The $5 "CureVideos" Challenge - Repost

I posted the below blog on 28 November after I was just hospitalised (feels like 100 years ago not three months ago) and I realised looking at it now that there is no link to the videos I want you to donate to. 

As much as I like to pretend that being hospitalised doesn't affect me too much, I guess it does, and thus the big omission. 

So, send my friends at Unite2FightParalysis a fiver for cure and show your support for their great educational package on paralysis cure.

Three easy steps to watch, educate, and donate.

Click here now to sign up, watch, and donate. It's as easy 1, 2, 3.

-------Original Post------

Many of you know the group Unite2FightParalysis (www.U2FP.org) and the wonderful yearly conference they put on called Working2Walk (www.working2walk.org).

There are many like myself who would love to attend and hear the exciting presentations made by scientists and activists in the fight to cure paralysis. Well, flying from Japan, booking a hotel, and all the costs associated with out country, or even out of city travel, doesn't fit into my budget.

But does U2FP leave me or you out just because we can't afford the time or money? No, they make sure that the presentation are available to ALL of us for free on the internet.

Click here to watch the videos. You'll be asked to log into your account and you'll get a password for the videos. If you don't have an account, you can log in through your facebook or twitter account, or create a new login. Whichever way you do it, you'll get a password which you can use. 

 Although they make it free to watch, it's not free for U2FP. I have learned that making the videos available to us for free costs them about $5000 for the videographer and then many many hours in volunteer time to get them ready for the final upload and editing. So I'd like to make all the video presentation viewers out there a simple, cheap challenge. From now on, every time I watch a 2013 video (the first time) I'm going to donate five bucks, and I want you to do the same. There is a donate link on all the videos which you can access after registering to view (registering doesn't oblige you to donate). You can support U2FP and their work to find a cure for spinal cord injury for as little as $5, and supporting cure is a lot better than any of the other things you can buy for a fiver. Of course, if you think that $5 at a time is a pain, please feel free just to make a larger, one off donation.  

Hope you take the challenge!

Click here now to take the challenge. It's as easy 1, 2, 3.

They fixed the pressure sore, but what I really needed was a kick in the butt.

As many of you know, I've been in hospital. I've had/I had a pressure sore that didn't react to four months of out-patient treatment and it put me on my back in the hospital for the past three months. 

Well, three months and two operations later, it looks like I'll be back in the saddle again next week. I guess I could just leave it there and everyone would forgive me my not writing in my blog or doing any cure work.

How can you type on a computer if you're lying flat?

To tell the truth, it's really quite simple. You lose some speed and a little accuracy, but it's not so hard.

Well, even if you can type, who works while they're lying in the hospital with a giant hole in their butt?

Me. While I didn't do my cure work or write my blog, I did do my union work everyday. I wrote articles, did consultations, held strategy meetings, and did negotiations. I even did my union work on the days that I would have usually worked on my blog or other cure activities.

So I guess, through my own admission, I'm caught. 

Simply put, I got tired of being a cripple and decided that if I just concentrated on doing other stuff, I wouldn't be a cripple. I would stay in the hospital until my pressure sore healed and then I would leave victorious. Pressure sore healed. End of story.

I decided that I would be like normal people who leave the hospital - cured!

Well, as my pressure sore gets closer to being healed, the doctor has now let me know that I can sit up at 90 degrees in bed and then next week I can use my wheelchair.

"USE MY WHEELCHAIR!"

I guess hearing this phrase jolted me back into cure activism mode.

Does this sound crazy to you? 

It sounds crazy to me now, but not while I was hoping that I'd just walk out of here once my pressure sore healed.

So now that I've snapped back into reality, you can expect a lot more work out of me and even though I appreciate the three months you gave me to dream (and accomplish nothing), the next time this happens, kick me in the ass. 

Well, not in the ass because I can't feel it and you may bugger up the pressure sore. Kick me in the arm and tell me to get my ass back to work. Cure is waiting but we're the ones who have to make it happen.

I was going to say more, but I guess that I'll try to make sure that my first post-hibernation post doesn't offend anyone. I was going to talk about those who...opiate of the masses...happy rolling. Oh, well. That's for another day.

In the meantime, there are many things to do. Take a second to see some of the things you can help with and sign up.

Join the CureCaptains and get others involved.

Join our Canadian Cure SCI Group and help steer chronic cure in Canada.

Take the U2FP $5 video challenge educate yourself while supporting Unite2FightParalysis.

Like StemCells&AtomBombs on facebook and help popularlise the blog so others learn about paralysis cure.

Follow this site get regular updates about cure activity.

Just doing one of these things brings cure a little closer to millions.
So get off your ass and give it a click.

Cure Girl activity results in support for Chronic spinal cord injury research in Italy

Cure Girl activity results in the decision of the regional administration of Lombardy in Italy to support chronic spinal cord injury research in 2014. From www.CureGirls.wordpress.com

The regional administration of Lombardy on Dec. 20th 2013 has approved the health plan for 2014 as proposed by the members of the administrations Dr. Mario Mantovani and Dr. Maria Cristina Cantù.

On page 115 of Annex 3 under “Special Programs” it has been specified that the intention of the administration is to allocate money to research for chronic spinal cord injury.

The Council’s decision was supported by the President of the Commission III Health and Social Welfare Dr. Fabio Rizzi, who had received and evaluated a proposal signed by Ms. Loredana Longo (Cure Girl) and Mr. Paolo Cipolla. The proposal detailed the situation of people living with chronic spinal cord injury and requested financial investment in research to find a CURE for this condition in line with the Council of Europe Recommendation n° 1560/2002.

“This is just the first step,” said Dr. Rizzi. “Now we have to identify specific projects.”

On behalf of people living with spinal cord injury that every day fight for a cure Ms. Longo and Mr. Cipolla want to thank the regional administration of Lombardy, Dr. Mario Mantovani, Dr. Maria Cristina Cantù, Dr. Fabio Rizzi  and his staff who have all shown to be extremely passionate and visionary to find a solution for this problem.

In Italy the Ministry of Health estimates the number of people living with paralysis caused by spinal cord injury is 80,000 with about 1.200-1.500 new cases per year. About 80% are between 10 and 40 years old. In the Lombardy region alone it is estimated that there are about 14,000 people living with spinal cord injury with an annual increase of approximately 250 new cases. This terrible condition is not only highly disabling for spinal cord injured people, but it also has a tremendous social and economic impact . In fact life expectancy for people with spinal cord injury is considerably reduced, especially for quadriplegics and also involves extremely high social costs.

I’m confident that this commitment of the Regional administration to support research will help to find effective therapies for the treatment of paralysis caused by chronic spinal cord injury.

Cure Girl Loredana

The most challenging quiz you'll do in '14

I have a challenge for you in 2014. 
You can read on a little, or go directly to the quiz. 

a. What do all of these people have in common?
b. How many can you name? Name them.
c. Which one(s) are real people or depict real people?

And one more...

e. Who is she?

And before I leave you thinking that I've gone completely off my rocker, go here and take the 2014 Challenge!

Good luck and Happy New Year!