Michelle,
Great site!!! You're right on track with creating a tool like this to enable women to be able to connect to other women easily. I work for a pharmaceutical company and can tell you that even in the Middle East, 80% of all health care decisions are made by women. Also women learn from other women when it comes to their health and the health of their families......so this kind of tool accelerates the natural course of what's already happening online.
I am 43 and also have made educating people about pituitary illness as my mission in life. I lost a decade of my life due to my pituitary slowly loosing it's function. By the time I was unable to work anymore, I went to 2 Mayo Clinics, a pituitary center in Oregon and still was not diagnosed correctly. I finally found Dr Ted Friedman in LA, who has already contributed to your pod-casts.
I've spent every dollar I ever earned, but at least I had great health insurance was able to have brain surgery by an expert at MD Anderson as well as continue being under Dr Friedman's care.
If an educated woman like myself has to diagnosis herself, then travel around the country trying to find a doctor to help her, what are other women doing? I know what they're doing, because they're trying to get through every day like I did......berating themselves when they loose their energy, become forgetful, gain weight despite exercising, etc.
Once you've lived through this kind of experience you can't help but be changed because fighting for yourself when you are weak mentally, physically and spiritually IS the hardest thing you'll ever do. Fighting for others is a piece of cake!!!
So thanks for helping me also have a vehicle to reach out and educate others!!!
I wanted to share with you the online community that truly saved my life. The founder, Mary O, is very willing to share lessons learned with others who are starting their own sites. The way her site is structured has created an awesome archive of information.
Your friend,
Gina