Happy International Women’s Day, Shout Out to Olivia Culpo, and Thanks to All The Awesome People Who Have Tweeted A Silent Epidemic

Mar 8, 2013 by Emily Croke

I think that one easily takes the cake for being the longest title ever. It’s fine though, because there has been so much going on and I definitely have a lot of catching up to do!

I first of all want to start by wishing everyone a Happy International Women’s Day! I personally have had the honor of getting ready the past few weeks to celebrate this at my alma mater, Bay View Academy, where we were joined yesterday by Olivia Culpo, Miss Universe 2012. Going along with the surprise that everyone else had been expecting, I was prepared to be filming the Skype session with Olivia, but in any case, it was a great day, and I wanted to take the opportunity to share some of the footage with you on A Silent Epidemic.

Keep in mind this was shot from various cameras by various individuals, and was edited in about ten minutes, so it’s not the best quality at this point! There will definitely be more to come as I work with the great people at Bay View, but I definitely wanted to have something out there for today. Be sure to watch the whole video!

I also want to mention that while I met with Olivia briefly yesterday, I mentioned how sepsis is very related to her Miss Universe platform, HIV/AIDS. And another important thing that we should keep in mind is that while awareness for ALL of these various diseases is important, and that ANY unnecessary death is unacceptable, we cannot forget that HAIs kill five times more individuals than HIV/AIDS each year in the United States. While this may not be the case worldwide, it is still a major problem that is unacceptable in the United States, and we, as citizens of this country should not stand for. We need to share this fact with one another, in conversation, on the news, via social media, through any influential individual that we can, to save lives from unnecessary deaths.

Again, it was such an honor to have had the opportunity to have been able to film Olivia yesterday, so thanks so much to everyone who trusted me enough to do it! I’m so unbelievably proud of Olivia and all that she has accomplished so far, and hope that all the girls at Bay View and women everywhere remember that you truly can accomplish anything you set your mind to, because you are as strong as you believe you are.

Switching gears, I want to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has taken the time to tweet my film A Silent Epidemic! I truly can’t thank you all enough for the support! If we can just keep sharing it via social media, and other various ways, I know we can bring about change and save the lives lost to this silent epidemic.

 

Thanks to: @CortFinnegan, @ChrisGronkowski, @DeepakChopra, @Traceyeedmonds, @Stevegonsalves1, @DawnOlivieri, @JenniferGimenez, @MissUNIntl2012, @thematineemusic, @RockyTayeh, @Beautynow, @SepsisSurvivors for the recent RTs and support!!!!

Thanks also to @OliviaCulpo, @MissUniverse, @RealTonyRocha, @MLux65, @ChelseaKrost, and all of our great friends for their support of International Women’s Day!

As always, thank you all SO MUCH for the support, and don’t forget to continue sharing!
A Silent Epidemic

Follow me on Twitter: @EmCroke / @ASilentEpidemic

Like A Silent Epidemic on Facebook!

 

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Misunderstanding Illnesses: More To Be Aware Of

Mar 8, 2013 by Emily Croke

As most readers are probably well aware, my main goal with this blog is to raise awareness about the conditions that contributed to my father’s death in 2008, such as healthcare-associated infections, sepsis, and antibiotic resistance. But I also love to use this blog to take the opportunity to help others to raise awareness for their various causes, whether they be largely unknown, generally misunderstood, or just happen to be providing a different perspective on the given topic. Through such work, I’ve come to know several remarkable individuals around the world who are using their painful experiences to better the lives of others. One such individual is Faisal Ali, a 22-year-old, like myself, from the UK. Also similar to me, his life was struck by darkness four years ago at the age of 18 when he began his life-changing journey that he is now using to better the lives of others.

To the average person, Faisal looked entirely normal – happy and excited to begin the next phase of his life. But on the inside, he was suffering from painful feelings he had never felt before; feelings he couldn’t even make sense of.

Faisal finally mustered up the courage to seek professional help, but it didn’t go as planned. The first doctor he visited assured him that the feelings he was experiencing were normal for his age, and that he had nothing to worry about. But as time went on, Faisal knew himself well enough to know that the pain he was experiencing was not normal, and that no one should have to live with such emotional turmoil when help is available.

He bravely went and spoke with anther doctor who immediately made him feel much more comfortable, took the time to listen to him and to put him at ease. She diagnose him with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, more commonly known as OCD, which is an anxiety disorder that we’ve all heard of, but few individuals truly understand. The way Faisal’s doctor explained it was, “OCD can make a person feel like they are in a constant bubble, but they want to burst the bubble and be set free.” Faisal said this was exactly how he was feeling.

From here, he was referred to a team of specialists, and for the first time since his journey had begun, truly felt that everything was going to be alright.

