I've posted before about Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, the connective tissue disorder I was born with. It is rare, painful and little understood. There are no treatments other than preventive braces and pain medications.

Chase Community Giving is giving away $1,000,000 to charities and are running a contest on Facebook where the charities with the most votes will get large donations.

From the website:
EDS is a life-threatening, painful, crippling genetic disorder caused by faulty collagen. It weakens the connective tissue causing fragile skin, joints, ligaments, organs, and blood vessels. EDS is misunderstood, grossly misdiagnosed, and some 90% never receive a proper diagnosis in their lifetime. There is no funding for research. There are no treatments. There is no cure. Today, we are at the threshold of promising research that can change all this and offer those who suffer, HOPE. It’s estimated that 1,358,640 people are affected worldwide, and thousands die. Sadly, many are diagnosed at autopsy after catastrophic internal ruptures. Yearly, 30,000 children are born with bleak futures as they struggle with lifelong consequences due to EDS. Our HOPE is to continue to fund research, increase education/awareness, find treatment options, and save/improve lives. Help us find that cure. Thanks Chase for the opportunity and for YOUR vote!

Click here to vote. You have to have a Facebook profile, and it asks you to become a "fan" of Chase Community Giving's FB page. The whole thing will take 60 seconds.

Money for research could mean a viable treatment for EDS. For me, this would mean no longer spending every day with joint pain, frequent (and sometimes scary) dislocations, and the unwelcome side effects of taking narcotic pain medications. Please do this - it could change my life and countless others.

Thank you!


[Edited 1/21/10 16:36pm]

Oh, and you can vote five times!

Done!

I can't do this from work because of the way they're doing it with the apps and such. I'll do this from home.

Thank you so much!

done

ZombieKitten said:

And on your birthday too!

going to do it now...

Done

PunkMistress said:

anytime!

I knew I could count on Orgers.

Logging into FB and doing this now.



8973 votes
Thanks-for-voting
[Edited 1/21/10 16:58pm]

I just voted. I'm glad I could do my small bit, as this seems like a really worthy cause.

Done

9401

cuz livin with pain sucks!!!
and NOT in a good way

Done did it!!

Done!

All done baby cakes!

Done!

Done.



I was only discussing you yesterday at work Erin.
we were discussing the american health system, and i mentioned you as an example, and the hoops you have to jump thru just to get meds you know that work



How do i vote again?
[Edited 1/22/10 1:56am]

prb said:

Click the "Click here" in my original post. And thank you.

Remember to use all five of your votes!!!

PunkMistress said:

how do you use them??
it tells me i have 4 left but i don't see anythign that says vote again..

peb319 said:

Same here

peb319 said:

and when i go back to the click here in your post..after it pops up and i click on the vote nothing happens..

ooh!!!
i clicked on the 'go to the fan page..'
and then clicked on the tab 'vote here!'
and i'm still workin on it..

and it's not working..
a window popped up and said 'oops something went wrong..we're working on getting this fixed...'
now what??

peb319 said:

I just clicked "Vote Now" each time.

But I did notice that it still says I have 4 votes to use. Oh well, as long as you guys are doing it once. It's very much appreciated.

I voted