It's that time of year again! It's time to kick off the annual Hundred People Search campaign - our challenge to the HPS community to help us reach out and find those affected by HPS who either don't know about the HPS Network, or don't know they have HPS.
We all understand how scary having HPS can be. But consider what is really scary - having HPS and not knowing it. Think about developing pulmonary fibrosis and receiving a diagnostic open lung biopsy that causes excessive bleeding. Now that's scary, potentially deadly and completely avoidable. What about finding yourself in an auto accident. You do have injuries, but the doctors at the emergency department don't think your injuries are so severe that they should bleed this much. They can't explain it, but they can't make the bleeding stop either and the situation grows more dire with each passing moment.
These are just a few of the things that can happen when you have HPS and don't know it. Not getting tested, diagnosed and educated about the syndrome won't make a person not have HPS. It just makes living with it more dangerous.
On the flip side the HPS community works tirelessly fundraising and supporting science to one day find better treatments and a cure. Things are better for those with HPS than they were a decade ago. To keep that momentum going, our researchers need to know that they can bet their careers on us. We want their help. We will participate in their research. We will work hard with them to build the better tomorrow, but that means finding more people affected by HPS.
So, join us! This year we are kicking off the Hundred People Search with two more HPSers, making our starting point 98 to go on the Hundred People Search!!!
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