EDS Diagnosis

two hands with blue gloves holding a surgical mask

Part Two: HEDS Researchers Explain Clinician-Associated Trauma

This is the second article in our series covering psychological medical trauma. The first article provided an introduction to what concepts of psychological medical trauma exist and the newly-created concept of clinician-associated trauma. It also introduced a study regarding hEDS patients and clinician-associated trauma. This article will look deeper into the details of this study […]

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Part One: EDS & Psychological Medical Trauma: An Introduction

[Content warning: trauma, PTSD, mental healthcare, negative clinician behavior, difficult medical encounters] Have you ever read something that left you speechless? I have so many thoughts and feelings about this article – ones that I can’t express with any sort of coherence at the time. What I can say: clinicians READ THIS (finger pointing down […]

A woman on the back of a smiling man. She wears a red shirt and jeans with holes around her knees and he wears a grey shirt and has a beard.

EDS, Dating & Internalized Ableism

I sat in my car on the edge of the San Francisco Bay during a huge storm staring at my phone, finger hovering over the button on a dating app to post a profile that, if pushed, had the potential to change my life. I had recently moved back to the Bay Area and was […]

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The First Steps of Medicine: Unraveling S.O.A.P. Notes from a First-Year Medical Student

Many of us can often feel like we are ‘professional patients’ managing our care as a seemingly never-ending full-time job of its own. But for a moment, try picturing yourself as a first-year medical student. What tactics can you imagine you might need to learn to keep the volumes of scientific and medical data organized […]

A microscope view of a cell in purple, green and yellow.

Researchers Found New Possible Causative Gene For HEDS: MIA3

Exciting news from Poland! Researchers from the Department of Clinical Genetics at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torún, Poland, released a preprint of research that may hold the answers to the cause of hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) for a part of the patient population. Specifically, Junkiert-Czarnecka et al. investigated the MIA3 gene in people with hEDS […]

Kimby Maxson, a woman with curly brown hair is standing in a bright room with an orchid in the background.

Kimby Maxson And The Bendy Twisty Zebra: The Story Behind The Book

The story of Rose, a young girl zebra, is the heart of Kimby Maxson’s children’s book The Bendy Twisty Zebra. Rose, her friends, and the book’s encouraging message are all based on Kimby’s real-life experiences navigating the world of doctors, hospitals, and diagnoses for her daughter, Jade. Kimby, a massage therapist and bodywork specialist from […]

An illustration of several surgeons with masks and hats.

Surgery Prep: Meeting Your EDS Hospital Stay Needs

How to be prepared & stay safe when having a hospital stay with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) This article will give an overview of ways you can prepare for a hospital stay when you have EDS, as well as tips on surgical prep and your own patient advocacy. People with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) often need surgery […]

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Advocate Nthabeleng Ramoeli on her EDS journey, EDS care in Lesotho, and why she established an NGO to help all rare disease patients

For our January newsletter, journalist Karina Sturm spoke with rare disease advocate Nthabeleng Ramoeli. Ramoeli was born in Lesotho, a country encircled by South Africa, and lives with Ehlers-Danlos syndromes and many other comorbid conditions. The young woman relentlessly fights for improved access to health care for rare disease patients in her home country and […]