25 October 2015

Help us win 50K EURO for SCI cure


Just in case you trust me, I'll cut to the chase.  Like this video and you'll help us win 50,000 euro to cure chronic spinal cord injury. 

For those who want to know more, here it is.


The EndParalysis Foundation, run by Corinne Jeanmaire from the Netherlands, has entered into a super exciting competition with a first prize of 50,000 euros.

The EndParalysis Foundation works solely to fund research aimed at curing chronic spinal cord injury. If they win, this 50,000 euro will go directly towards funding the UK's Spinal Research 'Chondroitinase' project. It is super exciting research which is focussed on getting people out of wheelchairs.

So, to win, they need YOUR votes. And to vote all you need to do is like this video on FB. To vote, you must like the video, NOT the page. ONE LIKE = ONE VOTE

The video is in Dutch, but you can also watch it with English subtitles below, but please be aware that you need to like the Dutch video on Facebook to vote.

Please share this information with your friends and encourage your contacts to like the video. 

Don't use the facebook share to post to your timeline as people must go to the link and like it (not like your share on your timeline).

Many thanks for helping us!



EndParalysis from EndParalysis foundation on Vimeo.

26 April 2015

Send FAX & email to Minnesota to support money for spinal injury cure

I know I said that I wouldn't be back until 1 October, but I received a special request from cure activists in Minnesota asking for our help, so here I am. 

And now here you are too, and I'm going to make the same special request to you and I need you to spend literally just a few minutes to make sure that Minnesota passes $8 million dollars for cure research for spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury. They've been at this five years and need your support for them to win this year.

You can do this by following the link below to send an email (to Rep. Knoblach, the chair of the Ways and Means Committee) & a special fax (online & free) to the governor to ask for their support in make sure this research money passes.

There is some more information below and you can go to both www.gusu4cure.org (these are our Minnesotan friends who have been working so long and hard on this) and read this story in the Minnesota Star Tribune, but we need you to send your fax and email immediately. Only one week left so please do this now.

Campaign is now finished. Thank you.
______________________________________
MN Spinal Cord & Brain Injury Research Grant Act (MN is the way Minnesotans say Minnesota)
We are requesting an $8 million dollar annual appropriation from the state budget as an economic development plan to fund innovative research towards deliverable therapies for the functional improvements of those living with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) and Traumatic Brian Injury (TBI). This effort is inspired by the recent and significant advances in the field, along with the challenges faced by the 118,000 Minnesotans living with these disabilities.
WHY?
•We believe that current market forces are not sufficient to respond to the recent research breakthroughs.
•The NIH funds only 10% of all applications. As the major source of funding for medical innovation this leaves many excellent inquiries unfunded
•Research spending in this field has primarily been for continuing care and rehab, not for strategies to deliver functional improvement. Considering the enormous costs of care for those living with SCI/TBI, these priorities are out of alignment.
•Lifetime costs of care for individuals range from $1.5 to $4.6 million
•Annual costs of care for SCI in MN is a little over $520 million while the exact figures for TBI are yet unclear.
•Treatments involving devices and regeneration for SCI/TBI are emerging from the states where it is being funded. Why not here?
WHAT’S THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT?
• This investment would create jobs and attract highly trained neuroscientists and researchers to Minnesota and into the field of neuroregeneration and novel medical devices.
• There is a strong correlation for state funded programs to attract increased NIH funds, given the 10% award ratio listed above. For example, California generated $15 million in state funds, which leveraged $86 million in NIH federal funds, over several years.
• The grant program would push research forward by providing seed money for therapeutic innovations, novel medical devices and needed funds to drive existing lab research to clinical trial and onto industry for treatments, resulting in bio-tech spin-offs.
• By moving the research to clinic, MN would see an enormous reduction in the costs of care for those afflicted with injury. Any improvement to the consequences of these injuries, or recovery of breathing/bowel/bladder/sexual function, mobility, memory and cognition would have a significant impact upon quality of life and employment.

19 April 2015

Yo Dennis! Whatever happened to fighting for a cure?

Hello. It's been a long time.

No, I haven't forgotten about you or paralysis cure, but like many of you, I continue to be one of the many victims of paralysis.

I continue to get many emails asking what I'm up to these days. I know these emails are also small reminders that I haven't  been doing anything lately. The title of this post will quickly be recognised by one one of my cure-comrades-in-arms as she wrote me this one line email a few weeks back.

I must say that I am grateful for still being remembered. I still get regular likes on StemCells&AtomBomb's Facebook page and messages to my blogs. This does give me pleasure in knowing that I at least had some impact and offered hope. These messages also get me down because it reminds me that I'm not doing anything at the moment and therefore, according to my own judgement, I am part of the problem.

I'd like today's post to be both an apology for my failure to keep up the fight for paralysis cure and an explanation about my future commitment.

One. No, I have not given up on the idea of a cure for paralysis.

Two. I still believe that non-scientist members of the paralysis community can play an important role in a cure for paralysis.

So, where in the heck have I been? You've probably heard me say that "paralysis cure is not just going to fall out of the sky and bite us on our collective arses", so why aren't I doing anything about about it like I once demanded we all did?

The answer is one small four-letter word that doesn't start with F.

PAIN!

Before paralysis (BP) I had basically two jobs. I'd say one full time job as a teacher and a ¾ job at the union. I sometimes wonder How I did it. After becoming paralyzed (AP) I figured that I'd quit teaching (too many schedules when You're a teacher) and just concentrate on the union and cure.

It worked out for some time, and then the pain got terrible after having an operation for syringomyellia. Since that time it's been downhill to the point where I can't do both cure and union because now PAIN has become the other full time job.
I don't even know How to describe it other than to say it has slowed me down terribly. Three hours to get out of bed and then another few hours to use the facilities and get ready. I feel like I'm in slow motion. I still can handle two jobs, PAIN and union, but a third, CURE is a little too much for me at the moment.
Sure I could write blog posts, but seeing that my blog was never just a "Dennis speaking to the world" type blog and was rather about campaigning and motivating people, I don't see the point in writing. I Actually have two campaigns almost ready, but I can't offer the physical commitment so I've  put them on hold, and feel really badly about not doing that.
Feeling bad about not doing cure work has gotten to the point that I won't even read about it. You'll notice that I haven't been on CareCure for a long time. In Dennis' mind there is NO sense just reading and knowing things, you must DO something about it.

So, since I hate not doing cure work, I'm going to make you all a promise. This way here I'll have a target and won't feel that I've just let people down, and also won't feel like running away from everything cure related in the meantime.

My promise.

I'll be back on 1 October one way or another. The first way is that I'm going to be much more aggressive in dealing with trying to fix this pain. I'm on a trail to the pain and think I may know what it it is. So if my current doctors don't listen, I'll be going to a different doctor
Secondly, if I don't beat this pain, then Ill need need a partner for my blog campaigns. Interested? Keep me in mind.
Once again, I thank you for your encouraging messages and I apologise to everyone of you that I've  let down.
It's good to set a target and slowly reinvolve myself. See you 1 October and if you have any ideas for new campaigns, let me know.

Thanks.