BACK TO WORK!

Woof! You sure gotta climb a lot of steps to get to this Capitol Building here in Washington. But I wonder who that sad little scrap of paper is?

I'm writing my first bill.
Yes, I'm writing a bill.
And I'm looking up to Capitol Hill.
Well, it's a long, long journey
To the capital city.
It's a long, long wait
Just to make it to committee,
But I know I'll amend the budget someday
At least I hope and pray that I will,
But today I am still writing a bill.

Yes folks, we are finalizing our Political Agenda!
Writing a proclamation, that will pass through easily and National Eosinophilic Awareness Week will live forever because of it.
THEN! The bill and hosting Capitol Hill Day (May 17th tenatively)

We're looking to amend the 2008 Budget to include an appropriation for some research dollars for our little disease group. Very little has been given to this disease, especially when you compare it to less common diseases recieving far more. (Crohn's is a great example)

ON TOP OF THAT! We're also going to the CDC (Center for Disease Control) and HHS (Health and Human Services) and applying for a new ICD-9 ICD-10 code. These are the codes your doctor checks off on your diagnosis sheets. Our disease isn't listed. It's needed for numerous reasons. First and foremost, it helps to have a REAL diagnosis- legitimizing the disease- yeah, that's a good thing. Second, insurance coverage. Yep, that's good too. Third, helps us actually count just how many people suffer with this disease. With the coding we can come back and make our case for a multi-center epidemiological study which will give insight into the diagnostic rate of this ever-growing disease group.

I've got to learn a whole new set of acronyms!!!

We're applying for separate coding for Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EE), Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis (EGE) and Eosinophilic Colitis (EC). I have strong doubts on EGE and EC, but we're pretty confident in EE getting through (this year).

So- that's a lot for the first six months of the year.
My whole way of doing business is about to change because I am actually entering the political arena- why does the Aerosmith song j-j-j-jaded keep going through my head? Perhaps it's because I'm SO green, or perhaps it's because I know in a year I won't be the same lady- either way, right now, I'm tremendously excited!
See what happens when mommies get mad?????