Although Atlanta is bigger than Birmingham, I felt the same way. UAB is the largest employer in the whole state. They are a college, hospital and research center. Yet, they have nothing for our disease. Last research they did was over 6 years ago. In Jan. of this year, they announced $100 million for innovative research. I pursued getting some of that money for our disease. I ran into obstacles.
Everyone here, the clinicians and the patients are in the closet. We only have a few support groups in the whole state who meet. It's ridiculous. We had a Middle East prince come to UAB for surgery, yet I had to go to Atlanta to find someone willing to diagnose and treat me for this disease.
This effort is very slow, much slower than I would like. But, it won't happen without trying. It's a step-by-step process.