The "Who are you?" meme

[erikred]

Thanks to alfvaen:

This is the problem with LJ, we all think we are so close, and we know nothing about each other. I'm going to rectify it. I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me, something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. Ask away.

Then post this in your LJ and find out what people don't know about you.

The premise is a little shaky-- as much as I enjoy reading all of your journals, I can't pretend that I'm all that close to all of you. Heck, some of you are strangers who stalked me first. :) Anyway, ask, and I'll post. I'm crazy egotistical that way.

Comments

[erikred.livejournal.com]

As it turns out, my heart issues are more of a legacy issue than a real threat. When I was 14 (and unusually tall for my age), my mother wanted to have me checked out for any height-related health concerns. We visited a cardiologist who, when she saw my echocardiogram, freaked and said I might have Marfan Syndrome. When we got back to the States, I started seeing a cardiologist who was similarly convinced.

The major life impacts of Marfan Syndrome are 1) no strenuous activity, 2) no lifting over 10lbs., and 3) daily doses of a Beta Blocker. The purpose of all this is to prevent aortic dilation and possible aortic dissection.

In January or so of this year, about twenty years after my initial diagnosis, genetic testing revealed that I do not, in fact, have Marfan Syndrome, and my last two echocardiograms suggest that I may just have an unusually large heart-- pretty much what you might expect from someone of my size. I may still have some sort of connective tissue disorder, but it's not Marfan Syndrome, and my heart is fine. I'm still on Tenormin, but at this point it just makes me calmer under pressure.

Yay, genetic testing!