As I kick off my blog, I want to make sure that I begin by educating those whom are not part of the invisible illness community about why you keep seeing zebras on my pages. Trust me, there is an amazing and beautiful story!

People with Ehlers-Danlos syndromes are often classified as medical zebras.

“When you hear the sound of hooves, think horses, not zebras.” This phrase is taught to medical students throughout their training. In other words, look for the more common and usual, not the surprising, diagnosis.

But many of us spend years pursuing a diagnosis and looking for answers for disorders that aren’t well known. We are frequently dismissed by healthcare professionals told we look fine, seem normal, or are too young to have so many debilitating symptoms.

In medicine, the term “zebra” is used in reference to a rare disease or condition.

So the zebra became our symbol to mean, “Sometimes when you hear hoofbeats, it really is a zebra.”

A group of zebras is called a dazzle.

We are a community of individual zebras. We are stronger together and we DAZZLE!

So those of you whom already know me understand how appropriate the word “dazzle” is for me. In sooo many ways.