Category Archives: Disability

Off to nj with tpn

I have a ten day trip to the east coast to visit my family. These are just my medical supplies for the trip, including TPN, my c-pap, catheters, and TPN/hydration supplies. One year ago, I had to cancel this trip to get feeding tubes urgently, because starvation and dehydration were becoming a problem. Now, I’m alive and nourished thanks to TPN (IV nutrition). I am grateful for this treatment, grateful that Medicaid hasn’t been cut and pays for this, and grateful to be alive! NJ here we come! August is also gastroparesis awareness month, and we’re starving for a cure!

New AFOs

These boots were made for walkin. When you have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome  and a partial spinal cord injury from Craniocervical Instability you need all sorts of braces to function better. These are my new AFOs (ankle-foot orthoses). My old ones didn’t support my feet enough, so I had to upgrade. The old ones looked like shin guards, so hopefully with these people won’t ask me if I’m a soccer player… 

Official Ehlers Danlos diagnoSis

It’s official! It took five years to get here, but we finally made it. I just heard back from genetics. Genetic testing for Classical Ehlers Danlos was normal, which means I have hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome by clinical criteria. The zebra is because thats what us EDSers refer to ourselves as. It comes from the med school saying that when you hear hoof beats, you shouldn’t think zebras – meaning common stuff is common. I guess, sometimes you should think zebras…