Let's Talk About HD

I was working on a blog during my lunch hour one day. Somebody asked me what I was doing and I told her I was writing a blog. She rolled her eyes and made some sort of comment under her breath about it.

I have gotten that response more than once. I have been asked why I feel the need to blog and what makes me think I am so special that I need to write about anything. 

Truth is that I am not all that great. I am not anybody special; I am not better than anybody else out there. I don't write for recognition or for followers. I do it because I want others to know about this disease that has become such a major part of my life and the lives of many that I love.

I have heard or read so many stories in the last 13 years that always begin along the lines of "We knew something was wrong with so and so, but we didn't talk about it" or "Huntington's Disease wasn't something we talked about in our family, even though we knew so and so had it" or any other number of similar conversations. The point being, nobody talked this disease; even when it was part of your own family.

I personally hadn't heard anything about it because I had never been in contact with anybody that had been affected by the disease. Once I met my husband and learned about the disease, I found it amazing how many people in my own little sphere knew somebody that was somehow affected by the disease. But, still nobody talked about it. 

That has to change! We have to talk about this disease and raise awareness for it. The more we talk about it, the more people begin to understand and help to find a cure.