I had emailed Senator Stabenow's office about six months ago, urging her to continue to support stem cell research. My stake in this debate is a bit more selfish, as I've nearly died more times than I've care to count as a result of one of the most severe cases of Crohn's Disease ever seen by many of Michigan's doctors. In fact, for full disclosure, being so sick with Crohn's is what inspired my foray into blogging and politics in the first place. At last count, I've been hospitalized over 70 times and had 35 surgeries. Needless to say I'm lucky to be alive.
There is no known cause for Crohn's and no cure. Those of us with Crohn's are just stuck with it, subject to the medical profession's highly paid guessing. There are some who manage their disease through medicine and diet, and others like me, who must have major portions of their digestive tract removed and learn to adapt to life despite our permanent disability, as the government classifies us. Then there are others, too many, who die.
Living with Crohn's for almost 13 years now I know more about it than most doctors. I can tell you the latest medicines, treatments, theories, and the famous among us (including Dubya's younger brother) who suffer. I can also tell you that the only promising future for curing this incredibly destructive disease lies in stem cell research. My life's struggle in staying alive, staying active, and staying focused on the future and living the rest of my life with this disease also means fighting for a cure.
Day in and day out, I write on these blogs asking you to get involved in your government, making it work for you, and engaging our public servants in serving the us, the people. Today, I offer you one more piece of proof why I so firmly believe in the power of civic engagement.
From Senator Stabenow's Senate Floor Speech:
As co-chair of the Senate bipartisan Parkinson’s Caucus, I’ve received letters and calls from people all across our great nation on how important stem cell research is to them, how important this legislation, this opportunity at this time is to them and their families. I’ve met many Michigan families who deal with chronic health issues every single day.
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Another bright young woman who visited my office several times is Julielyn Gibbons. For over 12 years, Julielyn has lived with Crohn’s diseases - a disease that causes intense abdominal pain. For her, stem cell research offers the promise of not only curing this life-long, debilitating disease, but also the hope of being able to live a normal life. She emailed me, ‘I want to be able to bring children into the world knowing that they won’t have to suffer as I have and that possibility best exists through stem cell research.’ S. 5, a strong bipartisan bill, is an important, in fact, a critical step forward toward giving Julielyn and Kate that hopeful future that we all want for our children.
-snip-
Hopefully we will not have many more people that will be seeing their lives deteriorate or lose their lives before we are able to actually begin to do what needs to be done with this research. It’s for them and for all the families I’ve met that I will cast my vote this week: a vote for life, for hope, for a bright future. I know that the cures won’t come tomorrow, but they may never come if we do not act now.
Last night, the Senate passed the bill 63-34.
Thank you, Senator Stabenow, for fighting for me, and for all those who suffer like me. Thank you for reaffirming my faith in my government, in my state and in my country.
1 comment:
Well that is cool. And, for the most part, I agree.
However, I don't think that stem cell research is the only potential things that will improve Crohn's. I personally think that our genetic understanding of the disease--and it is a genetic disease without question--is very limited. We're just figuring out what genetic markers cause Crohn's. In the long-term, some sort of genetic therapy, that need not include stem cells, may have very beneficial effects.
Are stem cells worth checking out? Sure. But I really doubt that they are the cure all we so desperately want them to be. Even if we could figure out how to grow new intestine--which would do you and I no good--the disease itself wouldn't be solved. The new instestine would be attacked, just like the old one was.
The real problem, and one that isn't looked at because we're all falling for Karl Rove's schemes to focus on the "hot" issues, is funding. The NIH has basically been flat funded for the entire Bush administration. When dealing with budgets that large, inflation is real and a problem. Flat funding is basically a back door cut.
Research hasn't been done. Drugs haven't been developed. Patients have derived a benefit. And for what? The most reckless tax cuts in America history coupled with the most reckless foreign policy in our history. The total cost of those two Bush blunders are in the trillions.
Frankly, that's more important than stem cell research. I don't really care if they fund it or not, but I do care about other funding that would have a more immediate effect.
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