my pledge
I pledge to give a minimum of 50% of each sale towards Dercum’s disease research. I also pledge to give 100% of any sale of a commissioned piece for Dercum’s disease research. The donations will go to the Fat Disorders Resource Society.
I am currently showing two of my ceramic pieces at the Buttonwood Art Space. Though not commissioned pieces I will donate 100% of my share of the sales prices towards Dercum’s disease research.
why
Because rare disease patients have unique difficulties.
And, there are a lot of us in the United States; 25 million rare disease patients sharing 7,000 rare diseases.1
Besides Dercum’s disease I’ve also been diagnosed with MGUS, prurigo nodularis, during each of my 3 pregnancies, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, and lipedema (this last disease is not rare but worse, it’s estimated to affect up to 18 million women in the United States, mostly undiagnosed). That is a lot of women with a disease that doesn’t officially yet have its own ICD-10 CM code.2
I promise a speedy reply. Got questions? Have answers? Uplifting thoughts? Make a donation? Request a commission piece?
footnotes
1About 7,000–10,000 rare diseases affect humans, of which only a few hundred have any treatment. In the United States, each rare disease affects fewer than 200,000 individuals; however, in total, these illnesses affect an estimated 25 million to 30 million people nationwide.
2 There is no specific ICD-10-CM code for lipedema.