Category Archives: Diseases
← Previous postMay Is Huntington’s Disease Awareness Month
May 9, 2013Jean Wittie shared her story with us back in November of 2012 for our special edition of Community magazine, In Their Words. Her story detailed how Huntington’s Disease has affected her family. Below is her story.
Jean Wittie, directly right of the groom, with members of her family on the Oregon Coast
My husband Frank and I have been married for over 30 years. We have a blended family of seven children, six grand children and five great grandchildren. The two oldest boys are my boys from my first marriage, and they are the ones who have been diagnosed.
Todd is the younger one, he’s 43. He began having some problems – facial twitching and jerking – in 2009. He’d always had problems with his thyroid, and his doctor at the time thought all of Todd’s problems were related to that. The doctor kept raising and raising the medication, until he took Todd completely off it. Nothing worked.
I finally took him to my doctor, who thought he had MS. We went to see a neurologist who ordered an MRI and genetic tests. When the diagnosis came back, it blindsided us. We had no idea that there was anything like this anywhere.
After Todd was diagnosed, his doctor ordered testing for Todd’s older brother, Dale. Dale had some symptoms, but they weren’t very pronounced, so he thought he was home free. But just before Christmas 2010, his diagnosis came back as positive for HD.
So I set out to learn as much as I could about Huntington’s. I found the UC San Diego Autism Center of Excellence and they were so encouraging. They invited Todd and myself to their research symposium, where we met researchers, officials with the Huntington’s Disease Society of America, and families with HD. It was all very encouraging.
As a result of that symposium, we were finally able to get both Todd and Dale on a medication that helped restore their quality of life.
Dale lives in his own home with his adult son, daughter and her family. Dale’s daughter and her family moved back to Oregon to be closer to Dale and help out.
Unfortunately, Dale’s daughter was diagnosed positive in March. Dale’s son, and Todd’s two daughters have not yet been tested. Todd’s two girls live in Alaska and want to be tested but they are working their way through the state’s medical system now. Dale’s son is practicing avoidance behavior – he’ll get to it, but for right now, he does not want to be tested.
My husband Frank has always been supportive of the boys and of me. He’s the one that keeps reminding me to be patient when I need to be.
I still work and I go to school, so Todd is at home alone during the day. I make meals that will be easy for him to eat, he takes care of the yard, feeds the dogs… both my husband and I want Todd to have as normal a life while he still can.
Our extended family is huge, and Todd and Dale have all of the love and support our family can offer. Various family members have attended the conferences, support groups, walks – everyone in the family is there for Todd and Dale.
I truly feel that if I stay positive and persevere, then there will be a cure. We all have to have the courage and the hope to keep going. You have to keep fighting.
So that’s my story.
This article first appeared in the winter edition of Caring Voice Community magazine.
Posted in Diseases, Featured, How We Help | Tagged disease, Huntington's, Huntington's Disease | Leave a commentCVC one of the best nonprofits to work for 2 years in a row
May 6, 2013
Several months ago Caring Voice Coalition participated in a survey rating the best nonprofits to work for. It is with pride and pleasure that we would like to announce that CVC has been ranked in the top 50 for the 2nd year in a row.
This year CVC ranked #33 out of 50 overall organizations and #18 in the Medium Organization category. The NonProfit Times, who conducted the survey, included an article listing the results of the survey (click here to view the full article).
Posted in About Us, Diseases, Featured | Leave a commentDo I Need a Power of Attorney?
May 1, 2013
A question CVC’s legal department is often asked is whether or not patients need a Power of Attorney (POA). But before I can answer that, I’d like you to understand what a POA is and whether one is appropriate for you.
What is a Power of Attorney?
A Power of Attorney is an agreement between two people: a principal and an agent. The principal, or almost always the patient, grants powers to the agent, or the caregiver, to make certain decisions on the patient’s behalf. These decisions can be based upon a range of issues, but they are typically financial or medical decisions. A POA steps in when the patient is no longer able to make decisions on his or her own behalf, and it allows the caregiver to designate who will make those decisions. Without a POA, a court or state may be able to designate someone to make decisions on the patient’s behalf. The person appointed might not be the person the patient would choose to make his decisions.
As an example, married couple John and Peggy choose to draft durable Powers of Attorney granting one another the authority to make financial and health care decisions on one another’s behalf. John discovers that he is diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease and eventually loses capacity to make decisions on his own. Because of the POA, Peggy can make decisions for John. Without that POA, their home state of Idaho could determine that Peggy is not the best person to make those decisions and instead designate John’s cousin, Nell, to make those decisions.
Do I need a Power of Attorney?
Probably. Most people who own property or have any money will need to make financial decisions, or difficult health care decisions later in life. If this is the case for you, you may want to consider having a POA in place.
The Specifics
When you draft a Power of Attorney, you must have the capacity to do so. Capacity is essentially the ability to make or enter into a legal relationship the same way someone with a sound mind would. Everyone is assumed to have a sound mind and be of normal intelligence. Someone can try to prove that you no longer have capacity. However, to do that, they must have specific and realistic proof.
So, if your illness is expected to progress in a way that may cause you to lose capacity, it is better to draft a POA sooner rather than later. You can speak to an attorney about tactics like videotaping the signing, getting one or many doctors’ statements of your competence, and/or having multiple witnesses at the signing of your POA to further support your capacity.
A POA must be durable to last after a patient loses his capacity. A durable POA will remain intact after the patient is no longer able to enter into legal relationships. A POA will terminate at death, even if it is durable.
