Michelle Obama, Sandra Bullock, Elizabeth Edwards, teen activist Constance McMillen, Chef April Bloomfield, and community member Brett Blumenthal are just a few of the amazing women who have worn a crown as one of Shine's women of the year.
While our editors throw out many names and list off the accomplishments and awards that make celebrities, politicians, activists, and real, hard-working women stand out in their efforts to make all of our lives better, there's always one lady who...well, shines brightest.
Judy Mikovits- Shine's Reader's Choice Woman of the Year 2011 Winner: Researcher Judy Mikovits. Her breakthrough studies of chronic fatigue syndrome made her a hero to many. But her firing and felony arrests late this year cast her in a suspicious and controversial light. Shine readers rallied around her, making Mikovits your overwhelming winner.
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See also: A big thank you to Dr. Judy Mikovits
I'm so pleased and relieved to learn that Dr. Mikovitis has not abandoned her quest, or the potentially millions of Americans with CFS.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard about XMRV's connection to CFS in 2008, I knew that this was the missing link to my host of medical issues that insidiously developed in the spring of 2004 at the age of forty-two. Up to this point, I was the picture of health, the mother of four children, as well as a nurse working part-time.
It also made logical sense in that just prior to the development of multiple physical signs and symptoms that progressed in a subacute fashion, I had spent considerable time cleaning out a garage that had become a haven for mice the winter before. Dried feces were everywhere as I swept and cleared out items that had been nested in.
As a mom of kids spanning age two to sixteen, I was desperate, yet determined to find answers among a skeptical and disjointed medical community. Thankfully as a nurse, I knew what questions to ask, and how to self-advocate and direct my care, otherwise I might remain in the dark today.
Thus after several diagnostic tests and second opinions from multiple specialists, we were able to pinpoint an autoimmune condition known as Sjogren's Syndrome, which is classified as a member of the Lupus family. Yet I remained convinced that the triggering factors leading up to my health problems extended beyond stress, hormonal changes, and possible heavy metal exposure. So when independent laboratories out West began accepting blood samples from the general public to be tested for the presence of antibodies to XMRV in 2010, I convinced my primary physician to write the necessary orders to authorize the blood draws.
Needless to say, the results that came back several weeks later were antibody positive for Epstein-Barr and XMRV. While Duke and UNC remain unable to treat me because of the lack of approved treatment modalities, individuals like myself are relying on physicians like Dr. Mikovitis to fight for our cause. The CDC is failing miserably here, and is not doing it's part to inform, and protect the public. It should not be that difficult to create a standardized test for XMRV to protect our blood supply, and our general public.
At the rate I'm going, I beleive my life is being shortened by this virus and other factors. And I fear I've exposed my children and husband to this virus, since it hasn't been establised whether XMRV is being transmitted through human to human contact either through air droplets or body fluids. And if not now, will this highly adaptable virus mutate in the near future to achieve this capability?
I thank God that Dr. Mikovitis is continuing the fight, and that Columbia University is giving her research another chance since some of her findings remain uncontested. And should anyone who reads this comment know how to contact this doctor, please tell her I'm ready and able to provide my story, medical records, and blood and body tissues for reseach purposes, as well as a voice or body for government protest.
I'm so pleased and relieved to learn that Dr. Mikovitis has not abandoned her quest, or the potentially millions of Americans with CFS.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard about XMRV's connection to CFS in 2008, I knew that this was the missing link to my host of medical issues that insidiously developed in the spring of 2004 at the age of forty-two. Up to this point, I was the picture of health, the mother of four children, as well as a nurse working part-time.
It also made logical sense in that just prior to the development of multiple physical signs and symptoms that progressed in a subacute fashion, I had spent considerable time cleaning out a garage that had become a haven for mice the winter before. Dried feces were everywhere as I swept and cleared out items that had been nested in.
As a mom of kids spanning age two to sixteen, I was desperate, yet determined to find answers among a skeptical and disjointed medical community. Thankfully as a nurse, I knew what questions to ask, and how to self-advocate and direct my care, otherwise I might remain in the dark today.
