Highlighting patients and care partners from around the world living positive lives despite the hurdles they face.
These are their stories, in their own words.
By Laurice Levine As I reflect on my life with transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia (thal), it is easy to become overwhelmed. In short, thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder where the body is unable to produce hemoglobin, which causes severe anemia and endless complications. In 1973, when I was diagnosed at 14 months of age, my parents … Read more>>
By T.J. Sharpe In this blog post, T.J. Sharpe shares his story of how a clinical trial not only saved his life but gave him a new and more meaningful career. A member of HealthiVibe’s Patient Steering Committee, T.J. shares his story in recognition of Clinical Trials Awareness Week, which is May 18 – 22, … Read more>>
By John McCaig In this blog post, guest blogger John McCaig shares his story of surviving a sudden cardiac arrest. With his second chance at life, John now works to spread awareness about this condition, which affects more than 200,000 Americans a year, and advocates for CPR training and availability of portable defibrillators. Cardiac arrest is … Read more>>
In this blog post, Holly Clark offers her perspective on caring for loved ones suffering with dementia based on her professional experience working as a Community Manager for FirstCare Nursing Homes in Ireland and her personal experience caring for a family member dealing with the disease. By Holly Clark Hundreds of millions of people in the world … Read more>>
Our guest post today is a reprint of a blog post (originally published in February 2015) from Cynthia Chmielewski, a multiple myeloma survivor and patient advocate. A retired teacher, Cynthia now teaches a new group of “students” — others who have been diagnosed with the disease. Cynthia is on the board of directors of the Philadelphia Multiple Myeloma Networking Group and on … Read more>>
What could be more uplifting than a story about choosing to live a positive life despite adversity? Julie Cerrone shares her story (which originally appeared on her own blog) about visiting Disney and participating in the American Idol singing contest while struggling with the hurdles of living with psoriatic arthritis. Julie works for WEGO Health, and … Read more>>
Molly Schreiber- raised in Fairfax, Virginia but has been in Baltimore, Maryland since 1997. She was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 9, in the summer of 1988. Molly’s father, grand-father, and cousin all have diabetes as well, so she grew up knowing what a challenging and frustrating disease diabetes can be. … Read more>>
In this installment of our “Through the Patient Lens” Series we introduce you to Tom Eckhardt. He shares his inspiring story about being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease (PD), along with some surprising facts about research in PD. You can read Tom’s blog at “It Is What It Is!” and follow him on Twitter @tnrunner46. Tom’s … Read more>>
We begin our series of patient vignettes with Annette’s story of life with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). By sharing her experience, we hope to give you a peek into the challenges some folks face every day. Story telling builds awareness, understanding, compassion, and empathy – all pillars of true patient-centricity. Annette is a MedX ePatient Delegate … Read more>>