humanity

Advocates, icons, influencers, and more. All about humanity.

There's No Such Thing As a Best Friend
I had a strange and twisted relationship with my previous profession. I think I'll call him Joe. I think I chose the name Joe arbitrarily, however, there was an actual Joe. He created the company which I worked for. Which makes Joe a building, a company and a real guy.
By Karen Lichtman5 years ago in Longevity
What Will You Do When This Is Over?
There are a lot of things most of us haven’t done for a while; get a haircut, go out to dinner, go to the movies. And as they relax quarantines and people get back out into the world, many of us will rush to do things we have missed for weeks, if not months.
By Darryl Brooks5 years ago in Longevity
Rare Disease Awareness
There are 7,000 rare diseases affecting 25-30 million Americans, and 90% do not have an FDA approved treatment. I was born with a rare blood disease called cyclic neutropenia. This disease prevents my body from reproducing white blood cells. When I was six years old I was playing roller hockey in the driveway and scraped my knee. Any other six year old boy’s mother would clean it up, throw some Neosporin & a bandaid on it but for me that was not the case. My scrape got infected. The cut on my knee became extremely swollen and I started to lose feeling in my foot. This little scrape on my knee resulted in me using crutches for four months because I was not able to produce the white blood cells to rush to this area to allow me to heal. I would get intensely sick every week because of my rare blood disorder. I was the only patient at CHOP with this disease then and for years no one had a clue what to do. It wasn’t until I met with Dr. Susan Travis Pediatric Hematologist who would eventually change my life! She continuously gave me reassurance throughout the years that she would find a medicine to give me a fighting chance at living the life I dreamed of and when I turned eight years old she did exactly that! She found a medication that cancer patients used while going through chemo called Neupogen. During chemo they have to kill off all the cells to ensure that they kill the cancerous ones. After that they need to build the patients white blood cell count back up. That is what this medication is for: to reproduce white blood cells in the body. This was the sole purpose of this medication until Dr. Travis introduced it to my family and I. Her resiliency to fight and find a medication for me is something I will never be able to repay. Little did we know then that this would be the medication that would change my life! Thanks to Dr. Susan Travis I was able to live a far different life than the one I was set up for. I am extremely grateful for Doctors out there like my Dr. Travis that have been able to change the outcome of patients with rare diseases. All I can try to do now is pay it forward to those patients and families that are still fighting their own battles to find a medication that will work for them. The purpose of this message is to make people aware that there are more diseases than people will ever know and most of them without an FDA approved treatment. The more well known diseases that affect the masses have a much greater chance of finding a medication to help them but the disease like mine that affect 1 in 20 million people are not as likely to have people all over the world searching for a cure or simply something that will give them a fighting chance. Because of this I’d like raise money to donate to The National Organization for Rare Diseases (NORD) to again help those individuals and their families earn a fighting chance like the one Dr. Travis found for me. If you see the value in making a positive affect on the lives of people you do not know and will never meet. You may not need them but they do need you to help give them a chance of a lifetime. They will not know your name or meet you either but they will thank god for people like you willing to donate to changing their lives.
By Tommy5 years ago in Longevity
Did You Know Sound is one of the Most Powerful Tools For Healing in Existence?
They have known this for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. Long before modern science, shamans used sound to induce a trancelike state into other people. Healers used sound and complex rituals to trigger the healing process of their patients and military leaders used sound to inspire and get their troops motivated for battle.
By Happydazegt5 years ago in Longevity
Don't Forget To Take An Umbrella, It Just Might Rain
Don't Forget To Take An Umbrella It Just Might Rain Judie had been living in the city for most of her life. And she always proudly proclaimed that the hustle and bustle of the city kept her going no matter what her days were like. She had no family there. But she did have a grandmother who lived in the country. And although Judie adored her aging grandmother, she knew to take some of the advice she often got from her grandmother with a grain of salt.
By Travis Patton Sr.5 years ago in Longevity
Real-Time Covid-19 Stats for EVERY Country
Can you remember a time when you weren't given a daily total of how many people had died from a certain disease? It's strange isn't it? Our governments and media have never told us how many people have died that day from cancer. Or how many have been killed in road accidents, for another example.
By Mark Campbell5 years ago in Longevity
You’re Right.
You’re right. You might not die, but you might end up with Long Haul Syndrome. You might not die, but you might end up with a brain injury.
By Mindy Best5 years ago in Longevity
Pro-Tactile ASL
What would your life be like if you were both blind and deaf? How would you communicate with others, form relationships, maintain a job, and navigate life in a world without sight or sound? You might be fearful, struggling to understand your surroundings and your place in them, or you might feel disengaged and isolated, unable to connect with family and friends that you can’t see or hear. If no one is touching you, you are essentially alone. Members of the DeafBlind community tackle the issues related to multi-sensory loss, survive, and thrive in a world using the strong intuition of touch and tactile communication. In honor of National Deaf History Month (March 13 - April 15), I want to share information with you about the uncommon but groundbreaking language of Pro-Tactile American Sign Language (PTASL), the language of the DeafBlind.
By John Raybould5 years ago in Longevity
I Should Have Died After Falling Off a Cliff
The following story took place when I was 10 years old living in Frankfort Ky. This event is lost in history except for a few family members and a small article that appeared in the Frankfort State Journal on January 7th, 1960.
By Trent Fox5 years ago in Longevity
A Time, Long Ago
A Time, Long Ago In the cold of the night, I remember… Cold fingers of frost etch their way across the windows scratching at ghosts of memories gone by as I sit by the fire. Birch wood crackles.
By Frank Talaber5 years ago in Longevity
Cleveland Nostalgia
That’s the thing about this city… everytime I come home, every so often, it’s the same old roads and stomping ground I remember growing up surrounded by. Since I was a baby, I lived in the same house on Bostwick Crossing. My siblings had one house before that they experienced as a home, but that place was never really a home for me; apparently they just threw the crib in my dad’s makeshift early 1990’s home office, disorganized and clearly on the precipice of a budding business venture. Anyhow, the streets in our neighborhood were new, as building projects of new homes sprung up, expanding the thriving barrio for families with kids to flock to.
By Holly Cook5 years ago in Longevity
Was having cancer a gift?
Two years ago in the winter of 2019 I found out I had breast cancer. I was a young new mother and completely terrified. Fast forward to today and I am healthy, have an amazing thriving two and a half year old and am planning my wedding with my perfectly imperfect soulmate. My hair has grown back thicker and wavier even than before, my body is my own again. I have found the confidence to build my blossoming writing career from scratch, and am happier than I have ever been. You hear about this happening, people turning their lives around after cancer. I'm not the first and I won't be the last. It begs the question and has made me wonder, was having cancer a gift?
By Gemma Corby5 years ago in Longevity