Family & Friends,

Each year I share our story with you and ask you to support us in our quest to find a cure for our little angel, Rachel. And each year I am eternally grateful to all of you who continue to donate to Cure JM every year! 

The event this year holds extra special meaning to our family - it's being held in our hometown of Baltimore!! But we'll also be missing and thinking of Rachel's biggest supporter - my Dad.

I lost my Dad to Diabetes on March 3, 2012. Most of you know how close I was with him. But what you might not know is just how close he was with Rachel and the special bond they shared.

Pop Pop and Rachel shared a unique bond - their diseases and the daily struggle to keep healthy. They shared their war stories each week - the daily medications, daily/weekly injections, the surgeries and how it made them feel. Pop Pop was one of the only persons Rachel would truly open up to and talk about how she felt dealing with this illness. When Pop Pop died, Rachel lost not only her Grandfather, but one of her major supporters and confidants. We continue to miss him each and every day.

So once again, I'm asking all of you to please continue to donate on behalf of Rachel and other children suffering from this disease.

Our Story

Rachel was diagnosed with Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JDM) in May, 2004 at 3 years old. It took 18 months for doctors to diagnose her condition and by then, she couldn't walk up the stairs by herself, brush her own hair or sit in a chair without being in pain. It's hard to imagine, but she's spent most of her life in pain.

Rachel suffers from calcifications in both legs and feet, which makes wearing shoes difficult. All of us take wearing shoes for granted. But for Rachel its a struggle to find a shoe that will fit with the calcification lumps on her feet. She's had three surgeries (8/07, 7/08 and 6/10) to remove these nodules, only to have them grow back. It's a constant, heartbreaking struggle.
 
Please consider making a donation for Rachel and the other 5,500+ children nationwide that suffer from JDM. You really can make a difference.

With each donation, we get closer to finding a cure for Rachel and the other children living with this disease. No amount is too small. It just brings us closer to finding a cure.