Thus after several diagnostic tests and second opinions from multiple specialists, we were able to pinpoint an autoimmune condition known as Sjogren's Syndrome, which is classified as a member of the Lupus family. Yet I remained convinced that the triggering factors leading up to my health problems extended beyond stress, hormonal changes, and possible heavy metal exposure. So when independent laboratories out West began accepting blood samples from the general public to be tested for the presence of antibodies to XMRV in 2010, I convinced my primary physician to write the necessary orders to authorize the blood draws.
Needless to say, the results that came back several weeks later were antibody positive for Epstein-Barr and XMRV. While Duke and UNC remain unable to treat me because of the lack of approved treatment modalities, individuals like myself are relying on physicians like Dr. Mikovitis to fight for our cause. The CDC is failing miserably here, and is not doing it's part to inform, and protect the public. It should not be that difficult to create a standardized test for XMRV to protect our blood supply, and our general public.
At the rate I'm going, I beleive my life is being shortened by this virus and other factors. And I fear I've exposed my children and husband to this virus, since it hasn't been establised whether XMRV is being transmitted through human to human contact either through air droplets or body fluids. And if not now, will this highly adaptable virus mutate in the near future to achieve this capability?
I thank God that Dr. Mikovitis is continuing the fight, and that Columbia University is giving her research another chance since some of her findings remain uncontested. And should anyone who reads this comment know how to contact this doctor, please tell her I'm ready and able to provide my story, medical records, and blood and body tissues for reseach purposes, as well as a voice or body for government protest.
I'm so pleased and relieved to learn that Dr. Mikovitis has not abandoned her quest, or the potentially millions of Americans with CFS.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard about XMRV's connection to CFS in 2008, I knew that this was the missing link to my host of medical issues that insidiously developed in the spring of 2004 at the age of forty-two. Up to this point, I was the picture of health, the mother of four children, as well as a nurse working part-time.
It also made logical sense in that just prior to the development of multiple physical signs and symptoms that progressed in a subacute fashion, I had spent considerable time cleaning out a garage that had become a haven for mice the winter before. Dried feces were everywhere as I swept and cleared out items that had been nested in.
As a mom of kids spanning age two to sixteen, I was desperate, yet determined to find answers among a skeptical and disjointed medical community. Thankfully as a nurse, I knew what questions to ask, and how to self-advocate and direct my care, otherwise I might remain in the dark today.
Thus after several diagnostic tests and second opinions from multiple specialists, we were able to pinpoint an autoimmune condition known as Sjogren's Syndrome, which is classified as a member of the Lupus family. Yet I remained convinced that the triggering factors leading up to my health problems extended beyond stress, hormonal changes, and possible heavy metal exposure. So when independent laboratories out West began accepting blood samples from the general public to be tested for the presence of antibodies to XMRV in 2010, I convinced my primary physician to write the necessary orders to authorize the blood draws.
Needless to say, the results that came back several weeks later were antibody positive for Epstein-Barr and XMRV. While Duke and UNC remain unable to treat me because of the lack of approved treatment modalities, individuals like myself are relying on physicians like Dr. Mikovitis to fight for our cause. The CDC is failing miserably here, and is not doing it's part to inform, and protect the public. It should not be that difficult to create a standardized test for XMRV to protect our blood supply, and our general public.
At the rate I'm going, I beleive my life is being shortened by this virus and other factors. And I fear I've exposed my children and husband to this virus, since it hasn't been establised whether XMRV is being transmitted through human to human contact either through air droplets or body fluids. And if not now, will this highly adaptable virus mutate in the near future to achieve this capability?
I thank God that Dr. Mikovitis is continuing the fight, and that Columbia University is giving her research another chance since some of her findings remain uncontested. And should anyone who reads this comment know how to contact this doctor, please tell her I'm ready and able to provide my story, medical records, and blood and body tissues for reseach purposes, as well as a voice or body for government protest.