The Story of Me (In verse).

For further details on her illnesses, simply click on the highlighted words.

THE STORY OF ME

My name is Rachel.

   This is the story of me.

My body is full of surprises, as you will soon see.

I have strange joints, not just elbows and knees

 but ALL of my joints are really bendy.

Read more »

Letter From An Overprotective Mom

Letter From An Overprotective Mom

To all you moms, teachers, nurses, school administrators, strangers, family and not so understanding friends, I write this for you.

YES, I am what society would deem an overprotective mom (and proud of it).

In our family I have to be “overprotective”, my children’s health and well-being depend on it.

You think that sounds overdramatic?

What would you do if your child had the life experience of any one of mine? Read more »

A Cell Phone, A Blizzard, A Freezer, and Brain Fog

I am sure you find yourself wondering what exactly a cell phone, a blizzard, a freezer and brain fog have in common.

ME!

The “evidence” frozen in place.

 (Sorry about the rough photo.)

As many of you know I have been quite absent from the blog the past month or so.  I apologize for that and expect to begin regularly (on schedule) beginning January 2nd.

What you might not know is that I have been struggling with my own EDS, and even more time consuming (and draining) the health of my youngest daughter.   Thankfully, we are beginning to find answers and she has become more stable and stronger in the past few weeks. Read more »

Get The Word Out Wednesday-Week 2-2014

Welcome to our second Get The Word Out Wednesday Link-up.

Thank you to all those who linked up last week.

If you missed that post feel free to check it out here.

We will be hosting a “Get the Word Out Wednesday” Link-up EVERY  Wednesday for blogs featuring articles that will help those with chronic illness.

This linkup is not only for zebras but ANYONE with a chronic illness that has a personal story, help (allergen-free recipes, ideas), adaptation ideas, testimonial or anything that would be helpful or encouraging to others, (even sharing a day in your life).

The idea of the “Get The Word Out”   link-up is to spread the word about our illnesses, adaptations, short-cuts, tools, articles, stories, etc… and support each other during this sometimes lonely journey. Read more »

Living With A Chronic Illness- My Current Struggle

Living With A Chronic Illness- My Current Struggle

For you regular readers, you know this post is supposed to be about easy, low-cost handmade gifts.

I promise that post is coming (tomorrow) I hope.  I know that many of you with a chronic illness or physical challenges understand that what you want to do and what you can accomplish are two entirely different things.

For those of you who do not struggle just to accomplish a task as simple as combing your hair, I pray you never have to.

Since writing is what I seem to do all the time now, I have decided the best way to deal with my current battle is to get it out there, and posting it on my Facebook page just stirs a whole pot I don’t want to mess with.

This post is a vent.

If you want “perfume and roses” I suggest you skip this post. Read more »

My Children and Pregnancy Loss Stories

My Children and Pregnancy Loss Stories

Due to the fact that not everyone is ready to openly discuss pregnancy loss I posted my 23 year journey of 3 beautiful babies and 7 angel babies on my page tab at the top.

It is very open and honest and may be too difficult for some to read.

However, I did want to provide the link and here it is.

http://thezippyzebra.com/?page_id=360

Please only read if you are emotionally ready to here someone else’s journey into heart break .

I didn’t pull any punches and threw it all out there.

So many miscarriage stories I see seem to be incomplete and I don’t want to rewrite mine so here it is and I hope it will help someone.

Please let me know if it helps you.

One Teenager’s Response to Living With an Invisible Illness

One Teenager’s Response to Living With A Chronic Illness

My teenage daughter was asked to write a narration with a moral for her comp class this year.  She is a senior.  She chose to write not only about her fight to help others understand what EDS is and how it affects her everyday life but how she is not going to let her illness ruin it.

(She is definitely her momma’s girl.)

  This is her paper in it’s entirety with links added to empower others with useful knowledge.

Do Not Be Ignorant

Once upon a time, in a not so far away land, lived a dark haired maiden.  She was your average, all around, American girl, but behind all of that was a different person that no one ever saw besides her family.  Until one day, she could not hide anymore.  She had to show herself to the world, not knowing how people would react to seeing her in the not so beautiful reality.  This is my story asking people not to judge me until they come to know me and my life. Read more »