COMMUNITY STORIES Laura Will COMMUNITY STORIES Laura Will

Strive to Thrive, Not Just Survive

Research shows that rates of depression and anxiety are elevated among parents and caregivers of children with complex care needs. This is no mystery. I see many contributing factors: grief, chronic stress, poor sleep, caregiving burden, potential loss of work to care for the child, financial stress, social isolation, and spousal relationship problems. Which of these factors rings true for you?

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COMMUNITY STORIES Know Rare Team COMMUNITY STORIES Know Rare Team

Share Your Rare: Bryan Kelly

Hello everyone. I am 35 years old and I have Propionic Acidemia (PA). Life with PA is not always easy. I was diagnosed late, which caused me to have a stroke at a very young age. After years of needing a wheelchair and walker, I made a somewhat normal recovery.

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COMMUNITY STORIES Gina D. Wagner COMMUNITY STORIES Gina D. Wagner

The Rare Resiliency Toolbox

As a community advocate for the Rare Advocacy Movement, Uni Neha has a passion for guiding others in their rare disease journey. We sat down with Uni to talk about her resiliency routine and to hear her advice to others who are looking for new resources to support their well-being.

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CHANGEMAKERS Laura Will CHANGEMAKERS Laura Will

Changemaker in Rare: Pushpa Narayanaswami

Dr. Pushpa Narayanaswami is a neurologist based in Boston, Massachusetts. At the core of her work is to help patients live each day a little better and aid them to achieve their goals of care together. Read on to discover what led her to pursue her field of study and where she sees rare disease research going in the next few years.

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Evelyn Leigh Evelyn Leigh

Katie McCurdy: How a Woman with MG Helps Rare Patients Tell Complex Stories

Have you ever left a doctor appointment and realized you forgot to mention an important event in your health history? Having a rare disease often means you are seeing more than one doctor, and they all need to know your medical history. That means you have to remember all the symptoms and treatments you’ve had, including when they started and stopped, and how much they have affected your life.

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RARE RESOURCES Know Rare Team RARE RESOURCES Know Rare Team

Plunging is Easy, Raising Money is Hard: Lessons to Help Other Rare Disease Fundraising Organizations

The Penguin Plunge of Nyack was never meant to be an "annual" thing; it was just a couple of friends who wanted to put together a one-time winter plunge into icy Hudson River waters in southern Rockland County. If we were going to do something that crazy, we figured we should do it to raise funds for a good cause.

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CHANGEMAKERS Know Rare Team CHANGEMAKERS Know Rare Team

Changemaker in Rare: Jeremy E. Lankford, M.D.

At only four years old, Jeremy Lankford already knew that he wanted to be a neurologist. Today, that dream has come true, but what makes that reality even sweeter for the now-veteran physician is that his expertise is focused on improving the lives of kids just like that young version of himself.

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CHANGEMAKERS Know Rare Team CHANGEMAKERS Know Rare Team

Changemaker in Rare: Mary Kay Koenig, M.D.

Dr. Mary Kay Koenig is a physician with many interests, from chemistry to neurology to children's care—but at the beginning of her medical career, she never could have guessed that mitochondrial medicine would be the specialty where all of her passions intersected.

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CHANGEMAKERS Gina D. Wagner CHANGEMAKERS Gina D. Wagner

Bob Coughlin: Boldly Chasing Cures

Bob Coughlin, who today serves as an advisor to life science companies, was never one for thinking small or limiting his ambitions for rare disease patients. Learn how he and his family overcame the obstacles of cystic fibrosis (CF), raising awareness and money to search for a cure.

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