Salty Zebra

      This week was absolutely packed with appointments, but so much progress was made!       Monday I had the opportunity to see an EDS specialist that had at first seemed impossible to get into. Thanks to my primary doctor's support and regular calls on my behalf as well as the prayer support of friends and family I was able to see his physician's assistant last month for a screening.  She affirmed that I was a candidate for this specialist's treatment and sent me off to get an MRI and do the Spinal Stability test that I completed last week so that I could come prepared to meet the specialist and begin therapy.  He walked into the office, greeted me and my husband, and then gave the following speech (paraphrased as I didn't record it 😉 ), "I assume you're interested in Prolotherapy since that's what I do, but before we can consider that you need to get past four mental leaps:  1. This is going to hurt and you can't do anything to help the pain 2. You

      I know we don't know each other well yet, but I'm going to dive deep today into an issue I've struggled with for years, maybe decades: unanswered prayer.  For a long time I was afraid to even discuss it.  I didn't want to sound like I didn't have faith, and I didn't want to diminish anyone else's faith.  But one of the things I love about God and the Christian faith is that we are allowed, even encouraged, to ask the hard questions.  I know that if it's something I've struggled with, odds are there's someone else out there that has as well.       Over the years I've come to a sense of peace with a new understanding or epiphany about faith, suffering, etc. but whether it's because I forget or because my challenges intensify, I come back over and over to wondering about unanswered prayer.  Over the last 6-8 years these prayers have been about my health, but before that it was a desire for a baby, or my marriage, or things with my kids

      I wrote last that I am privileged to have access to health care, and much variety in it, but that also brings you to a place where you wonder, "Am I doing too much?"  I began to ponder this over the course of this week, and even more as I look at the week ahead.       I started the week on Monday with a counselling appointment. I'm so thankful to have a supportive counselor that I've been seeing for years and is not afraid to speak truth to me when I need to hear it.  With holidays and travel I haven't been to see her for a few weeks, so this was a nice opportunity.       On Tuesday I headed into the city first to see my primary doctor, a Naturopath, for a monthly appointment combined with a magnesium IV.  My system doesn't tolerate magnesium orally and it is crucial for the process of replacing amalgam fillings that I am currently undergoing.  We discussed my current challenges with digestion and a recent understanding of the history of pain in my ankle

 From  Why the zebra? – The Ehlers-Danlos Support UK  : “When you hear the sound of hooves, think horses, not zebras.” This phrase is taught to medical students throughout their training. In medicine, the term “zebra” is used in reference to a rare disease or condition.  Doctors are taught to assume that the simplest explanation is usually correct to avoid patients being misdiagnosed with rare illnesses.  Doctors learn to expect common conditions. But many medical professionals seem to forget that “zebras” DO exist and so getting a diagnosis and treatment can be more difficult for sufferers of rare conditions.  Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is considered a rare condition and so EDS sufferers are known as medical zebras.  This identity has now been adopted across the world through social media to help bring our community together.