Monday, July 4, 2011

Mood- asleep
Health- exhausted

Today is "Independence Day" in the USA... a National Holiday celebrating the anniversary of the creation of a "New Nation" and across the US families gathered together to celebrate with cook-outs and enjoy parades then gather under indigo skies to watch fireworks together.

Today I spent asleep...

I would love to be able to join in the festivities and activities of this holiday, but it just was not and is not in the cards.

I would love to be able to celebrate independence from chronic illness... to yell and cheer and celebrate with tasty food and explosions across the sky of bright colors... to march in a parade with those who also suffer, banner held high proclaiming to the world our victory in battle against Gastroparesis... but the battle still rages.

This July 4th I am asking all that read this to join in our revolution, our battle for freedom from the word 'incurable'. I am asking those that read this to pick up a drum and play it loudly... to help raise awareness for Gastroparesis and other Digestive Tract Paralysis conditions.

If you can tell two people about Gastroparesis... and they tell two people... awareness WILL grow and once awareness grows hope will follow.

Right now there are very few treatments available for the symptoms of Gastroparesis... all are to treat the symptoms but NOT the disease! Research is needed to find the CAUSE of Gastroparesis, since many cases are "Idiopathic" or of unknown cause... something HAS to cause it. In order to have research the researchers need to be funded... tests and investigative research takes specialized machinery to look into genes, proteins, amino acids and more. Politicians decide which research gets funded and the American Public needs to ask their Politicians why it is not being funded... why they will sign bills to fund biologists to count the number of frogs in a pond but not fund research for better treatment options or a cure for a condition that affects up to 4% of the population? They will only fight hard for us if we let them know that it matters TO us... because we are the ones alone in the booths that decide if they stay in office or not. It all comes down to self preservation... if they want to keep their high salary position and excellent healthcare they have to listen to us and they know it.

Grab a drum and make some noise...