A Star is Born

As you may know, I have been hosting audio, video and town meeting programs for patients since 1984. And, along the way, I became a patient too, diagnosed with CLL leukemia in 1996.

As you may know, I have been hosting audio, video and town meeting programs for patients since 1984. And, along the way, I became a patient too, diagnosed with CLL leukemia in 1996. I have been so fortunate to have been restored to good health for many years to let me “keep on keeping on.”  Lately, however, I have felt strongly that we need new and additional voices and faces on Patient Power to help lead the conversation with the people we serve and take it in new directions and with new styles and innovation. In the coming months look for a host of new “contributors.” Today, I wanted to tell you how excited we are about the first one: Kevin Alexander.

Kevin is a young adult living in Shreveport, Louisiana. A former television news videographer, Kevin was born with a lifelong genetic metabolic condition, PKU, that we cover on Patient Power. Kevin came to our attention because of his documentary, “My PKU Life” He is extremely devoted now to telling his story and facilitating better communication in the PKU community. We are about that too. So Kevin has stepped up to be our new host of our PKU programs. He reported on an important conference on newborn screening from Finland and now is preparing multiple reports from the National PKU Alliance annual conference. I am so proud and appreciative of Kevin.

Even if you are not affected by PKU, take a look at one of his reports. Here’s a man living with the condition who is dedicated to using his video skills to help others. He and I are definitely “on the same page!”

And there are others coming. We are very excited about video online (you indicated in the latest Patient Power survey that these are very helpful) and these new contributors will help us bring the latest news and discussions to people touched serious health conditions.

I welcome your nominations of people who we should check out. In the meantime, look for a growing team of people here who are devoted to helping you.

Wishing you the best of health!

Andrew