Dear Friends,
After my stops in London, Italy and the Netherlands this summer, and our inspiring Science Days and Symposium at Stanford a few weeks ago, I continued OMF’s End ME / CFS Worldwide Tour of Hope in the USA this weekend. Our first stop was the Texas Scottish Rites Hospital for Children in Dallas this Sunday. I gave a detailed update on our ME / CFS research and all we have been doing the last months to accelerate research. As always it was also very important for me to bring hope and to explain to patients, parents, and caregivers what we and others are doing to increase awareness, education, and support. The presentation included Q & A to elaborate on some of the details and answer specific questions. My ultimate goal was to let everyone know, that they are not alone in their battle and that there is real hope.
This event has been successfully organized by Karena, a patient who has been working as a volunteer with OMF for a long time. Despite her illness, Karena was able to do a great job organizing this event and offered some real hope to many in her area.
“I am so encouraged by all of the work that OMF is doing, and I believe they will continue to do great things. I am also inspired by the patient/caregiver community and all that they have accomplished in their advocacy endeavors. I hope that this event in Dallas will be one of many to come in Texas so that eventually we can have more healthcare practitioners with a great knowledge in treating this nefarious disease. And of course, I am always hopeful for an FDA approved treatment and one day a cure!”
Karena also wanted to share a very special message to everyone reading this blog:
“To all the patients, don’t give up, so many are fighting for us, and there will be a light at the end of this very dark tunnel.”
Karena once again illustrated how one person can make a difference, or as Margaret Mead said: “Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.”
Karena and so many others like her, inspire me and our entire team to continue what we are doing to find answers. Thank you to Karena for this warmhearted event. I am looking forward to continuing our End ME / CFS Worldwide tour in 2018 and 2019 in the USA, Canada and Europe.
Warmly, with hope for all,
Linda Tannenbaum
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