The Personal Side of VEDS
I've had Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (along with minor indications of it) my entire life, but was undiagnosed until age 33. My first major medical event was a spontaneous ruptured colon at age 20. It took multiple surgeries and months of hospitalization to heal. My health was stable until my son's birth 13 years later, which resulted in a ruptured uterus and nearly losing my life in childbirth.
In simple terms, I’m at risk for intestinal, organ or arterial ruptures - any time, any where, without warning. Caution and hyper-awareness of any new or concerning symptoms are a necessity. Read about the daily implications of living in a fragile body and how it's impacted my faith.​
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The Clinical Side of VEDS
Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (VEDS) is an incurable genetic condition impacting the body’s connective tissue. It's estimated to affect about 1 in 40,000 to 50,000 people (or less than 10,000 in the US).
With VEDS, the body produces defective collagen, which serves as the building blocks for the entire body, resulting in fragile skin, muscles, organs, blood, arteries and more. Easy bruising, spontaneous bowel ruptures, arterial dissections and aneurysms are common presentations. Discover more about VEDS and why we're called medical zebras.
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