In which we get the fable of the Tortoise and the birds. Tortoise tricks the birds into helping him fly to a feast in the sky, and once there, takes all the food. So they take the feathers they loaned them and tell Tortoise’s wife to lay out sharp things so he will get hurt when he jumps from the clouds. He breaks his shell when he lands, and they have to glue it back together. That’s how tortoises got broken shells. After the fable, the story switches to Ekwefi and Enzinma hearing Chielo demand that Enzinma come with her. Ekwefi follows Chielo, the priestess, through the forest. Chielo is carrying Enzinma to the Oracle, and Ekwefi is afraid to let her daughter leave her sight. Finally, she makes it to the cave of the Oracle, and Okonkwo is there with his machete, waiting. They decide to both wait to see what happens.
An overview of the Ehlers-Danlos syndromes, including discussion on the classification, clinical presentation, diagnostic criteria, treatment, and prognosis.
Website of the Ehler-Danlos Society: https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/what-is-eds/
Channel of Izzy Kornblau, a prolific YouTuber with EDS (great information from a patient’s perspective): https://www.youtube.com/c/IzzyKornblau/videos
The 2017 International Classification of the Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (includes full diagnostic criteria): https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ajmg.c.31552
The existence of an association between EDS, dysautonomia (esp. POTS), and mast cell activation syndrome has been recently proposed. Its existence is controversial. Unfortunately, most of the relevant scientific literature is behind a paywell, but here are a few papers which are not:
Paper on the possible connection between dysautonomia and EDS: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajmg.c.31951
Paper on the possible connection between mast cell disorders and EDS: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajmg.c.31555
And a page from the Ehlers-Danlos society on mast cell disorders and how they might be associated with EDS: https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/2017-eds-classification-non-experts/mast-cell-disorders-ehlers-danlos-syndrome-2/