Do you suddenly find yourself depending on others for basic necessities? It's hard, isn't it? When people meet me, they often say things like, "Wow, you break that easily? You're in pain all the time? That must be so hard. I can't even imagine that." The truth is, yes, there are days where it can be difficult just to breathe and the pain factor really sucks, but most of the time I have an underlying pain that I've adapted to over the years. Sometimes physical pain makes it hard to be me, but doesn't everyone have somet[...]
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Growing Up with Osteogenesis Imperfecta
When I was little (in the younger sense as I am still little in the physical sense), I drove my parents absolutely bonkers. Because I didn't have to learn to crawl or walk, I learned to talk very quickly, and was speaking in full sentences at ten months old. Ordering people around came as a natural skill, and I was bored all the time. That got a bit better when my mother insisted that my doctor help us get my first motorized wheelchair when I was two, but when I didn't have something to keep me occupied, I got cranky. Eve[...]
Osteogenesis Imperfecta affects approximately one out of 15,000 people. In a nutshell, it's a genetic bone disorder that causes bones to break easily and grow abnormally due to a lack of collagen (the stuff that helps make up your bones, organs, hair, and fingernails). It also causes weak ligaments, hearing loss, breathing problems, and dental issues. The whites of OI people's eyes tend to have a blue tint, and they usually have a fairly triangularly shaped face and a "pigeon breasted" chest (meaning that the sternum sticks[...]
Welcome to my new blog, Looking Up. Here you will get to know me a little better, and hopefully I will make you smile, laugh, and think. I want to give you a VIP look into my life, which you will find is very different yet much the same as your own. So, let's get started with a few "Katherine Basics." Call me Katherine. I let a few of my friends call me Kat, but if you call me Kathy or Kathleen, I WILL run you over with my 400 pound wheelchair. Not kidding. I have a genetic bone disease called Osteogenesis Imperfect[...]