Hello, and welcome to the second edition of The Carnival of Compassion – a blogging project that focuses on the experiences of patients with life-changing illnesses and their caregivers, including loved-ones and healthcare professionals. While it may still be in it’s infancy (this is only #2!,) The Carnival of Compassion promises to be a community-building project of the type that only blogging can really offer. I hope to see the Carnival grow larger than life…larger than the diseases it portrays…larger than the fragile human beings who make up it’s mass. We have gathered together some wonderful writers here this week. I hope you enjoy what they have to offer.
Patient Blogs
As a caregiver for my wife Lori, who has been battling Stage-IV Unknown Primary cancer for the last three years, I can truly sympathize with the constant pain and mental anguish that can accompany a chronic disease like TMJD (Temporal Mandibular Joint Dysfunction.) Stacy & Dana, at the TMJ friends blog, have written a heart-felt proposal titled: TMJ & Related Disorders Patient Bill of Rights. It would make a particularly informative read for healthcare workers and caregivers/family-members who wish to better understand the needs of these patients.
Great job, ladies : )
Next up, Amy Tenderich of Diabetes Mine discusses the ongoing debate over the causes of “late-onset” Type 1 diabetes, in the aptly named post: Type I Diabetes ― a Viral Thing? It looks like medical professionals are still up in the air on what exactly causes this increasingly common disease.
And rounding out our Patient Blogs category this week is a fiery post by Kerrie at The Daily Headache, who takes the U.S. Food & Drug Administration to task for their seeming inability to fulfill their number one responsibility…the protection of the public. It deals with the dangers of the FDA’s lack of authority when it comes to regulating direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising. The post is titled: Far-Fetched FDA Claims.
Caregiver Blogs
Our next entry, from Chris Owen of Take a Bite, is a touching look at his mother’s transformation from independent to dependent. Chris stresses a lesson that most of us caregivers are forced to wrestle with over and over again – the acceptance that sometimes we are absolutely powerless to make things better for our loved-ones. Somehow, it is in exactly these times that the power and elegance of just being there, silent and loving, often turns out to be more than enough. His post is titled: Powerless but Supportive.
Wrapping up our Carnival this week is a post by Hsien-Hsien Lei, of the Genetics & Public Health Blog, who writes about the promising potential to cure mitochondrial diseases via the use of Nuclear Transfer – a controversial form of gene therapy that involves the use of both a fertilized egg and an enucleated donor egg. Her post is titled: Nuclear Transfer to Cure Mitochondrial Diseases. As always, Hsien offers an easy-to-understand look into the complex but exciting world of Genetic Medicine.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of The Carnival of Compassion. Next week’s Carnival will be hosted at Diabetes Mine. If you’re interested in hosting a future edition of the Carnival on your blog you can get more info over at the main Carnival page.
Submissions
If you would like to submit a post for inclusion in an upcoming Carnival, you can do so via the Carnival Submission Form at Conservative Cat.
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