Helping Friends with Lupus
Current mood: hopeful
Category: Friends
MySpace lupus friend, Gail, has started her fund raising efforts for this year's lupus walk.
Please consider reading her post (below) and taking a moment to make a donation to support lupus research.
Like Gail, I have lost an online lupus friend this past year due to lupus nephritis, and am witnessing several more friends' quality of life and health degenerate as lupus takes control over their bodies.
Lupus treatment is getting better, but it is no where near what needs to happen.
If you were in a room with 100 newly diagnosed lupus patients, about 20 of them will not will no longer be alive in 5 years.
Or to make this really, really clear...
if you were in a room with 5 newly diagnosed lupus patients, 1 person out of those 5 may not survive the first five years after diagnosis.
That is just scary.
Loretta Kelly, B.S.Ed, M.S.W.
**********************************
Here is Gail's post:
The Real ..
Dear Family and Friends,
First off, I want to thank everyone immensely for all support last year with the 2006 Austin Walk with Us to Cure Lupus. In Austin, we raised over $45,000, 100% of which went directly to top notch worldwide Lupus research. Many advancements are being in the field thanks to this funding.
I think back to what Lupus was 30, 20, even 10 years ago, when a large majority of those diagnosed with Systemic Lupus died within 5 years of diagnosis, and I am so thankful the statistics are now more in my favor due to the type of research I am asking you to support.
Still, thousands die each year of Systemic Lupus, and on a personal note, I lost 3 friends and fellow patients from the disease in 2006.
There still are just not enough options for individuals battling Systemic Lupus, and complications arise. A fact that still holds true is that the last time a new drug was approved to treat Lupus DWIGHT D EISENHOWER WAS OUR PRESIDENT!
However, after a 50 year stretch without a major advance, there are finally some promising treatments on the horizon, such as the possible use of aggressive agents such as Rituxan, Orencia, Riquent, LymphoStat B, and Atacicept. These drugs are still under exclusive and difficult to get into clinical trials, but many patients, including myself, are eagerly waiting to find out if they will be the answer to a fuller, longer, less debilitating life. More research is needed though to find out more.
I am writing to you to thank you for any past support in 2006, and with hope that you will consider sponsoring me for the upcoming 2007 Walk with Us to Cure Lupus 2006.
The 2007 event will be in the Spring instead of the Fall, and will be Saturday, April 28th. I am hoping that the 2007 walk event will be even bigger and more effective at raising awareness, education, support, and funding for Lupus research.
My personal goal is to raise $4,000.
I am particularly proud to tell you that 100% of walk proceeds will go directly to research because the Alliance for Lupus Research Board of Directors underwrites all operating expenses. When you support and donate to Alliance for Lupus Research, you can be secure in knowing every single penny is going directly to accelerating the goal to find the definitive cause and cure for Systemic Lupus. 100% of all money is tax deductible,
This Walk is truly a meaningful event to me not only because I have been battling lupus since August 2004, but also because it allows me to do something about it.
This walk is an opportunity to gather the lupus community, along with our friends and family, with hope of empowering ourselves and increasing awareness. Together, we can raise funds to find a cure! Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease in which a person's own immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the body's healthy tissues and organs causing inflammation and life-threatening damage. 90% of all people with lupus are women, like me, in the prime of our lives.
You can support me and support Lupus Research by visiting my personal Lupus walk webpage
at
http://walk.lupusresearch.org/site/TR/450409468?pg=personal&fr_id=1550&px=1322556
Just click on the "Support Gail" button, or click on "Make a gift", and use your debit card or credit card. Donating through my webpage is fully secure.
You can also support me by mailing a donation. Contact me for more information . Please make all checks out to Alliance for Lupus Research, and put TXA 180,001 in the memo portion of the check. Enclosed is a self addressed envelope for your convenience.
Thank you in advance for your support to sponsor me and help support research into this devastating disease. Over 1.5 million people suffer from Lupus, including myself. 100% of your money will go directly to Lupus medical research. We can make a difference! Together…we will find a cure.
Sincerely, Gail
http://walk.lupusresearch.org/site/TR/450409468?pg=personal&fr_id=1550&px=1322556
postscript: This blog entry was originally posted in Life Beyond Lupus at MySpace. com. Just leave a comment or e-mail me if you would like to snail mail a donation and I will link you up with Gail in order to do so.
-Loretta
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