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My husband and I are navigating uncharted waters with our large family. As many of you know, I have hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) and several comorbidities I’ve discussed in previous columns. What most of the world doesn’t know is that more than half of our children also live…

Just when I thought I could finally cancel my frequent flyer club membership with our local emergency department, I found myself back there for the first time in a record seven months! My last visit was due to a frightening reaction to an iron infusion last winter, and I was…

Today, I took an unexpected trip down memory lane, and not a particularly pleasant one. It took me back to a time just a handful of years ago when I was being sent from specialist to specialist, carrying my heavy “backpack” full of odd, seemingly unrelated symptoms, worry, and…

This week has been incredibly busy for my family and me. It started on Monday with an all-day field trip outdoors in the bitter cold, then cheer practice that evening. Next was coaching cheer at a chilly football game on Tuesday, and a big event on Wednesday that required 10…

“Come on, Mom. It’s time for cheer practice.” It’s nearly dinnertime, and after an already busy day as a mother of four, wife, homemaker, and self-employed woman, I get ready to head out to another cheer practice, where I volunteer as the assistant coach, feeling beyond tired. I signed up…

I was 48 years old when my health began to decline. After years of searching for answers, I was finally diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) in 2023 at the age of 56. Living with EDS has changed every part of my life. Although I may appear healthy…

I’m welcoming October this year not from my office chair, but from my husband’s recliner, with supportive pillows tucked behind my back and neck. I’m trying to listen to my Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS)-literate physical therapist and give my body the time and support it needs to heal from my…

I don’t have a degree in anatomy, but sometimes I wish I understood the inner workings of the muscles, fascia, joints, and ligaments better. Living with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) has forced me to learn far more about my body than I ever expected to, usually the hard way.

You’re going about your day when, all of a sudden, it feels like your body has completely forgotten how to swallow properly, and you start choking. It’s been happening to me a lot lately! I might be doing housework or talking to someone, and I’ll inhale just as my throat…

The end of summer: bittersweet. The back-to-school rush: brutal! These last few weeks have been nothing short of a blurred whirlwind, not just physically exhausting, but emotionally draining as well. How is the new school year already upon us? I must have blinked, but my body is keeping the receipts…