I Am a Mosaic
I've always loved mosaic art. Just the concept of taking multiple, small pieces and arranging them to create a larger piece of art is beautiful and a good metaphor for how different, smaller experiences in life shape us. Several people can experience the same things and turn into very different people, depending on how it shaped them.
I'm fascinated by the complexity, the intricate details - of art and of life.
When my brain tumor was removed January 29, 2016, my brain stem and spinal cord swelled from the pressure. They found a flared vertebrae in my neck that was typically seen in Down Syndrome cases. However, I don't have any outward signs - physical, mental, cognitive, or anything.
They ran a variety of tests and eventually found that some of my cells had an extra chromosome, trisomy 21. Otherwise known as mosaicism, mosaic Down Syndrome.
Mosaicism is incredibly rare. Even more rare though was that it wasn't found until I was (coincidentally) 21. I'd grown up with no clear deficits and even was living independently, driving, working, and earned a full ride academic scholarship to study biology. I'd been fascinated with the cases I'd read about in college genetic classes - unaware that I was one of them.
Had I never had brain surgery, I might not have ever known. It wasn't until a small detail - a small flared vertebrae in my neck - that all the other small details began to create a pattern. Short neck, small ears, atlantoaxial instability (AAI), slanted ears.
A piece of bone was removed to relieve the pressure on my spinal cord. Since then, I've found a few bone deformities: a flared vertebrae in my back and a curved sternum. I don't know how many types of cells are affected (none in my blood). But I know more about the intricate details that created me.
