#fightlikeazebra

I thought this "fight like a zebra" idea was pretty cool.

There's hope for everyone who has a "mystery illness", or has a chronic illness that doctors don't really understand yet, or who has suffered with doctors blowing them off for years, or who was diagnosed with some vague condition because the doctors don't know what you really have (*coughcough*IBS).

It's really, really hard sometimes. But have hope, and stay strong. :)

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"As I said in previous posts (repeating in case it was missed) my sons and I have a genetic disorder called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome with a co-condition called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia syndrome. In layman's terms, our collagen is messed up and the protein collagen is in 80% of your body. It's the glue that holds your body together and our glue is defective. So, we are falling apart slowly. Our joints dislocate, our veins don't constrict, we have blood pressure and digestive issues, we faint, get dizzy spells, have chronic fatigue...it's a real chronic party. That's the short version. The first week of medical school, future doctors are told if it has hoof-prints, look for a horse, not a zebra. In other words, look for the most obvious answer to the symptoms. People with EDS and POTS are NOT obvious. We look like hypochondriacs because we go to doctors constantly with seemingly unrelated problems. Once we're diagnosed, we're so relieved! We're not crazy! We're zebras. The first thing our newly found support groups tell us, is to fight like a zebra. It's a good lesson for anyone with a chronic illness. We shouldn't look at our past and compare to lack of ability now (it's progressive). We need to be thankful we did those things in the past at all. Be thankful for the things we did do because those life experiences prepared us for this fight. Many of us are high achievers and that needs to be celebrated. Some of us barely left the starting gate before we were dealt with debilitation but hey, we did leave the starting gate! We will walk, crawl, hop, wheel, our way through life. We are not quitters. I use to be a runner, a biker, and did jui-jit-su. Now I'm in a wheelchair and spend my days popping joints, living on salt, and fighting to get upright out of bed. My eldest was a biker and a swimmer. He is able to walk and does so daily even though its now painful for him. He is keeping up with his exercises in hopes of avoiding the wheelchair. My youngest enjoys swimming but his fatigue keeps him from doing much at all. He gets moments of hyperactivity then naps. My sons are 19 and 14, they barely made it out of the starting gate but they DID start! EDS and POTS affects each person so individually. Whatever part of the body decides to show up defective...it's a gamble. For some, its lung problems and bursitis and that's all they deal with which is hard enough. For others it means hundreds of surgeries and life threatening debilitation.  Male zebras will fight to the death sometimes to protect their herd. Never give up, never give in. Do what you can, while you can, for as long as you can. We will fight like zebras!"

Written by "genuinegem" on "Bubblews". Post here!

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Also, I saw the "fightlikeazebra" and "lifeasazebra" tags first on this blog [TomorrowsABetterYesterday], so I'll give her credit too. :D