About

 

The Shake It Up website/blog serves to raise public awareness about the movement disorder known as essential tremor (ET), to educate people about ET through a multitude of links to valid source materials and references, and to bring people with ET together. Understanding this condition and learning about medicinal and surgical options is another goal. Visitors to Shake It Up will hopefully be inspired to lead full and productive lives in their chosen work fields. A part of Shake It Up consists of an easily accessible blog by this writer which depicts her personal experiences with ET. Readers have the ability to comment on these different posts or contact me directly. If young adults with ET see my story, the hope is for all to not be afraid of or shy away from meeting challenges such going to college and pursuing  all of their dreams regardless of ET.  

 

My name is Rachel Roth and I am a 24 year-old communications major at the University of California San Diego. I have been affected by ET for the last 19 years of my life and unless there is some miraculous medical discovery, this movement disorder will be my constant life’s companion. My tremor was first noticed when I was 5. Misdiagnosis after misdiagnosis for almost 10 years was a result of lack of knowledge amongst the pediatric medical community.  At 14, a neurologist finally provided the definitive diagnosis of ET. I was in denial and did not want any stigma attached to my young adolescence that would have resulted in my teachers knowing about my ET and giving my peers a reason to taunt me. Simply stated, I wanted to look and feel normal. Making music has been my outlet to success. I learned to play trombone, violin, cello and piano. Throughout grade school and high school, I successfully participated in three youth orchestras, a handful of jazz bands, competed in five national jazz band competitions, and participated in intensive summer music workshops with top industry musicians. My first two years of college were spent at Sonoma State University as a music education major before deciding to catch up on more in depth general education classes at Moorpark College and then apply for admission to UCSD as a communications major. My choice to attend UCSD as a communications major has been a good one. The communications classes have given me comprehensive tools and impetus to create modes of communication for disseminating information about ET. 

 

Having a movement disorder that would make every day activities, as simple as handwriting and as complex as practicing my musical instruments, difficult has presented as an ongoing challenge which I am determined to take on full-force. While my goals may have initially been personal, it has been my study of music education and performance coupled with my earlier experiences working with special needs children that are shaping my career goals – spreading awareness of essential tremor, a progressive movement disorder that affects over 10 million people worldwide and working with special needs children to help bring those I touch to their full potential.  

 

Shake It Up continues to be an arena for people with ET to gain support. It has allowed me to connect with and help both the newly diagnosed and others in the ET community. Its creation has been a springboard towards becoming a support group leader for the IETF (International Essential Tremor Foundation) under the guidance of Carolina Conway, a young lady I met at the ITEF seminar at the UCSD Telemedicine building in 2014. Currently, I am working with a friend and student colleague at UCSD, Debra Uson, on a documentary to raise awareness and educate people about ET.  I believe that educating others will lead to more tolerance of people with ET and hopefully spread tolerance of others with any disabilities.