10 Years Ago Today

It’s been 10 years today since I started this blog (http://livingwithfh.blogspot.com/2011/02/welcome.html).  At that time, only few and mostly meager results popped up on google when you searched for “familial hypercholesterolemia”. There was no FH Foundation (https://thefhfoundation.org/), no FH social media groups, and outside my family I didn’t know anyone else that had FH.

I started this blog from a need to find out more, but also to document my journey and share it with others who I knew were out there, for you know you’re never an island. You know, even if you don’t have physical proof, that there have to be others, thousands, maybe millions like you. I was also wondering whether they would be confused if they were lucky enough, like I have been all my life, to find a doctor to diagnose their FH right. Would they be lost and not know where to from there? Would they know what to expect in this journey when it comes to treatments, side effects, tests, and complications? I was going through all of them – all the treatments available - I was finding some, I was rejecting others, I was going through tests several times a year and learning more about what FH does to my body. I wanted a place to document all those and a place that others would find helpful so they won’t feel like looking into a dark hole when they were faced with this diagnosis.

I wanted the blog to be that connection from them to at least one another person like them. Although I had my family, I was missing that connection to others so badly.

I have always said since I started the blog that if even one person reads my blog and finds it interesting for one reason alone, learns one thing they didn’t know, if even one person feels less alone, less lost, and more encouraged that this disease is manageable, that this disease does not have to rule us although it defines us, then my mission with this blog is complete. That’s all I signed up for: one person and one thing.

Over the years, I have exceeded that goal and I am forever grateful to all of you who have constantly reached out, who read this blog, and who have sent your comments to me over time. I always say it here and I pray for it every day that I wish you much health and good luck taking care of you and your families.

A lot has changed in 10 years. Aside from meeting so many others with FH, the FH Foundation was established also in 2011 and they also found my blog and invited me to be an advocate for FH. This was such a blessing as it opened the floodgates to information about current research and increased my own knowledge about FH, as well as, inevitably, increased the knowledge I share with all of you in this blog. But also, the most precious gift to me after connecting with them was to connect with many others like me and learning from their journeys. I am sure this connection would not have happened had it not been for this blog.

A lot has happened in the world of FH as well in the past 10 years. We now have our own ICD 10 codes for FH, and we even have a National FH Day in September. There are charity events (https://livingwithfh.blogspot.com/2017/08/fun-with-purpose.html) focused on creating awareness for FH, and I can tell you – most of my friends and acquaintances now know exactly what I have, what it means, and what it can cause. 10 years ago this was merely a dream.

It’s amazing what this small personal endeavor, a simple blog with the help of technology (a free blog and social media) can do! How many bridges it can build and how many relationships it can forge. How much support and hope.

Thank you to all of you who read here. Thank you to everyone who subscribes on Facebook or through email. I do hope, still, that you continue to find at least one helpful thing from my journey. And thank you for sharing yourselves, as well, through your comments and private messages. I am grateful I ever found you all.  

Days when you realize that dreams do come true are the most special. Today is one of those.

Here’s to the next 10 years!