An Amazon Effort

Yesterday was a red letter day for people who suffer from RD.  RD (which stands for Rheumatoid Disease) is an umbrella term for a number of autoimmune diseases such as RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis), PsA (Psoriatic Arthritis) and AS (Ankylosing Arthritis).  Yesterday a lady, whom I've been honored to follow in her blog for years now, published a book called "Rheumatoid Arthritis Unmasked".   http://bit.ly/RAunmasked   

Kelly Young

This book is the result of hundreds of hours of research and conversation with over a million people who frequent her blog as well as those whom she has met in her unflagging attempts to get adequate and accurate information to the public and to the medical community about the true breadth of these illnesses.  The mortality rate among people with RD is high, generally due to cardiac and pulmonary problems caused by the disease....and which are often ignored by doctors due to ignorance of the true scope of the disease.  This book attempts to "Unmask" these facts and to educate the medical community as well as to spread information to sufferers and to those who love them.

I just started reading the book last night (btw: only the Kindle version has been released so far.  The paperback is available to pre-order and said paperback will be available around November 1st).  The author, Kelly Young suffers greatly from RD and it is truly an amazon effort she has put out lobbying for legislation, originating a society for the disease, researching and writing this book, mothering 5 children, blogging, and just living day to day with horrible suffering with her illness.  I can't even fathom how difficult it has been for her to juggle all of these, all the while feeling sick enough to just want to stay in bed. She is truly the RA WARRIOR. (which is the title of her blog)

In the early pages of the book, Kelly, who is a minister's wife, talked about the response to her disease that she suffered in her church...which should be a place of succor and help....Instead, ignorance and denial on the part of her fellow church members only added to her burden.  This is something I have experienced and suffered from as well.  Being told I need to confess some kind of hidden sin, being told my faith is not strong enough for God to be able to heal me..and just plain denial, "How are you?? good, right? You look great!" which response effectively slams the door on my attempts to communicate what my daily existence is like.  Or, being told of the latest "miracle cure" in the naturopathic field....and the assumption being that if I do not pursue this path, then it means I must not really want to get well.  These responses have, I confess, made it difficult for me to then be motivated to deal with the physical and emotional pain of attending  church.  And yet I NEED these people in my life...they are my friends and my spiritual family.  Why are they so resistant to learning the truth?  Why is my disease any different from Cancer? Or Diabetes? Maybe this book will help.  I think I need to buy a box of them and hand them out at church.

I  am honored to be one of those people who know Kelly's work and have watched her efforts beginning to make some waves in the morass of ignorance about this category of diseases.  Kelly has chosen me (along with a bunch of other people) to be a part of her "Launch Team".  Please forgive me for what really is not advertising but is an effort to support Kelly's work and to spread the word about her book.  

If you or anyone you love suffers from RD, you really need to purchase and read this book ..BTW: October 30th-31st the book's Kindle version will be free.  Please take advantage of this and read and then review the book.  It's a small thing to do but it is of great value to the author and to all of us who surround her and share her pain.
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I would like to quickly extend an apology to my church family for some comments in this post.  Yes, I have had some remarks made that were hurtful and not based on any kind of real knowledge about my illness and its treatments...but by and large my church, my pastor and my believing friends have been supportive and always loving...I did not want anyone to think less of my church or The Church because on some emotional responses of mine.  If I offended you, I'm deeply sorry about that.