Social Media Summit Scholarship Essay – Martha Garrett

Posted by Groenke @joycegroenke, Aug 16, 2011

Editor's Note: This is an entry in our Scholarship Contest for Patients and Caregivers to attend the Mayo Clinic Social Media Summit Oct. 17-21 in Rochester, Minn. See this post
http://socialmedia.mayoclinic.org/2011/07/26/patient-caregiver-scholarship-contest-for-social-media-summit/
for more details on the contest, and please cast your votes by liking or commenting on the candidates you think would be best.

Here is Martha Garrett’s Essay:

Online social media has been my connection to people since being diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis and trigeminal neuralgia in 2003. Because of research and online discussion groups I was able to find out about microvascular decompression surgery for my trigeminal neuralgia and had successful surgery that stopped the pain in 2006.

I have been amazed how many people are house bound or feeling alone and can reach out via the internet for knowledge and friendship. Being involved online via Twitter, Facebook and now Google+; plus blogging and posting videos has given me the ability to reach out from my sofa on the bad days and feel a purpose in my life even from home.

Because of being home most of the time after working two jobs for decades I got involved with the tech community and podcasts. In 2009 I was invited to fly out to Dallas and be filmed for an episode of GeekBrief.TV (posting links at the bottom of my essay). I was also on the same trip invited to film a segment of CookingWithKat.TV. Because of the internet exposure I got from being on these video podcasts my followers on twitter increased. Which gives me more of a platform to reach out to people via social media.

These connections are divine. As I'm a people person who would be terribly depressed without engaging with others on a daily basis. As far as living with chronic illness goes, I would be without the knowledge I get from sharing with others who are dealing with similar circumstances. Trigeminal Neuralgia is also known as the suicide disease. My heart goes out to those who suffer with this most horrible of conditions. Again it is via connecting online that I am able to encourage people who are suffering or their caretakers.

Most recently we've received the devastating news that our youngest son who is 33years old has early onset Parkinson's disease. Now I'm beginning again via social media to reach out for help and understanding. I'm so excited to hear about the Social Media Summit. There is no way that I could even consider attending due to my limited financial assets. Yet with the possibility of a scholarship this is within my reach. Again due to the enormous connections available because of the internet and social media.

I would use my experiences of reaching out to others who suffer with chronic health conditions and/ or rare diagnosis via the internet. I would share how to best utilize social media as not only a platform for sharing but as an unlimited resource for information.

There are so many things I would look forward to learning from the experts who gather together at this conference. Such as how to find the best sources of medical information online, where to find discussion boards that are moderated and give the most valuable information. I would also be thrilled to connect with others who find social media as powerful as I do.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Brain & Nervous System Support Group.

Martha - You are a kind and gentle person. I hope you get the votes you need. You have been in my prayers since the last time we posted. I have missed you on FB, even though I don't sign in there to often lately. I am so sorry to hear the news about your son. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Always, Steve Schmidt

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@web77

Martha - You are a kind and gentle person. I hope you get the votes you need. You have been in my prayers since the last time we posted. I have missed you on FB, even though I don't sign in there to often lately. I am so sorry to hear the news about your son. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Always, Steve Schmidt

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Steve- thank you for taking time to vote and comment. You mean so much to me. Maybe we'll catch up on Twitter or G+ (and my fb is only deactivated not deleted.. so wo knows) Thanks again friend

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@web77

Martha - You are a kind and gentle person. I hope you get the votes you need. You have been in my prayers since the last time we posted. I have missed you on FB, even though I don't sign in there to often lately. I am so sorry to hear the news about your son. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Always, Steve Schmidt

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Glad to hear that your FB is not deleted. I have not been on Twitter in ages. Work has been very heavy lately, and for some reason I seem to tire easily. (Getting old, I guess). I take it you are still on Twitter (active) so when I get a chance I'll try and get that powered up again. We have a lot to catch up on. I'm sending you an e-mail in response to the e-mail you sent to me earlier this evening. In the meantime, this seems to be working pretty well. I have not kept up with technology lately and just need to re-learn how to do Twitter. I miss it, but just got out of the habit. I'm going to head in for the night, but will be in touch here or Twitter or the e-mail tomorrow. I pray you qualify for the conference scholarship and that you have a restful night's sleep.

