andrea’s Story My hands started to shake when I was in high school, earning me very colorful nicknames like “palsy” and “coke head.” I tried to laugh it off, making jokes and trying so hard to ignore the stares. As my disease progressed, small things became more difficult. But it wasn’t until I had kids […]