I think back to the times in high school when I didn’t love myself it saddens me you know that I tried to cover it up and that I was so insecure how I feel about my body is how I want everyone to feel about their body [Music] [Music] around the age of like six or seven I was probably when I started to notice my skin and all the kids in the neighborhood thought I was so cool because I had this stretchy skin and then I think I wasn’t about to like eight in between the ages of eight and ten that I was diagnosed somewhere between there I refused to rarely go to the pool you know didn’t want to be in a swimsuit all that type stuff just because I knew people would look and people would wonder so my name is Sarah Gertz and I’m currently a public figure on Instagram with ehlers-danlos syndrome the last filming we did with barkoff was about two years ago now you are beautiful and you can achieve whatever you want and whatever your dream is it’s been quite quite quite the exciting journey ever since then for sure so I mean yeah it’s progressively gotten worse and I think that’s just with age okay it’s more prevalent in my joints I feel like an old lady so ehlers-danlos is a multi-systemic disorder and it’s a collagen deficiency so collagen is found in your skin and your ligament for me myself I don’t have any college in the my skin which causes my extreme laxity I will be celebrating our birthday with kind of like a surprise birthday brunch that our friends had planned will be shooting afterwards and also a family get-together so I kind of just wanted to look ready for the day ready for anything I can probably say that every girl you know once they get their makeup done ly they just kind of feel like they’re they’re ready to go I am myself am a rarity because it is known as an invisible illness and so that’s why a lot of people out there are getting the treatment that they need because the doctors can’t physically see anything wrong with them and why I chose to say okay fine if I have something that I can show about my disorder why didn’t I use that [Music] it’s just a complete 360 almost you know it’s it’s like I am Who I am my disorder is a part of me and I am but I’m not my disorder we chose to use my symptoms of my disorder through photography as a way to help others or try to it’s a process I never really stays over self-love is a journey that I think is never really over and Bree my partner was the one who was the main inspiration and support of what I was doing in terms of loving my body and loving myself she was there to kind of help see that light this past winter was by far the roughest I think in two months I went to ten urgent care visits I mean I was sick to the point where I I’ve been in bed for the past you know four weeks haven’t left this apartment for six it’s been it’s been a lot in terms of you know not only physically but emotionally and it has a lot of people concerned and a lot of people you know really really wanting to know I think what’s going on especially you know family and close friends this past month and a half Sarah’s house has really kind of gone downhill there’s just been so many issues so many medical bills so I’m mom kind of took over it because she knows she knew how hard it was for both of us and she decided to put on the fundraiser that has gained a lot of success there just a huge need you know for for them and I felt like this would be the time to do it you know you might not be doing great like health wise but sometimes it just takes good company to kind of help lift your spirits in a different way we had a lot of that have quite a long way to go in terms of the tests and the specialists that we have to see but going through these steps of trying to find them it’s just kind of confirmation for Bri and I in terms of what we’re doing and why we’re trying to raise awareness these last four years of my life I feel like have been you know the best years that I’ve ever lived just because they’ve been lived to what I feel is my genuine in my authentic self [Music] you Video source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg_z0wvxMIM
