Welcome! We've migrated to a new email provider for an improved newsletter experience. We hope you love it! If this email landed in your spam folder, that may be why. Just mark it as “not spam” to ensure you receive our next monthly email in your inbox. Thanks!

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE

The Territory and the Map: Episode Four

In the latest episode of the Foundation’s podcast, “The Territory and the Map,”  Dr. John Reiman walks Foundation executive director Andi Buchanan through four steps of assertive communication to help navigate our needs in leakland—and beyond.

For more about the podcast, including transcripts of our episodes, you can visit the podcast page on our website.

Also, we’d love to hear from you! Send us your thoughts on topics you’d like to hear us address on the podcast by emailing us at [email protected].

▶️ CONFERENCE VIDEOS

2023 Intracranial Hypotension Conference videos now available

Starting in January, the Spinal CSF Leak Foundation began sharing video presentations from the 2023 Cedars-Sinai Intracranial Hypotension Conference, which took place on July 8-9, 2023, in Kohala Coast, Hawaii.

The videos are available in our 2023 Cedars-Sinai Intracranial Hypotension Conference YouTube playlist as well as on the conference’s page on our website.

We’ll be releasing more videos from this event (and adding them to our playlist) as the month goes on, so keep an eye out!

📈 MATCHING DONATIONS UPDATE

In December, we were thrilled to share the news that a generous donor had offered up to $55,000 in matching gifts. Now, we are even more excited to announce that thanks to your donations, we have been able to match that amount! These donations will help us launch our patient registry, sustain our commitment to research, and continue our educational programs to raise awareness and increase understanding about spinal CSF leak. THANK YOU!

✅ IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

February 3 was National Women Physicians Day, celebrated on the birthday of Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first American woman to earn a medical degree. Blackwell was drawn to medicine after a dying friend remarked that had a female doctor cared for her, she might not have suffered so much. Dr. Blackwell faced discrimination and prejudice as a woman entering the field, and was rejected from all the medical schools she applied to—except for one, where the all-male student body voted to accept her as a joke.

She began her medical training in 1847, making history as the first woman to be accepted to an American medical school, and graduated first in her class in 1849. In honor of National Women Physicians Day, the Foundation recognized the women on our medical advisory board and thanked them for all they do to care for patients and advance research.

🗓️ LOOKING AHEAD

February 16 is National Caregivers Day. Many people with spinal CSF leak rely on family members and caregivers for help with daily life. For those who cannot be upright without experiencing severe neurological symptoms, having help with meals, housework, parenting, and daily life activities is critical. Karri, Amberly, Burke, and Jody shared their experiences with us as caregivers to family members with spinal CSF leak. Find out more about caregiving resources and support here.

February 29 is Rare Disease Day. Rare Disease Day is a global initiative to raise awareness and generate support for everyone who is on a rare medical journey. It takes place on the last day of February, which this year is February 29th, the rarest day of the year. Find out more about Rare Disease Day and how to get involved here.

💜 Your donations make our work possible! 💜
To donate, visit spinalcsfleak.org/donate

Spinal CSF Leak Foundation is fully registered and compliant in all states requiring registration, plus the District of Columbia. For more information, please see our charitable solicitation registration page