I am so pleased and proud to present the brand new, fully updated, thoroughly modern Dercum Society website! I’ve been working on this slowly for the past two years. But unfortunately my own Dercum’s battle regularly interrupted my efforts (something I’m sure the vast majority of you can understand!)
I hope you’ll take the time to look through the site and find the newly updated information, as well as a bunch of brand new sections. I’m especially proud of the new FAQ section! Not only does it have a vast array of answers to questions I get on a daily basis, but I’ve also created sections addressing several key topics that I feel are especially important to today’s Dercum’s community. You can find information about how to Find a Doctor, a guide to what is and is not an Expert, as well as a handy guide to simple Lifestyle Advice that many in the Dercum’s community have found especially helpful.
One vital part of the FAQ section – Defining Research – is still under construction. I hope you’ll pardon that! I really want to make sure I take my time and get that section right. Over the years there’s been a lot of confusion in the rare disease community at large about what exactly medical research is, its role in guiding treatment, and frustration with its slow pace. I hope to address those concerns and help everyone to understand just how important science is as the foundation of everything we do. It’s not an overstatement to say that our very lives depend on it.
I’ve been working with several medical researchers – both in the Dercum’s community and the broader medical community – to help make sure all of the information in that section is as accurate as possible. As always, I’m determined to ensure that everything contained on this website is entirely based in science and peer-reviewed medical journal articles. With this new update, I have ventured a little more into anecdotal evidence for things like our Lifestyle Advice section. But rest assured, whenever I’ve done so, I’ve been sure to note it as purely anecdotal. That differentiation is exceedingly important! I also feel that dedication to science is one of the reasons The Dercum Society has enjoyed such a positive reputation for well over a decade.
As always, if anybody has any questions, please feel free to contact me! (Just please pardon me if I take a little while to respond – my health hasn’t been great lately.)
Thank you for your continued support, patience, and general awesomeness! Let’s keep making the Dercum’s community a place of love, acceptance, healing, knowledge, and scientific curiosity.