Chris’ Journey

I apologize to anyone that has been confused prior to this, my name is Stephen Wright and my mother’s name (the one suffering from the disease) is Chris(tine) Wright. The title of the ride comes from a blog that my dad started back in May to keep friends and family up to date on her treatment. The blog can be found at www.chrisjourneytohealth.blogspot.com . I encourage you all to go there to find out more about the disease, how my Mom has fought her battle since last spring, and to keep up with how she is doing. You can read the entire set of updates back to May by looking at the archived posts.

I must also take this time to point out how fortunate I have been and how fortunate my family has been. My mom was diagnosed in May, 2008 thanks to an article about a woman suffering from the disease in a nearby town. Thanks to this article my mom was able to get an early diagnosis and begin treatment right away. Most people suffering from the disease are diagnosed too late because doctors do not know enough about the disease and often overlook it. Once she was diagnosed and began treatment, we had all the support we could have asked for from our friends and family. My parents were able to move into Boston next to BU Medical Center (one of the few places in the country that treats the disease, again we were so lucky to have lived nearby) thanks to all of our family and friends who gave up their time to help my mom and my family. Thanks to these fortunate scenarios my mom has been able to have a very positive result from her treatment so far. This support is key to all amyloidosis patient and can make a big difference in their outcome. I encourage you all to continually support and help anyone you know suffering from a serious disease, this can make a bigger difference than you think.

In my efforts to raise money and awareness for Amyloidosis, I too have received unbelievable support from everyone. My friend Aislinn (ashlean) has put countless hours of her time into helping me organize this ride over the last couple of months. My cycling teammate Brad Jurga volunteered hours of his own time making the website look good. And my family has been behind my efforts 100%.  While trying to organize this ride I have seen how important support from those around me can be.  Just as I need people to help me and encourage me in my efforts, people suffering from diseases need support while battling their disease. Since making the website public roughly 36 hours ago I have recieved so many emails of support, encouragement, and hope from others just like me. People who lost a parent, a sibling, a cousin, a friend, it is amazing how many people can be affected by one person suffering the disease. These emails have meant so much to me and they have given me more hope in my efforts to raise awareness and money for Amyloidosis then I ever imagined 48 hours ago.  I encourage you to write a comment, email me, send your friends or family to the website, or to my mom’s blog. I am going to do my best to respond to everyone within a few days.

Thank you for your support!

Stephen Wright

The website is up at rolling at Chrisjourney.com ! Here I will be continually posting updates on the ride so that everyone can stay up to date. I am currently planning on beginning the ride on March 8th but this is subject to change as we finalize the route. I will be riding roughly 1500 miles over a 2 weeks period along the east coast. Along the way I will be stopping in different towns and cities trying to promote awareness for the disease in different parts of the country. Look for more updates to come soon as things get going! Until then visit the website and help me spread the word on the disease and the ride. All help is greatly appreciated!