Catch up on the latest news with the Dercum Society blog!
Want to Help?
I always receive a lot of emails from people around the world who have either been diagnosed with Dercum’s Disease, or are currently going through the diagnostic process. But today I received a very interesting email that got me thinking. It reminded me of a goal I wanted to achieve when I first established this site over five years ago. It made me realize, now that I’ve redesigned the site and built it upon a more solid foundation, that goal is easier to achieve than ever before.
So I better get to work!
The only thing is, I need your help to make it possible! Have you ever wanted to help educate others about Dercum’s Disease? But just haven’t had the means to do it?
Now you can! Because this exciting project can’t get off the ground without you!
If you speak a foreign language, especially a European language, I need your help! If you’re interested in helping out, please contact me! Let me know which language(s) you speak and how often you might be available to help out.
No web experience is necessary! I’ve got that covered. All I need is your linguistic expertise.
Thank you very, very much! With your help, we’ll make a world of difference!
Coming Soon: Understanding Medical Research
I’m excited to let you all know that soon I’ll be adding a new section to the Dercum Society website: Understanding Medical Research!
I’ve been receiving a lot of emails lately and seen a lot of talk online about people participating in research for Dercum’s Disease. I’m hoping to clarify what exactly valid medical research is, what it looks like, and what must be involved for any research to be scientifically valid.
This up-coming section will provide an overview of what to expect from medical research, what laws and regulations govern scientific research, and how it might affect your care if you choose to participate. It will also hopefully clarify any misconceptions about what research looks like and what’s expected in order for research to be scientifically valid.
My hope will be to provide an easy-to-understand overview of the process, so that hopefully you’ll be as prepared as possible to make the best decision you can regarding your own care and your own possible participation in valid research that meets every legal and scientific requirement.
Please keep an eye on this site, I’ll be adding this section soon! And if you know of any resources, videos, or articles you think should be included, feel free to post them as a comment to this blog entry, or email them to me!
Thanks!
A Theme Song to Make You Smile
I found this song a while ago and it never fails to make me smile whenever I’m feeling glum about my stupid genetic disease. I hope it makes you smile too! I proudly present, “Big Girl, You Are Beautiful!” by Mika!
Hehe, isn’t that awesome? If only Mika knew how many times I’ve listened to that at the hospital, when I was feeling about as down and out as could be. That song has enough magic happiness in it to turn just about any day around, no matter what this disease does to it. Thank you, Mika! You’ll never know how much that means to me. 
For the rest of you, I highly recommend the rest of Mika’s fabulous music. It’s so rare to find well-written, happy pop that isn’t sleazy these days. You can check out his songs, videos, and more on his website, www.MikaSounds.com!
I highly recommend his songs ‘Grace Kelly‘, ‘Blame It On The Girls‘, ‘Love Today‘, ‘We Are Golden‘, and ‘Happy Ending‘.
If you like his music, take a look at his Wikipedia page. The guy has a really interesting background, one I can particularly relate to, growing up as a home-schooled military brat. He’s half Lebanese, half American, but grew up all over Europe. I like to think that eclectic background infuses his music with something special, sorta like how I like to think the same about what I do. But hey, maybe that’s self-indulgent of me.
Either way, enjoy the happy! Goodness knows, some days we need it!
FAQ is Up!!
After meaning to set up a section like this for years, I finally finished a Frequently Asked Questions page!! Yay!
I’ve collected all the questions I get most often in emails and answered them all on this site. Hopefully this will answer a lot of your questions instantaneously!
Please check it out by clicking here!
If you have any suggestions about things I should add, any comments or anything, please feel free to either post a comment here or send me an email! I’d love to know what you think of it.
And of course, please keep an eye on the FAQ page in the future – I’ll be adding more stuff soon!
A Happier Look at Fat Cells!
Have you ever wanted to cuddle with a cute little fat cell? Or, more likely, for those of us suffering from Dercum’s Disease, we might just want to take out some of our frustration on a fat cell large enough to slap around a bit…
Either way, now you can! With these cute, cuddly plushy fat cells from the folks at GiantMicrobes.com! They create much cuter versions of actual microbes, magnifying them over a million times! All so you can get up close and personal with a safer, softer, more cuddle-worthy version of cells, bacteria, and all sorts of fun stuff you’d normally only see through a microscope.
These darling fat cells are available either as a 5-7″ single plush fat cell for $8.95, or you can purchase an entire petri dish of three mini microbes for only $12.95.
Click here to check out the fat cells!
Plus, if you order straight from the manufacturer by clicking on any of the links provided on this site, the Dercum Society will receive a portion of the proceeds! So not only will you have a new cuddly fat cell buddy, but you’ll be supporting our work as well! What could be better than that?!
GiantMicrobes.com also features lots of other fun products, like a cuddly Common Cold that won’t get you sick, the cutest incarnation of Mono that you’ll ever see, and a bed bug that certainly won’t bite! Be sure to check out all their other merchandise, featuring soap dispensers, ties, baseball caps, t-shirts, gift sets, and all sorts of fun stuff!
I have a few of these cute little guys myself and I can tell you, they’re loads of fun! They also make great gifts for doctors! I gave a petri dish of the little fat cells to my favorite pain management doctor and he got a kick out of it. I later heard that his kids loved them so much that they ended up ordering other microbes as well! Be sure to check out the entire catalog at GiantMicrobes.com!
Welcome to the new Society!
I’m very pleased and proud to present the new incarnation of the Dercum Society’s online home!
Since our founding way back in 2005, our website has provided help and comfort to an untold number of Dercum’s patients, their families, and the medical professionals who help to improve their lives. I’m incredibly proud of that fact. When I was first diagnosed with this disease, my first instinct was to run to Google and see what information I could find. I was so disappointed when I couldn’t find anything beyond just a few incidental stories here and there. While they did provide a little bit of comfort, they weren’t helpful when it came to finding truly scientifically based information that would help my doctor and I plot a course for treatment.
Thankfully I was able to track down Dr. Brorson, the co-author of the seminal medical journal article on the disease. He was kind enough to help edit the content of this website, to ensure that it was as medically sound as possible. The bulk of what you’ll find here is essentially a translation of his article, taking his & Dr. Fagher’s research and making it accessible to everyone, doctor and patient alike.
Not much had changed on this website since I first set it up all those years ago. Now, with the powerful foundation of WordPress, I’ll be able to easily update the site more often. My goal with this new incarnation of the website is to provide you with more information, support, and content to hopefully answer more of your questions and give you more insight into the disease.
I hope you enjoy the new website! Of course, as always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me directly or post a comment here on the blog!
Thanks for your continued patience, support, and kindness! And please forgive any kinks or errors you might find – there’s still a bit of polishing up to do of our new online digs!
Site Updates & Changes
The Dercum Society website is well over five years old, which means it’s time for an update! So please be patient as I work on redesigning, rebuilding, and redoing the entire site from top to bottom!
Thanks! And sorry for the inconvenience in the meantime!