Jump! for a Cause is all about spotlighting advocacy and awareness causes and organizations. I encourage people with ties to these issues to share how they find happiness in spite of the challenges they face as a way of bringing attention to and promoting awareness of the special and important lives they lead.
Are you a supporter, patient, or advocate for Primary Immune Deficiency Diseases or infertility? Submit a Jump! Shot this month to show how you find Reasons for Happiness in support of your cause
See all PIDD awareness Jump! Shots here.
See all infertility awareness Jump! Shots here.
April is National Primary Immunodeficiency Awareness Month and also National Infertility Awareness Week/Month. It seems somehow appropriate that Jump! would launch at such a time that our first causes could be these two. I have a personal connection to each: my 9-year-old Godson Christian was diagnosed with a Primary Immune Deficiency Disease (PIDD) when he was 5, and I myself fall on the infertility spectrum.
Below are some basic talking points about each of these causes. Follow the links through to these awareness month pages to see more information about PIDD and infertility awareness.
Primary Immune Deficiency Diseases (PIDDs)
- There are around 185 known variations of PIDDs. These disease are caused by immune systems that are compromised in some way or are absent altogether. What this means is that the body’s natural defenses against diseases are impaired to varying degrees.
- There are approximately 250,000 people in the U.S. with a known PIDD, and many more have PIDDs, but have yet to be diagnosed.
- Proper diagnosis of PIDDs is often a difficult and lengthy process. A person may have several different types of repeated illnesses and/or infections that they are merely labeled as being “sickly.” Because the types and degree of the illnesses may seem separately unrelated (as opposed to being collectively one symptom of a larger problem), PIDDs are often misdiagnosed or are overlooked.
- How do you know if you or your child should be tested for a PIDD? Here are criteria to consider (as quoted from the Immune Deficiency Foundation):
Do the same symptoms keep coming back or never seem to completely clear? Is the infection severe enough to require hospitalization or intravenous antibiotics? Is there a family history of early infant death or of susceptibility
to infection?If you answered yes to any of these questions it is critical to get an early diagnosis and proper medical care – don’t hesitate to ask your physician to check for the possibility of a primary immunodeficiency disease.
Thankfully, with proper diagnosis and treatment, most patients with live active and full lives. Just ask my photobombing Godson!
Learn more information on the National Primary Immunodeficiency Disease Awareness Month page on the Immune Deficiency Foundation Website.
Infertility
According to RESOLVE.org, the National Infertility Association, infertility is defined thusly:
Infertility is a disease or condition of the reproductive system often diagnosed after a couple has had one year of unprotected, well-timed intercourse, or if the woman has suffered from multiple miscarriages and the woman is under 35 years of age. If the woman is over 35 years old, it is diagnosed after 6 months of unprotected, well-timed intercourse.
Compounding the physical problem of not being able to conceive or safely carry a pregnancy is the negative emotional effect. Women and men with infertility often struggle with feelings of isolation and shame. Insurance coverage for treatment of infertility is slim to none in most states, which often makes family-building for infertiles costly. IVF, IUI, gamete donation, surrogacy, and adoption are pathways that many infertile individuals take. Some choose the road less traveled and decide to stop treatments and live childlessly.
1 in 8 couples is affected by infertility. If it’s not you, it’s someone you know. It’s probably a lot of someones you know. If you are dealing with infertility, you do not have to suffer in isolation. If you have never personally dealt with infertility, learn about the physical and emotional ramifications of it so that you are better equipped to support those around you who are living with it. National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW) rallies advocates and patients to create dialogues about infertility to break down the walls of shame, isolation, financial barriers of family-building as an infertile.
Learn how you can participate in National Infertility Awareness Week 2013, which is April 21-27.
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Keep an eye on Jump! throughout the month to see advocates and supporters from the PIDD and Infertility communities share their Reasons for Happiness Jump! Shots!
