Suicide. Who wants to talk about it? Not many... It is one of those topics that has such a negative stigma surrounding it and takes such a destructive path on the people left behind.

My grandma committed suicide when I was only 6 years old. My mom was 31. She was a recovering alcoholic and was in a deep depression and just couldn't deal with it anymore. One day, she walked in to the water up in Edmonds, WA and gave her life away. Her body didn't even fight for the right to live. She left a note explaining she couldn't take it anymore but didn't say any I love you's or goodbyes. Just left people wondering if they were there enough for her, could they have done more and what went wrong? I can't even begin to imagine how my mom felt and how much it hurt her. My mom leads a wonderful life but to this day, she still wonders if she'll ever be able to get over it.

Now, think of your child committing suicide. How about 2 of them within a year? My heart aches just thinking of losing a child which has got to be one of the most devastating things to happen to a person. We received an email with a powerful article telling her mom's story of losing her 2 sons to suicide. It sent her in to alcoholism and a deep depression. Out of it came goodness as now the family is now active in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AASP).

Please read her story:
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/story_pf.asp?ID=245084


The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has a very informative website and here are some key stats I was unaware of:
- More than 32,000 people in the United States die by suicide every year.
- It is this country's 11th leading cause of death, the #3 cause of death for 15-24 years olds and the #4 cause of death for humans aged 18 - 65.
- Suicide is often characterized as a response to a single event or set of circumstances
- A person dies by suicide about every 16 minutes in the United States. An attempt is estimated to be made once every minute.
- 90% of all people who die by suicide have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder at the time of their death.
- There are four male suicides for every female suicide, but twice as many females as males attempt suicide.
- Every day, approximately 80 Americans take their own life, and 1,500 more attempt to do so.

Suicide is something we can help prevent by identifying the signs and getting treatment. Sandy Ross has a little advice for parents, "Pay attention to your children. Listen to what they have to say. Appreciate every little moment with them. Be open with them. Discuss everything, good and bad."


How can you help raise awareness?
You can donate online at AFSP.
Visit the AFSP's Out of the Darkness Community Walks website to participate in a walk in a city near you.

This past Friday was a very hard day for me, as well as many other people who had the chance to meet John. John was a five-year-old disabled boy that I had the honor of getting to know. My sister was John’s nanny for two and half years and during that time he became a part of my family. Although he was severely disabled he brought joy to everyone he touched! His smile, laughter and high-fives were just a few things that touched my heart. John was born with cerebral palsy along with multiple other disabilities and was only given a life span of two years. With his determination and encouraging family he was able to live until he was five. I know every birthday for him and his family was another achievement as he had many struggles throughout his life. Friday was John’s funeral and as you can imagine was a very hard day, although we were grieving the speakers at his funeral really brought him back to life and gave us something to smile about. We will never forget this little boy as he has such a place in our hearts. If you are a parent I would take a few extra minutes out of your day to squeeze, hug, kiss and tell your child how much you love them, as we never know what the next day may bring.

Please think of John and his family in this time of remembrance and sorrow. You can sign his guestbook at https://www.legacy.com/Oregon/GB/Sponsor.aspx?PersonId=116097734.

We will miss you John!

One can’t help but watch the Olympics and be in awe of so many talented athletes. Their natural raw talent and passion to win are both addictively inspirational. For two short weeks many of us find ourselves glued to the television watching sports we only watch every four years. We cheer for our favorites as if we’ve been through the grind with them all along preparing both physically and mentally for this one shot at glory. Talk about jumping on the bandwagon – apparently I’m a huge fan of mixed doubles badminton.

…and yet with all these elements, a video like this comes along and reminds me of what truly matters. How a young man given the opportunity to make his dream a reality, grabs the bull by its horns and turns an ordinary high school gym into a roaring madhouse, equal to the electricity felt at the Swimming Cube in Beijing.

I’ve seen this video a few times before, and each time I watch it I choke up - not because a boy with autism made six 3-pointers in under five minutes, but because on this day a boy with autism was treated the way he ought to be…...equal.

Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7w9rk7Psus

Lee Fine - First Human

I have been wanting to write a post for a long time regarding Alzheimer's. I know there are so many people affected by this cause, and I am one of them. I'll never forget when my mom told me about my grandmother, the person who I thought was going to live forever. She was so active and healthy and such a big part of my life. My grandmother lived with the disease for about 6 years. It was so hard to watch her turn into child and not be able to do or remember anything, I almost couldn't watch, my sister was absolutely amazing with her...taking care of her, changing diapers, feeding her, etc. I just felt like I did not want to remember her that way, so I was kind of in the background. I definitely stayed a part of her life and she stayed a part of mine...as a matter of fact my daughter's middle name was after my late grandmother. I could go on forever about this amazing women, just writing this blog brings tears to my eyes. As you know I am apart of FiveHumans and am really anxious to make Alzheimer's one of our causes. I am looking for people to share their stories...this will help us come up with some amazing shirts that bring about awareness and show their support in the fight to find a cure for Alzheimer's. Please comment on my blog or share your stories on our website at www.fivehumans.com. I appreciate you listening to my story and hope that some of you never have to watch a loved one go through this.

Thanks,
Nicole

As many of you know, "Ignorance is a Curable Disease" is the FiveHumans tagline. This is the foundation of what FiveHumans is all about; curing the ignorance surrounding causes that affect humans everywhere. We try everyday to cure our own ignorance about the many things humans suffer with and every time we feel proud that we have gained a little more knowledge and become a little less ignorant, something happens that lets us know we still have a lifetime of learning to do.

Recently a friend of FiveHumans, Brandy, wrote me about a cause near and dear to her, Duchenne muscular dystrophy. I was proud that, unlike Noonan Syndrome, I had actually heard of muscular dystrophy, even though I had never heard the term Duchenne associated with MD. Of course, like many people, I immediately thought of the Jerry Lewis telethon and the Jerry's Kids donation containers at the grocery store, but when I actually started reading about it, I realized that even a disorder like this that had received a ton of exposure over the years has not sunk in to the consciousness of humans enough for us to know much about it or worse yet, to have found a cure.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the most common fatal genetic disorder diagnosed in childhood, affecting approximately 1 in every 3,500 live male births . It is a degenerative disorder that affects "primarily" boys -- I haven't yet found in my short time researching, a case of a girl with Duchenne, but from what I read it is theoretically possible because it is caused by a defect in the dystrophin gene that is only carried on the X-chromosome. Because boys only have one X-chromosome, they don't have a chance of a second X-chromosome making up for the damaged one. My ignorant assumption is that in a rare case, a girl could have the damage in two X-chromosomes, but again, I haven't found much about this either way -- and they usually pass away in their 20's or 30's.

I'll be as quick as I can here, but what hit me the hardest was the stages of Duchenne... Boys who are seemingly normal babies are diagnosed typically between 2 and 7 when they start to miss some developmental milestones because their bodies produce no dystrophin which is a protien required to maintain the structure of muscle. Eventually, without dystrophin, muscles are unable to operate properly, suffer progressive damage, and eventually die. Boys with Duchenne eventually die from complications related to this, i.e. heart or respiratory failure. It somewhat reminds me of Lou Gehrig's disease, which is something I've been personally a little afraid of, but instead of thinking of myself dying of that someday, when I was reading about Duchenne, I immediately thought of my 1yr old son and thought, what if I had to watch him progressively lose mobility and bodily function and eventually die. That truly shook me...

That's why I had to write something and tell anyone reading this to do what I am going to do and think twice when you see a telethon or a donation bucket; try to think what you can do to help find a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Help open people's eyes, ears and most importantly, their hearts by spreading knowledge and staying aware yourself.

Brandy, I wish you and Finn the best. You are in my thoughts and I applaud you for not just sitting back and feeling sorry (which would be a completely normal response), but for being active and trying to do what you can to help Finn and the many other boys with Duchenne. You are an inspiration.

For more information on Duchenne muscular dystrophy, follow this link: http://www.parentprojectmd.org/site/PageServer?pagename=understanding_about