Tag: Ears

Tip of my hat

Published on by bpesistersLeave a comment

One of my favorite parts about launching this website is learning about my sister’s experience with BPES. We share a lot as sisters, but it still strikes me when I read her posts and think – “I had no idea that happened to her!” My sister and I have talked in the past about how difficult it can be to find sunglasses due to our BPES features. I have also had hat struggles that she describes in the last post. As a kid, I could rarely put on plastic kid sunglasses or a kid’s baseball hat and have it work on my face. As kids, we would attend an event, visit a museum, or go on a field trip and potentially get a free baseball hat. I used to be thrilled at getting something free, but I could never figure out why the hats looked so natural on my friends, but somehow just didn’t sit quite right on my head. I didn’t realize until years later that part of my struggles could be attributed to our BPES facial features. I also learned as an adult that one size rarely fits all. I am now much more selective when trying on hats and sunglasses, truly only buying something if it really fits and compliments my face. Thankfully there are many more options available compared to when we were kids in large part due to online shopping.

Her post struck me because it took me YEARS to realize that ear warmers work really well for my face and ears. I had an ear warmer my sister actually got me that I loved, but I think it fell out my bag at a movie theater in Amsterdam last year (devastating). This winter hopefully I won’t have the need to don headwear as I am in the tropics. However, I want to tip my virtual hat to my sister in all her BPES glory for rocking every kind of winter hat beautifully this season. Even though I will be spending this holiday season alone, I hope to rock my matching “SLAY” winter hat as well as she does in BPES solidarity.

Must be the BPES

Published on by bpesistersLeave a comment

Until we learned about BPES, I never realized that my nose was a little different. I always thought I just had small eyes, never realizing that some of my other facial features were also a little bit different as well. I focus a lot on my eyes on these pages, in part because this is what people commented on so much when I was a kid. It is the most visibly obvious difference and our childhood experiences have such a profound impact on our psyche. Another visual indicator of BPES is a flattened nasal bridge. My eyes are farther spaced apart, which can help to contribute to the “buttoned eyed” or “teddy bear” look.

Now that we know we have BPES, it explains a lot, like our ears, nose, and eyes as well as the secondary amenorrhea. I have been having so many issues with my eustachian tubes, it’s got me wondering… are there other issues I have that are due to my BPES? We thought it was so funny that having small eyes and infertility were related. Sometimes I think I associate small bodily annoyances that I can’t explain with BPES. I have no idea why my ears always seem to pop and I am extremely susceptible to getting water in my ears. Is there something wrong with me? Am I being paranoid? Or is this some other BPES thing? Who knows!I want to know what is up with my ears. In running through all the possible explanations, BPES crosses my mind. Unfortunate that with my personality, I love to understand the “why” behind something – to the point that my inquisitive nature can drive others crazy. Blame it on the BPES.