Elizabeth Vacha lives with EDS, or Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, it is a rare disorder that restricts her body from producing collagen. Since she cannot produce collagen, there is very little cartilage between her bones. This causes them to slip out of place extremely easily. After a car accident two years ago, Vacha developed Costoverebral Chondritis along with her EDS. It is a rib dysfunction made worse by the EDS. The two disorders together have caused her ribs to come out of place and squeeze her intestines making eating difficult. Through the setbacks and the pain the most important thing for Vacha is keeping as normal a life as possible for her kids and family. This is achieved with tremendous help from her husband John who works full-time from home while taking care of the children and Vacha.
Elizabeth Vacha cringes in pain while doing exercises. Despite not being able to move very well and the immense pain that comes with exercise Vacha feels it is imperative that she continues to build muscle.
Elizabeth Vacha holds her side as she walks down the stair in her mother's home. Mornings are the most difficult time of the day for Vacha. Since her body has been stationary while she is sleeping her joints are especially stiff and out of place. “I have woken up in the fetal position on the bed and it has taken two hours of manipulation and slowly moving centimeter by centimeter to get everything to flatten back out,” she said.
John Vacha helps Elizabeth Vacha put on her brace that helps stabilize her body in her mother's home. According to Vacha, with the EDS alone she was able to live a relatively normal life. She used to do landscaping work, heavy construction and even ran marathons, she just needed to manage her work and pain loads and take days to recover. Now, with the Costoverebral Chondritis she has difficulty doing anything at all. “I want to be able to at least cook dinner and things people don’t even realize,” Vacha said softly. “I would be excited to be able to stand up long enough to do dishes.”
Vacha smokes in the garage at her mother's house in Jackson with all of the families possessions behind her. The Vacha's moved back into her mother's house with the worsening of her condition. Vacha goes to the garage to smoke because she does not like the children to see her.
Vacha puts a pill called Synovo Derma, or pure collagen, into her weekly medication case in her mother's garage. She prefers to use mostly holistic medicine remedies because prescription pills are not as effective.
(Sam Gause | MLive.com)
Vacha laughs while her husband John Vacha puts an earring in her ear at her mother's house in Jackson. "Through all the trials and tribulations we have been through we always try to things light," she said.
Elizabeth Vacha walk with her daughter Addison, 5, at the Jackson County Fair. Vacha tied to cloth to her cane to give her children something to hold onto while walking with them.
The Vacha's, bottom left, watch their children ride a ride at the Jackson County Fair.
Vacha collapses in the waiting room of the Emergency Room at Allegiance Health in Jackson. She decided to rush herself to the hospital after feeling a pain that was new to her.
Elizabeth Vacha lies down in a hospital while holding hands with her husband John Vacha at Allegiance Health in Jackson. Due to the indirect effects of EDS, such as falling and bone displacement, hospital trips are a regular occurrence for the Vacha's. "It feels like someone is stabbing you in the heart," she said. "The hardest part for me is seeing her in pain and not being able to do anything," her husband John said during the bout.
Vacha laughs while her children eat corn for dinner in her mother's home. Due to the dislocated ribs that are squeezing her intestines she does not eat at normal times so she often relaxes in the same room that her family eats in. Since the EDS has gotten worse, Vacha has dropped a lot of weight. She stopped weighing herself a month ago when she weighed 80 pounds.
Vacha watches her children Addison, 5, left, and Michael, 7, right, play in the front yard of her mother's house in Jackson. One of the biggest set backs for Vacha is that she cannot play with her children the way she wishes she could and the way they want her to.
Vacha reads a book to her children Michael, 7, and Addison, 5, in her mother's home. Regardless of the pain she is experiencing during a day she makes a point to sit down and read with the kids.