Large organisms such as human beings have an average of about one mutation per ten gametes - that is, there is a 10% chance that any given sperm or egg cell produced will have an inherent change in the genetic instructions that determine the makeup of the next generation. These mutations occur at random and are almost uniformly non-harmful - it is rare that a precision machine is improved by random change in the instructions for making it. So as I look back and try to take stock of my last six-month journey to discover who I am in relation to the world around me, I’m struck by how much different I am from everyone else.
Yesterday I was diagnosed with SGS by my Grandma Joan - she is an expert on these things. The random 10% chance that I had in getting a mutation must have brought on my disease. My only hope at “normality” is to attempt to hide said disease from the world. It is either that or I buckle down and show the world that someone with SGS can be a productive member of society. I hope that over the next six months I can work to decrease how obvious my disease is and work to increase understanding of just how deadly living with Silly Goose Syndrome can be.
