My nephew, Austin, has a rare neurological disorder called Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood. Despite the name, it's a permanent disorder. Basically, he'll have "episodes" which can last an hour, a day (or multiple days) and sometimes even weeks. When he has an "episode", one side of his body will be paralyzed. It creates both mental & physical delays.

 

Pepsi is having a contest where they are giving away $1.3 million to multiple foundations. The AHC Foundation has entered the contest. If we win the contest, Pepsi will donate $250,000 to the cause.

 

As of today, there are less than 600 people IN THE WORLD who have been diagnosed with AHC.

 

Long story short, please take 30 seconds a day in November to go to this website & vote so that we can raise some money & hopefully find a cause / cure for this disease.

 

Here's the link: http://www.refresheverything.com/search/?q=ahc

 

Go to the top right & search for "AHC" and vote. You have to register, but it seriously consists of your name & an email address. You can vote daily for the month of November, starting today. Also, we're going to have a Fundraiser in May 2011 that will include a band & a silent auction.

 

Feel free to forward this email on to anyone so that we can get additional votes. Since it is such a rare disorder, not many people outside of the friends & families of those who are directly affected by this debilitating disorder are aware about it. As a result, we're facing an uphill battle, but every vote counts!

 

Thank you BGP!

Here is a video that the AHC Foundation prepared:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub7BfrukszI

Some more commonly asked questions regarding the disorder:

 

What is Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood (AHC)?

HC is a rare neurological disorder in which repeated, transient attacks of hemiplegia occur, affecting one side of the body or the other, or both sides of the body. The hemiplegia (paralysis of a portion of the body) ranges from simple numbness in an extremity to full loss of feeling and movement. The attacks may last for minutes, hours or even days and are normally relieved by sleep. The attacks of hemiplegia may alternate from one side of the body to another.

 

What other symptoms are associated with AHC?

Children with AHC have exhibited a wide range of symptoms in addition to AHC. These include tonic attacks (lack of muscle tone), dystonic posturing (stiffening of extremities), nystagmus and other oculomotor abnormalities (eye disorders), developmental delays, mental retardation and seizures. Not all children suffer from all of these associated symptoms and there is no current evidence to prove that these symptoms are associated with, or caused by, AHC.

 

What causes a hemiplegic episode?

The causes of hemiplegic attacks differ among children. High stress activities have been know to cause attacks as well as the presence of a cold or upper respiratory problems. Children are affected by bright lights, wind, temperature changes and exposure to water. Many attacks occur for no apparent reason.

Here's an article about a 2 year old girl from Vermont who suffers from AHC:

 

http://www.thenewsherald.com/articles/2010/10/18/life/doc4cb70ed9a3e35170291793.txt

Done.

Done with a prayer for Austin.

Done!

Done.

Done!

Thanks for the support guys!

 

I just found out that you can also vote by texting 104112 to 73774. That's in addition to your one vote online.

 

It looks like we're still #235...I'm not sure if Pepsi updates the rankings daily or not.

^ I voted via text as well now, I wonder if you can just keep doing it?

 

 

 

I just tried to do it again and it says you may only do it once per day for the same idea via text.

Sent a text too.

 

 

 

 

On a side note, Pepsi sucks... If they help find a cure for this terrible disorder, I'll buy more Mountain Dew.

I just sent a text. The text I received back said "Thanks4 your vote! Vote for up to 10 different ideas per day. Visit http://pep.si/adoCG3 to track ideas near you. "

 

 

Does that mean I can vote 10 times per day on this ?

You can vote up to 10 times per day for 10 different ideas on the page, but only once per day for the same idea.

Looks like we're still #235. :idunno:

 

Please remember to vote again today.