Osteogenesis Imperfecta or O.I.

is a bone disease that I and thousands of others have. You can find people with O.I. in every corner of the world, crossing every race, sex, and economic boundry, it is a congenital disease that affects the body's collagen thus causeing brittle bones (I have had over 250 breaks, but the number varries in different people with the disease). O.I. can also cause people to be short in stature, have hearing lost, dental problems, and curvature of the spine. Check all of the above for me. The currently- "kinda" accepted classification system known as the Sillence system categorises OI into four types; I have Type 3 O.I. but there are other forms of O.I.. Type 1 O.I. is a less severe form of O.I. that is mostly felt in childhood . The Type 1 O.I appears "NORMAL" but may have as many as 50 broken bones in the course of her or his childhood. Many of the people born with Type 2 O.I die at birth or die within a few days, but I have been informed since I started this website that many newborns have been misdiagnosed as Type 2 O.I when they are realy Type 3s or 4s, and some Type 2 O.Is beat the odds- if your child or love one has been diagnosed as having Type 2 O.I DON'T GIVE UP! My parents were told I'd be dead at 2 weeks and I'm an old man now. People with Type4 O.I are somewhere in the middle of Type 1 O.I and Type 3 O.I . Why is Type 2 O.I not Type 4 O.I and vice versa, heck if I know, I'm no expert on O.I., I only have it. There is a small but growing rebellion in the O.I. community to change this outdate system.

So what if I told you about a group of people that included medical doctors, school teachers, an actor on Sesame Street, a lawyer who helped draft the Americans with Disablities Act, a world famous jazz pianist, mothers, fathers, comedians, writers, artists, religous leaders, a nine year old who helped flood victims, and a cyberpunk who sits too long in front of his monitor, would you be thinking what a pathetic bunch? I think not. You can find someone with O.I. that meet each and everyone of these descriptions. These are people that are taking an active part in life and making a difference- and I am am proud to be among their ranks.