One in Thousands

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is probably the most overlooked physical handicap in the world. A genetic hiccup changes your body completely, and as you look "normal" , nobody understands why you can't BE normal. Not even your doctor, who may have forgotten all she ever heard about the rare syndrome.
The author has fought for a "normal" life for 77 years. It didn't become normal, but both interesting and meaningful in spite of her invisible enemies: Her own shame of not being like everybody else, and an environment - including the medical world - that was convinced her problems "were all in her head".
Her kind of EDS, the classic, only appears in 1 in 20.000 people. Some believe as few as 1 in 40.000. Other variations - there are 13 in all - are far more common. You may have heard of people who suffer from one of them. You may even know one.