So I am not too into sports except for football, so I haven't been into the Olympics a whole lot. They are interesting but I haven't watched them until last night. When I heard Michael Phelps broke the all-time medal record I decided I should watch since he is a "fellow bendy." I remembered there were rumors he might have Marfan, but then was screened and told he didn't have it. So I watched out of curiosity.
I noticed his back was pretty bendy when he was hunched over on the edge of the pool ready to take off. Then I noticed his shoulders had an unusual look to them. I couldn't even really explain what was different about them except they looked different than the other swimmers'. I also noticed the skin on his face seemed stretchy. Also the skin on the back of his neck seemed to sort of fold and stretch in an EDS-type way like one of those wrinkly dogs.
I found this other blogger who had her own theory http://onesickmother.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/08/am-i-the-only-one-who-sees-it.html
I think she may be onto something there! The official story is he does not have Marfan but has some characteristics of it. I guess it's his prerogative to not come out of the closet with whatever CTD he might have. But it all makes sense to me; the fact that he is nowhere as good this Olympics seems to indicate a weakness. It seems to my observations that a lot of EDSers are really talented and awesome at what they do, and their hypermobility gives them a competitive edge, but at a certain point their bodies start to wear down prematurely. So I would not be at all surprised if Michael Phelps has some sort of CTD and just doesn't want to tell everyone. It would be cool if he'd come out with it. Just think of the awareness he could bring to CTDs and self-esteem he could give all the kids suffering with these conditions everyday.
I hope that after these olympics are over and he officially retires from the sport that he will come out as having a CTD of some sort. I can kind of see him not wanting his opponents and 'arm chair critics' to not know of the possible disorder while he is actively competing. He could do so much for awareness but I also worry about possibly hurting our 'cause'. We struggle with doctors to believe this is a serious and debilitating disorder so if the best olympian of all times says "Oh I have a CTD", will people figure those who are more severly affected are just being drama queens. Could be interesting.
ReplyDeleteDuring the last olympics it was discussed pretty heavily - IIRC his book mentions he was screened for Marfan's
ReplyDeletehttp://www.clevelandleader.com/node/6446
...obviously he has some sort of CTD - overdeveloped mid-face, narrow jaw/palate & dental crowding, hypermobile, long trunk & limbs.