The laws that govern Powers of Attorney vary state by state. Many people will need separate POAs for health and financial issues. Consult an attorney in your state to answer any specific questions you have and to draft a POA for you. If this is not financially possible for you, many state Departments of Health have free Medical Powers of Attorney or Health Care Proxies available through their offices. Contact your local Department of Health to request a copy of their form and for any specific instructions to complete.
If your family does draft a Power of Attorney, please send a copy to CVC. We can keep it on file in case the caregiver must sign on behalf of the patient when completing a new Terms and Conditions form or the incredibly important Renewal to receive a grant in
the new year.
The information presented in our website’s “Legal Corner” section is intended to provide information of general interest to the public and should not be relied upon as legal advice or counsel. This information should not serve as the basis for any legal decision by you. The information offered is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship, and your visit to our “Legal Corner” shall not be deemed to create such a relationship. Information posted in our “Legal Corner” may not reflect recent legal developments or decisions and therefore website visitors should consult an attorney if you have legal issues requiring attention.
CVC Health Care Attorney Kristin Lough uses her background in finance and the law to help CVC patients. As part of the Appeals and Disability team, Kristin helps assist patients with insurance appeals and with applying for Social Security Disability.
Talking to Children About Illness
April 23, 2013Explain the disease.
Children may not understand disease names or their associated symptoms, and the word “disease” may make them worry that it is something they can catch.
Try not to go overboard, but address common fears.
Carefully explain that your loved one isn’t acting this way because she doesn’t love the child anymore. It is just that he or she has trouble doing some things now.
Even if your child doesn’t ask, make sure he or she knows that the illness is not contagious.
Emphasize that the disease has nothing to do with germs and cannot be “caught” by being near a loved one.
This information was provided courtesy of Lift Caregiving.
Posted in About Us, Diseases, Featured | Tagged children, disease, illness, lift caregiving | Leave a comment
Newsmaker Q&A: Rino Aldrighetti, President of PHA
April 8, 2013
Rino Aldrighetti was hired as the first part-time professional staff member of the Pulmonary Hypertension Association. In the years since, he’s assumed the title of President of the organization, enhanced PHA’s scope, built a full-time staff, and advocated tirelessly to increase awareness about pulmonary hypertension. Here, Community talks to Rino about where PHA has been, and where it’s going.
Describe the journey in becoming President of PHA.
In 1998, seven years after PHA’s founding, the organization’s volunteer leadership decided to build a staff. Their first step was to advertise for a part-time executive director. They put an ad in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, running it once.
At the time they were doing this, I was a non-profit consultant. I had just finished a five-year project for one of my larger clients and was getting ready to do what I always did when I was preparing to think through a new direction, begin a three-day retreat. The day before I was to begin, I picked up the Chronicle of Philanthropy and saw a brief two-line ad: “Small rare disease association looking for part-time executive director”.
I responded and was invited to meet with an extraordinary person, Bonnie Dukart, who was PHA’s president. Bonnie, who had been diagnosed with PH shortly after graduating from college, explained to me that the goal was to bring on a person who could increase PHA’s budget so that the organization could do more. Following that meeting, I had the opportunity to meet the board and quickly became aware that I was in the presence of heroes.
I soon accepted the board’s offer and became PHA’s first (part-time) professional staff person in 1999. By 2001, we had increased PHA’s income from $132,000 to $1.1 million and built a small part-time staff. The board then invited me to lead a new full-time staff. The work has always been a privilege.
What are some of the challenges you face when trying to increase awareness or support a rare disease like pulmonary hypertension?
Our greatest challenge in raising awareness about PH is our relatively small numbers. A rare disease in the U.S. is defined as one with 200,000 or fewer patients. PH has 20,000 to 30,000 diagnosed patients.
Given that reality, each person’s decision to make a difference is of enormous importance. At PHA, our mantra is that any person whose life is touched by PH has the right to fight back as much or as little as health and interest allow. Over and over again we have seen what the ability to influence positive change means in people’s lives. We may have 30,000 patients living with this disease, but each has family members and friends, neighbors and medical professionals who care and are ready to help. Harnessing that energy with a strong community is what makes a real difference.
What are some of your goals for PHA for 2013?
In this economic and political environment, organizations that cannot adapt will ultimately decline. At PHA, we have been working hard over the past year to introduce new ways to support our research and patient-serving programs. In December, we opened PHA’s first three chapters – in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. This is a pilot for us to build a professional events structure that will develop a larger population of supporters for our core programming in communities around the country. If we are successful in our first year, we will implement a five-year program to expand the network. It’s an ambitious effort to not only assure our sustainability, but to make sure that our ability to serve the needs of our community is not limited by funding restrictions.
PHA’s early diagnosis program, Sometimes It’s PH Campaign, was launched at our 2012 International Conference and has generated early excitement in the U.S. and other nations. It came about following research indicating that despite all the increased visibility for PH during the past 20 years, the time from onset of symptoms to point of diagnosis has not reduced. This may not have been a problem two decades ago when there were no treatments; however, today with nine treatments and more on the way, getting patients diagnosed so that they can take advantage of these treatments is hugely important.
Why should a PH patient join PHA?
PHA is more than an organization. It’s a community, a place where people understand and help each other get through the challenges of this difficult disease. The strength of the community has value for the individuals who choose to join. It also has value for the whole, for all who live with the disease through our collective ability to develop public awareness, drive advocacy and sustain helping networks. These are things we can only do together and that will create opportunities for better tomorrows for everyone.
Posted in Diseases, Featured, Media Center | Tagged PHA, Pulmonary Hypertension, Rino Aldrighetti | Leave a comment ← Previous post
