Dem Bones

 I know that ya'll are more interested in what's going on around the house and gardens and chickens than these other agendas I may be interested in, so I'll beg your forgiveness today, because I wanted to post this for all the people who suffer from this condition.  Today is the official Klippel-Feil Awareness Day and from what I've experienced since being diagnosed, there really needs to be more attention paid to this disease.  I'm not looking for sympathy or trying to incite other people to become paranoid about their own health but because KF can be so easily diagnosed I just want to share any info I may have in the event it can help even one other person know what is going on with their health.  All it takes is one cervical (neck) X-ray by most any decent orthopedic doctor to diagnose KFS.  Most will then order an MRI to see how extensive the damage is and/ or more X-rays of the rest of the spine.
Now, as with most people, I had no idea KFS existed when I went to my doc.  All I knew was that my symptoms were getting worse as I grew older.  Common symptoms are frequent headaches or outright migraines.  Aching or sharp pains radiating through the neck upwards or down into the back or arms.  Numbness or tingling in the arms and hands.  A mild cough that comes and goes for no apparent reason.  Hearing difficulties and sinus issues; frequent sinus infections etc.  Trouble with vertigo or motion sickness.  Vision problems; blurriness etc.
People with KFS can present a wide variety and amount of symptoms ranging from quite severe to very mild.  Because it is congenital, many people are diagnosed when they are born or still very young.  In these people the KFS is usually in a fairly severe form and evidence of something being wrong can been seen just by looking at the child.  In a great many folks though, including myself, the disease does not present itself until later in life, often times the 40's, and the person usually appears to be perfectly healthy looking.  Because of this one factor many people, including doctors, do not take the adult patient serious and this often just adds to the frustration and isolation one diagnosed with a rare condition often feels.  It's bad enough to live in pain and endure other troubles without having people smirk or scoff at you because you have trouble doing some things.  For example, I have always had trouble with motion sickness, inner ear trouble and my hearing and all my life I have had people ridicule or get plain mad at me because I would always get sick on a boat or an amusement park ride or even in a car.  I finally just quit riding any such thing (except cars!) but then they get mad because you won't do that or feel you are just trying to be a party pooper. 
Now that I actually know what is causing these issues though, it has not helped much in making people understand what's going on.  Most people just blow you off, avoid you or try to ridicule you into "behaving normally".  Now, I understand completely that I have always been a hard worker and active so that may be why some people kinda doubt what I'm saying but things can change for people as they get older.  I have only told a few people in person what is going on with me and from what I've experienced so far I won't be telling many more.  I am trying to spread the word through this blog and other means though, so that some willing people may come to understand the condition, either because they have it or may know someone else with it.

So, I'll leave that subject alone now and ya'll won't have to worry about me yapping about it all the time.
It's raining here again now but we had 2 really nice days over the weekend and in that time my Turk's Cap or Turban lily bloomed for the summer and this year it has 3 blooms!!!  Yay!!!  I was excited.  I hope they last a few days and the rain doesn't beat them to pieces.  I wish I could find some more growing around here but so far no luck with that.  I will keep looking though.