My Story
My name is Crystal. I am a 44-year-old elementary teacher, currently in my 22nd year of teaching. I have Von-Hippel-Lindau (or VHL). It is a rare genetic disease and I lack a tumor suppressor gene that most people have. This leads me to have lesions in many areas of my body. For me it has been my brain, spinal cord, eyes, kidneys, pancreas, and lungs. Usually VHL is inherited, but there are some spontaneous cases. I personally inherited VHL from my mother, who inherited it from her father.