You’ve just checked in at your neurologist’s front desk and you find a seat, getting comfortable because you know you’ll probably be waiting quite a while. Trying to reserve the small percentage of battery power you have left, you click the ringer off on your phone, and look around you, distractedly. The magazines on the table next to you have all been there for months so there’s nothing new to read. You settle instead for reading the informative pamphlets left by pharmaceutical reps. You can choose from “My MS Journey” and “Living with Fibromyalgia.” Given the number of times you have sat in this waiting room and others, you’ve seen these pamphlets, read them both more than once, and learned several things about two conditions you don’t have. You pick up neither and instead turn your attention to the TV on the wall broadcasting “The View.”
How many times have you done this, or something very similar? Dozens? Hundreds? In all of those similar scenarios, how many times did you see a pamphlet for chronic facial pain in the literature rack? My educated guess is: zero.
One of the things that is woefully lacking from our selection of chronic facial pain awareness tools is a good pamphlet. Think of all that could be very easily accomplished with an accurate and thorough chronic facial pain pamphlet.
By placing a set of pamphlets in your doctor’s office and replenishing them as needed, you can reach the thousands of other patients who are looking for reading material while waiting.
The benefit to current chronic facial pain patients lies in the fact that they stand to learn things they didn’t already know, up to and including the fact that they have additional, undiagnosed cranial neuralgias.
The potential benefit to those who have chronic facial pain but are, as yet, undiagnosed is clear. Medical intervention in chronic facial pain is an absolute necessity, and that is only possible when a patient knows what they have.
By carrying a pamphlet or two with you as you go about your day, you would be carrying an arsenal of answers to anyone’s questions about your condition. When inquirers gain knowledge about chronic facial pain, that knowledge:
- gives them greater insight into and compassion for your situation, often resulting in better relationships, and
- sometimes sparks a desire to make a contribution to a charitable cause related to the condition.
With all of that said, allow me to introduce to you the new, for-the-first-time-ever, chronic facial pain pamphlet covering the three most common cranial neuralgias. It is in the final edit and, as soon as it is complete, I will make it available in two ways.
- Downloadable file – The pamphlet will always be available to print at home directly from the Face-Facts.org website. When you download it, I will ask you to make a donation to offset the pamphlet setup expenses, but only if you can. You will be able to download the pamphlet regardless of your ability to donate. In that way, it will always be free.
- Professional printing – Order your pamphlets directly from FPAA and we will deliver them to your specified location. The pamphlets will arrive on premium glossy paper, prefolded. Prices will vary, depending upon quantity ordered, and stay within a range of $0.45-$1.20 per pamphlet.
I am launching a tee shirt fundraiser today to offset the expenses that I have incurred thus far on behalf of FFPA, including domain hosting, stock photo licensing, and the cost of 501(c)3 application. When I have raised my goal amount, I will officially release the pamphlet for public use.
Please considering buying a tee shirt or simply donating to keep Face-Facts.org afloat.