Andrew's Umpteenth Attempt at Solicitation...
Can you imagine?
Having multiple sclerosis means that one morning you may not be able to walk when you wake up. Or that you may suddenly have impaired vision. Or that your memory will fail you for no apparent reason. The symptoms of MS are many and vary for everyone. It?s estimated that approximately 55,000-75,000 men and women in Canada have the disease, and every day about three more people are diagnosed.
While it may become exhausting to receive the same message year after year, trust me, it's even more exhausting living with this degenerative, neurological disease known as multiple sclerosis. Whereas it was once referred to as the disease where "diagnose and adios" was the colloquial mantra, advances in research have made great strides forward; we've moved from injectables to a once daily (Gilenya) oral medication, indicated for relapsing remitting forms of the disease.
These advances, the relentless immunological research, and the gaining of understanding of the pathogenesis, or physical pathology of the disease, would not be possible without the support of people like you (I know, I know, I sound like a freaking PBS add!) But truer words, my friends, have never been... well, dictated to my computer, I suppose. That's what MS does. It takes. It's taken my ability to type. It's taken my ability to do a great deal of things, many of which I have written about ad nauseam in my endless string of blogs.
All of this research is driven by one thing, and one thing alone; the almighty $. While some of it comes from pharmaceutical research companies, at the end of the day, they have a vested interest in making sure that they don't see a cure for this disease. The most important funding comes from personal donations, and community events. These donations are given from the kindness of people who do not have any conflict of interest in finding a cure.
So let's find a cure! No amount is too small, and by the same token, no amount is too large! So please give...
My endless, and heartfelt thanks, for years past, for this year, and for the future!
