I am much more drawn to reading magazines about women's health, urology, entrepreneurship and the occasional foray into mid-century modern design, so maybe I have missing instances when IC and other women's health issues have debuted in glossy women's magazines.  Last week while I was eating my lunch at work (and after thoroughly chastising myself for forgetting my library book) I was mindlessly thumbing through one of the aforementioned glossy magazines that seem to contain more ads for fingernail polish and tooth brighteners than actual articles, but I digress.  Imagine my surprise when I came across an article about the female urinary tract smack in the middle of the November 2011 issue of Ladies Home Journal and an ever so small blurb about Interstitial Cystitis.  I think I actually interrupted one of my female co-workers with an "oh my goodness! I hate to interrupt but I just found a little something about IC in this magazine!"  Sadly my excitement was very quickly replaced with disappointment bordering on anger.  All of my hopes about IC finally going 'mainstream' were very quickly dashed by the tiny and very insignificant write up which glossed over the number of women in the U.S. alone with this disease, but how they made light of the sheer pain it entails, how many years it usually takes for a diagnosis, and how the quality of life for IC sufferers is greatly compromised.  I am also furious that the article claims that IC pain from urine in the bladder is somehow remedied, cited in the article as 'relief once you pee'.  If the writers had actually done some research they might have been able to provide information for women who might have IC but have not been officially diagnosed by providing the main symptoms of: chronic pain, urgency and frequency.  And instead of only citing that 'up to 8 million women might have IC' as provided by the Interstitial Cystitis Association they could have actually provided their website as a resource.  I am still reeling that the writers of the article left out so many important facts and factors about IC, leaving the reader to think that IC is not as devastating and as prevalent in our society as it actually is. 

My apologies, dear readers and IC patients, for a slight delay in this week's blog post.  It seldom happens to me but I recently had the wind knocked out of my sails by someone who wrote a very personal and vindictive comment to me about the inappropriateness of sharing with others about IC on an international forum.  It has always been my hope and intention to spread awareness of IC in whichever forum I am able to because who knows which person knows someone who knows someone with IC?  IC does not know international boundaries and it is my hope, and the hope of countless others, that IC becomes a household name someday.  

I hate to, yet again, draw comparisons to cancer because there really is no comparison to a chronic pain disease with a painful and incurable diagnosis of cancer, but I feel that I must draw the comparison solely because within the same international forum that I posted information on IC awareness there have been thousands of posts on cancer, all received with much gratitude and approval.  I had never seen a post about IC and thought my posting for IC awareness would garner the same gratitude for spreading awareness about a disease that affects millions of women and men (like cancer) but was instead treated to a vindictive note that I should not be speaking about my 'cause'.  I will not be quiet.  And I do not consider IC to be my little pet 'cause'.  I suffered serious, debilitating, suicide thought-driven IC pain and symptoms for five years and I have stayed active within the IC community because I want to be able to support the millions of other IC sufferers with words of encouragement and support.  IC is not just a little pet cause of mine.  IC is a PASSION for me and I want to be allowed the same respect for sharing awareness for those suffering from IC in the same vein as cancer awareness and cancer survivors.  I refuse to allow one private note to quiet me or to think that in some way spreading awareness for an incredibly painful disease is shameful or inappropriate. 

IC is real and I will never stop spreading the word about what the ICA, the ICN and doctors and researchers are doing world-wide to diagnose and treat this ravishing disease.  I will not take a private note personally, but I will personally see that my efforts to spread awareness double in the coming year.  Challenge me.  I will use the same force and effort that I used to prove countless doctors that I could not get my IC into remission.  There is a lot of fight in me yet and this time I will turn it towards those who matter a great deal to me: IC patients.