My Challange To The RP Group :)

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Hi all I hope you all are having pain free days! I finnaly sat my @ss

down and wrote my letter to friends and family, I hope you read it,

steel from it, make your own - whatever please just do one you will

feel so glad you did it.

I am sending them out in the Mail on Friday. I challlange my fellow

RP buddies to use mine or write your own and send out at least 10.

I am gonna bug you all for the next two weeks to see who of you took

my chalange to help out the Foundation in the Name of RP!

Good Luck all and I look forward to reading your letters or like I

said have at mine!

Below is my letter I hope you enjoy it!

P

idigfower@...

Dear Family and Friends, Feb. 14th 2002

As we all get older " certain things " become more important and other

things become less important in our lives. My life has changed

internally as well as externally (as many of you can relate to).

Internally, I have found the strength to move to yet another level

and during that time I have learned some lessons on how it is so

important to live every day of your life to the fullest.

I have learned to accept my disorder and as it turns out I have

learned there is no magic pill as crazy as that sounds, nor are there

guaranties of well being.

I can honestly and openly tell all of you now that time is of the

essence for those with Relapsing Polychondritis. Some of the stories

are 100% worse then mine and some don't even make it to tell their

story.

I can not sit back and watch this disorder claim its next victim or

worry about my child and " what ifs " anymore. As some of you might

have heard, Pharmaceutical Companies and Researchers are on the

cutting edge right now with treatments to slow down the immune system

in those with Autoimmune disorders such as RA. The reason RA gets the

attention it does is because; RA affects millions and millions. In

Relapsing Polychondritis (RP) we are not many, in a way that good but

when you are the one with the disorder it is very sad.

I along with 215 people I know with RP want and demand the attention

of the Researchers and Pharmaceutical Companies so we also can have

hope and maybe even a cure. The only real " hope " I have had in over

three years was a seven month period of clinical remission only to

fall ill once again but then again I have found out how it got its

name " Relapsing " . As for a cure that is my last and only hope, and if

I can't get a cure I want more full remissions for longer periods of

time.

I am now asking for your support. There is a Relapsing Polychondritis

Foundation (brand new)! We have collected enough money over the year

to send a grant to the Virginia Mason Clinic in the state of

Washington for $1,000.00 to help fund in the one and only research

being done to date on RP by a Dr. Jane Buckner. Several years ago Dr.

Buckner wrote us letters asking for our DR's. at home to draw our

blood for her study, in which many of us did.

With the new RP foundation getting out the information on a timely

basis and the research being conducted at the Virginia Mason Clinic I

know its only a matter of time and money. So wont you please help in

my journey. I wish I could tell you I would walk 60 miles to raise

the money from you like some other Foundations do but bottom line

here I cant. What I can do is supply you with all the information up

to date on my disorder and try to beat this disorder by following the

medical advise from my Doctors as for now.

I would like to share a dream of mine with you. My dream is that one

day (soon) there will be vaccinations to all Autoimmune disorders

available to be given out at birth for all in the world. I know it's

a dream but the RP Foundation needs more help to make my dream come

true.

If you would like to pledge your support in a challenging disorder,

this would be the one. You can send you're donation directly to the

Relapsing Polychondritis Support and Awareness Foundation by mailing

it

to:

RP Foundation

c/o Colloran

775 Bounty Place

Manteca, CA 95337

-Or- if you wish you can mail to me to forward to the Foundation. To

read more about RP please visit: www.polychondritis.org

With all my love,

Pritchard