EDS III Corrie Actress Cherylee Houston in The Mirror

[lil_miffy]

A couple of weeks ago there was an episode where 'Izzy' explained to the Windass's new adopted daughter that even though she uses a wheelchair she can stand up and walk a little bit which confuses people and some people think shes faking.

My dad said 'thats just like Carrie that it is'. My mum replied 'Shes got the same condition as Carrie you idiot'

I thought it was a great line to put into the show becuase there was a lot of comments on facebook during the 'tram crash' week when 'Izzy' stood up at the bar in the pub that she wasnt really disabled.

I hope that people watching it and hearing that she can stand and walk a little will help people to understand that alot of wheelchair users can stand and even walk a little. I had a horrible experience where I had to walk down some steps and my friend carried my wheelchair down becuase there was no access route and some girls shoulted really horrible stuff to me about being a fake.

It would be nice if there was a little storyline about Izzy and her condition like maybe her needing surgery or having a fall or something. I'm starting to feel they've put her in the show to have the token disabled person but its not actually acheiving anything.

[Es*]

I don't watch it - but I agree that sounds awesome, Carrie! I can't find the stat, but it's something like 98% of wheelchair users who can walk at least a bit. The whole mental image that everyone has of wheelchair users (including Dr's!) is soooooo wrong.

Not sure about a story line about her condition, though. Obviously it's important in our lives, but I think generally there is far too much of disabled people being on telly etc with their condition as the focus of the story line... when most of the time it isn't what consumes all parts of their lives. Mind you, if they did it well it could be good, perhaps. I think the ideal would be just good story lines of the usual sort, but with condition related stuff running alongside and being mentioned here and there where relevent, but not as the focus.

[Chloe♥]

I like that her disability is in the background, whilst her character isn't. There have been a few people making stupid comments about her disability, which I reckon the writers put in to demonstrate how silly they are.
Of course, I laughed aloud whilst the ABs around me just sat and didn't know what to do.

[DeeNJai]

Did anyone see Corrie tonight. Izzy dad was at the scan and he asked about if it was possible that the baby could have EDS and the nurse said that they only test once the baby was born. The nurse said that they need to talk to the consultant to get referred to make sure that the girl doesnt carry the gene. Hopefully that will get people to understand.
Dee
PS: I dont normally watch it so I just turned over to see what is going on

[niccysearle]

I saw that....was good to hear them talk about it rather than the usual brushing under the carpet of issues like this!!
Mind you, I also noticed it got hubby thinking too....not sure if that's a good thing or not as we haven't got round to having kids yet and I think it is a worry for him now that I've been diagnosed!

[Rosie]

Hi all

OK, I don't watch Corrie but from this thread I gather the character hs EDS3, so what is this gene test they are talking about? There is no genetic test for EDS3, other than the one family group that has a Tenacin X (sp?) gene fault.

Rosie

[Spireite]

Yes I watch it and thought they had lost the plot there. They were talking about her (the pregnant sister) being a carrier!

[Chloe♥]

Well, the potential for Katie's baby to have EDS is very much real... But it can't be tested for so... eh?

[trekster]

I thought a few genes had been recognised in EDS? Also it doesn't state what form of EDS Izzy has.
I felt the programme was well played,but my mum just told me I was watching too many soaps
(I watch less than her) and that my EDS is all in my head! She refuses to beleive me and called it
a load of rubbish last night, im devastated.

[Jorgie]

Izzy has EDS3. Which I'm led to believe doesn't have any identified and confirmed genetic markers. But it is heterozygous dominant, which means that if you carry the gene then you will display symptoms. So if the pregnant girl doesn't have EDS then ergo she doesn't carry the gene and the baby will be fine.

[Rosie]

Hi all

EDS- H is thought to be autosomal dominant, i.e. you only need one affected gene (of a pair) to have the genetic condition. But, if you read the description here, it explains that having the affected gene or Marfans does not automatically mean that you have the condition. Also, as I understand it, the gene(s) that cause EDS-H have not been identified (other than one sub-group I mentioned before) so it is not really fully understood.
We all know that some people seem to be more affected than others, but until the gene(s) responsible is identified we won't fully understand it all.

Rosie

[alice-emma-louise]

I think Rosie has hit the nail on the head - aside from the genetic testing of the baby I think it's mostly ok - it's possible that the sister has the condition but isn't as severely affected as Izzy so has never realised. I know before my hormones kicked in - my levels of pain were dismissable and I always assumed the pain I had was normal so never questioned it (we've all been there are some point huh?). The younger sister is young enough that it's possible she carries the gene without having severe symptoms and if she is related to someone with severe symptoms she's even more likely to dismiss anything she suffers with.

I'm sure the writers haven't considered this but it is still a plausible storyline I think - aside from the genetic testing bit.

I also agree (was it this thread or another that mentioned this) that it's a bit misleading that they're all very worried the baby will be severely disabled when it's possible it'll be affected differently to Izzy if it indeed has EDS however I can also believe most people worry about worse case scenarios too so maybe that's also a plausible worry though it could be explained better.

Maybe I'm wrong on my understanding here but that's my interpretation.

Alliex

[Spireite]

I was blissfully unaware of HMS and plain hypermobility until mid-adulthood. But if I'd had a sister in a wheelchair with it, I'm sure I would be aware if it, and the Beighton scale, and not being the only person on the planet for whom local anaesthetic didn't work, and any 'party tricks', or looking much younger than your age. Owen also said Izzy had a bad childhood so I think that would also raise Katy's awareness. I don't have any sisters, but I do have cousins on the affected side of the family. It is clear to me which cousins are unaffected and those who have hms but are mildly affected, maybe getting worse now.

Also if Katy is hypermobile, then she should know that being pregnant could trigger hms in her. With Owen being against the pregnancy, I think he would have been worried about Katy taking a turn for the worse with pregnancy and it has taken him quite a while, despite being against the pregnancy, to cotton on to this. (According to the book by Prof G etc you are born hypermobile. It would however, be good to get some publicity for those of us oblivious as children or teenagers that get struck down out of the blue in mid-adulthood. The publications only focus on becoming less hypermobile with age which isn't always the case.)

[trekster]

I replied to a thread on a soap forum about a 'blunder' with Izzy standing up. I said that "she has EDS and they can stand up
but she still needs a wheelchair". I didn't have a bendy diagnosis at the time.