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@lifeverse

My stepDad has multiple sclerosis and his computer has become a lifeline to his social world. Unable to travel great distances, he can use social media to connect with his children and grandchildren. Like you, he seeks MS information in social media sites and information sites such as this. Sorry to hear about your son and hoping the early diagnosis is beneficial to his treatment.

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I do remember about your stepdad- I don't need a picture of you sweet sister. Thank you again

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@web77

Martha - You are a kind and gentle person. I hope you get the votes you need. You have been in my prayers since the last time we posted. I have missed you on FB, even though I don't sign in there to often lately. I am so sorry to hear the news about your son. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Always, Steve Schmidt

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Thanks Steve- Yes send an email- yet I know this is fine to communicate with. I like how it keeps our comments for each other together. Have you heard about google+? I think you'd like it. It takes the best of facebook and makes it better and the bad part (security) and throws that out. It is very secure and user friendly. It allows you to write to the people you want to hear about a certain post. Like mass DM's. There is no character limit and because it is still by invitation only or direct link- it is filled right now with the early adopters (who are mostly geeks or photographers etc) I'm enjoying it. Here's an invite:

https://plus.google.com/_/notifications/ngemlink?path=%2F%3Fgpinv%3DBzF_zavpxSg%3AsX0KWrDtrRI
*this invite will work for more than one.

Anyway I look forward to catching up with whats going on in your life. You saw that our son was diagnosed with early onset parkinson's .. this was quite a blow... but we'll get through this. He is still working although his symptoms are pretty serious and he is a custodian in our school corporation. I have lots to learn about parkinson's.

Talk w/ you soon,

Martha

PS Yes come back to twitter as well- I'm really more active there w/o being on facebook. Twitter always was my 1st love 🙂

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@purelove

Wonderful. Very deserveing.

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I love you Mom. 😉

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@web77

Martha - You are a kind and gentle person. I hope you get the votes you need. You have been in my prayers since the last time we posted. I have missed you on FB, even though I don't sign in there to often lately. I am so sorry to hear the news about your son. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Always, Steve Schmidt

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Today I had several people contacting me about why I had deactivated fb. I actually felt bad and have reactivated it. Guess it is good that they make it nearly impossible to delete one's profile. But I'm loving this new site. It's just about perfect

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Martha, I think your upbeat focus and willingness to use your illness for good is wonderful. I was saddened to read about your son's diagnosis. It can't be easy - you know all too well what steady debilitation means. All the best!

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@klkraines

Martha, I think your upbeat focus and willingness to use your illness for good is wonderful. I was saddened to read about your son's diagnosis. It can't be easy - you know all too well what steady debilitation means. All the best!

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no doubt I do... and yet Parkinson's is a completely different thing than MS and early onset even different from other Parkinsons. I'm so concerned for him. I feel that again it will be social Media that will help us through the ropes of knowing where the best places for support are and the most current research and potential clinical trials.

But this social media summit is indeed where my passion is online. Hopefully if I'm awarded a scholarship I'll be able to share with others how I connect and learn from them how I can make more of an impact especially when dealing with those with chronic illness. Thank you

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@web77

Martha - You are a kind and gentle person. I hope you get the votes you need. You have been in my prayers since the last time we posted. I have missed you on FB, even though I don't sign in there to often lately. I am so sorry to hear the news about your son. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Always, Steve Schmidt

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I sure am glad your are back on FB! I get angry with current events and politics and not being able to do anything about it, gets me really frustrated sometimes. Reading the Scripture Quotes and the kind words you post help me to keep things in perspective. I'll be looking forward to the news that you won 1 of the Scholarships for this Mayo Clinic Social Media Summit. How great that will be. Talk soon, God Bless.

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