A Mother's Story - Elizabeth Florence  Florence Family
Elizabeth Florence lives in Dallas, Texas, with her husband, and
two sons, Sam, 10, and Will, 13. Sam was born with congenital
myotonic dystrophy. Will does not have the disorder.  "lt's very
difficult to be a mother to a child who is different. Sam
sometimes uses a wheelchair and he moves slower than other
children. On the other hand, I feel very lucky because my
husband and I are healthy and we have the energy and ability to
take care of Sam and to be there for our other son, Will."  Like
many families who are dealing with DM, Liz and her husband
received a lot of misinformation from the doctors immediately
after Sam's birth.  "Every shift change meant different
information from each new staff member. We didn't know what to
think," Liz recalls. She and her husband went to the hospital
every morning and stayed with Sam all day. "One day, when Sam
was about three weeks old, the neonatologist told us Sam would
have a very short life span -- until about th