Achy Smile Nominee for 2018 WEGO Health Awards [Please Vote]

I am excited to announce that I have been nominated for the WEGO Health Advocating for Another Award in the 2018 WEGO Health Awards.

WEGO Health is a mission-driven company connecting healthcare with the experience, skills, and insights of patient leaders. They are the world’s largest network of patient leaders, working across virtually all health conditions and topics. Click here to learn more about their Patient Leader Network.

The WEGO Health Awards were created to celebrate those who tirelessly support the mission of WEGO Health: to empower the patient voice. With 16 award categories, the WEGO Health Awards are the only awards across all conditions and platforms, that recognize the over 100 thousand inspiring Patient Leaders who raise awareness, share information, and support their communities – but often without recognition.

Per the WEGO Health Awards website, the Advocating for Another category states:

There are many reasons why Patient Leaders get involved in advocacy. This particular group of advocates has a special inspiration: their loved one. Though these advocates may not personally experience a chronic health condition, they tirelessly raise awareness and have an up-close-and-personal perspective that is invaluable. They are caregivers of children, siblings, parents, significant others, or friends. These Leaders work hard to make the world better for patients like their loved one. Not only do they dedicate their time caring for someone in-person, they also support others in the online health community through their blogs, sites, and social media presences. They truly prove that caregivers and parents need to be at the table alongside patients when it comes to changing healthcare for the better.

As a mom of a daughter with Migraine (Benign Paroxysmal Vertigo, Menstrual Migraine) and Social Anxiety, a son with High Functioning Autism (with ADHD, OCD, and Panic Attack), and a husband with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (with Panic Attacks) and Sleep Apnea, advocating for Chronic Illness is a passionate subject of mine. Not only am I a caregiver, when I am well enough, I am also a Chronic Migraine and Chronic Illness patient.

I have several types of Headache disorders and Migraine diseases, such as: Chronic Migraine with Aura, Sporadic Hemiplegic Migraine (SHM or HM), Migraine with Brainstem Aura (formerly known as Basilar Artery Migraine), Retinal Migraine, Benign Paroxysmal Vertigo for Adults (Vestibular Migraine), Primary Stabbing Headache, New Daily Persistent Headache (NDPH). So needless to say, I know Migraine.

In addition, I also fight Degenerative Disc Disease with symptoms, Osteopenia with symptoms, symptomatic Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO), Non-Epileptic Seizure triggered by severe Migraine pain, Depression triggered by Chronic Illness, Anxiety, and Panic Attack. Together with my family, I do my best to advocate for those who don’t have a voice. We are a team fighting Un-Health together!

This blog, Achy Smile, is a Partner with the American Migraine Foundation (AMF). I am a contributor to the AMF blog and fully support the AMF mission. I have been featured on several health websites and companies, including TheraSpecs, Health Stories, and B-Wom. Recently, I founded the Achy Smile Migraine Support Group on Facebook. While small, we hope to make a big impact on those who live with Migraine. I advocate from my bed most days, interacting with others in the same situation as my daughter and me.

I am a Spokesperson for the Speak Your Migraine (SYM) campaign sponsored by Amgen and Novartis. In the videos, I speak about what my life is like with this disease. You can also find Stephen and I throughout the SYM Website and Facebook page in video and images talking about our relationship with Migraine. Earlier this year, I was a featured speaker at the BlogHer Health 2018 conference in New York City, NY. I took the stage, sponsored by Amgen and Novartis, and spoke about my life with Migraine and how it affects myself as a woman, as a mother of a daughter with Migraine, and as an advocate.

Stephen, Marissa, and Noah support me in all of these amazing advocacy efforts. I couldn’t do any of what I do without their love and respect. We’ve been through so much and learned how to life along the way. I spend my days writing blog posts for Achy Smile and creating meaningful, eye-catching, shareable graphics for the Chronic Illness community on social media. My photographer is my daughter and she’ll be leaving us next year for her first year at University. It is my hope that with all the knowledge we have gained about Migraine, Marissa will have all the defensive tools at her disposal for future Migraine attacks without mom and dad by her side.

This year, the 16 WEGO Health Award winners will be honored at an in-person celebration in October co-hosted by the Society of Participatory Medicine at the Connected Health Conference. Attending this event with all of these amazing advocates is a top honor. I am humbled to have been nominated. The person who nominated me remains anonymous, but if you’re reading this today, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. It is overwhelming to know I made a difference for just one person. You are not alone.

I’m now looking to my incredibly supportive network to help endorse me for this award. There are a few easy ways to endorse that only take seconds of your time! Please consider sharing your endorsement with your followers or sharing my links on your pages. Let’s get #Migraine advocacy noticed!

1. You can click on my endorsement badge located at the top right of my blog sidebar. The sidebar is located on the homepage and all article pages.
2. Click here to be taken to my WEGO Health Awards profile where you can click “Endorse” under my nominee photo. If you are on mobile, please scroll all the way towards the bottom to find the “Endorse” button in orange. https://awards.wegohealth.com/nominees/14440
3. You will also see my social media posts on Facebook, Instagram (Link in Bio), Twitter, and LinkedIn.
4. If you subscribe to my Newsletter, you might also find a link in an e-mail from time to time.

If I have ever supported you, made you laugh, or inspired you to keep fighting – please consider endorsing me for this award. Thank you so much for reading and for clicking that Endorse button!!

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