So why did Faisal choose to share his story with the world? Because of how deep-rooted the understanding of OCD is. He, like the average individual, was quick to associate OCD with excessive handwashing and obsession with germs prior to his diagnosis.

As he explains on his blog, “My Mind Marathon,” there are several types of OCD, which can involve various components of the mind’s processes and subsequent behaviors, including intrusive thoughts, hoarding, checking and so on.

Faisal is running the London Marathon this April on behalf of the Mind Charity to help raise awareness for OCD, and to help break the stigma associated with mental illness. You can help Faisal by sponsoring him on his justgiving.com page.

 

Be sure to check out Faisal’s blog, My Mind Marathon, and follow him on Twitter: @Falidude

Click here to Sponsor Faisal in the 2013 London Marathon!

 

- Emily

Follow me on Twitter: @EmCroke / @ASilentEpidemic

Like A Silent Epidemic on Facebook!

A Silent Epidemic on Youtube

 

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Such A Lucky Girl

Jan 9, 2013 by Emily Croke

I’ve written quite a few blogs recently about several individuals who are doing things to raise awareness and better the lives of others, but this next post is a very special one that I’ve been trying to write for a while now. It’s taken me a long time because it has honestly been a challenge to find the right words to describe Becky Beaumont, a 22-year-old stroke survivor. When I first came across Becky’s blog, Such a Lucky Girl, several months ago, I was so touched. Not only because the story that she is so generously sharing with the world is amazing and inspiring, but also because she is someone who is the same age as me, and is trying to use her negative experience to help better the lives of others.

Becky’s unexpected journey began in the fall of 2011 after a normal night out with friends. Everything was fine until Becky woke up early the following morning, and immediately realized something wasn’t right; her left side was numb, and she was barely able to move. With all the strength she could garner, she screamed for help, commencing the long road ahead of her.

A major theme that is addressed in Becky’s writing is the fact that when most people hear the word “stroke,” they immediately think of a condition that impacts the elderly, but in recent years, we’re seeing a new trend. According to a study released by the CDC in the fall of 2011, there has been an alarming rise in the number of acute ischemic strokes in young adults over the past 15 years. Acute ischemic strokes are stokes where the blood supply is cutoff to part of the brain due to a blockage. Such stokes are the most common strokes suffered.

The entire blog, Such A Lucky Girl, is a compilation of multiple posts about Becky’s experience after suffering a stroke. Coming from my perspective, where I do so much work with individuals who have had negative experiences in the healthcare industry, and also with medical professionals who recognize the improvements that are needed in the field, it is definitely a breath of fresh air reading Becky’s blog.

Becky has also been extremely successful promoting her blog via social networking sites such as Twitter. She has had a number of celebrities respond to her blog, and has also received media attention from several different outlets (all of which has been well deserved, and I truly hope to see more of in the future). So for any of my readers who are on Twitter, please follow Becky (@Beckybeau8) to get updates on future blog posts and other interesting projects she is working on!

I honestly don’t think there are enough good things I can say to put into perspective how much respect I have for Becky and what she is doing to help others with her experience. Given the culture we live in these days, it’s so hard to put your true self out there and just be yourself. This is especially true when you have something happen to you that sets you apart from others. I know for me personally, I had a tough time for a little while after I put my film online. For some reason I felt like no one would take it seriously, which was very difficult to consider when I was putting so much of my personal experiences and feelings out there. But then I realized someone had to be the one to do it. In any situation, there has to be an individual willing to stand up and be a voice for what they believe in. To look at what has happened to them and say, “I’m not going to let other individuals suffer through this alone.”

To know that there are other people out there, like Becky, using their experiences to help others and to raise awareness—that means so much to me.

In her own words, Becky is the luckiest unlucky person ever. I can’t think of too many people who can look at the glass that half full. So please, check out Becky’s blog, and share it with others. This is an amazing story that deserves widespread attention; so let’s make it happen!

Such A Lucky Girl - Read Now!

 

 

 

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Watch The Film: A Silent Epidemic

Jan 9, 2013 by Emily Croke

 

“A Silent Epidemic” won First Place at the 2012 Providence College Student Film Festival, was featured in USA Today in August of 2012, and was recently on ABC6 News. Please share the video with others to help save lives from being lost to this silent epidemic!

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Happy 2013

Jan 4, 2013 by Emily Croke

I just wanted to take the opportunity to sincerely thank everyone for an awesome 2012, and for all of the effort that was put into raising awareness about HAIs and sepsis. I truly can’t thank everyone enough for the support, and I’m looking forward to another year of further accomplishments to bring an end to this silent epidemic. Hope 2013 is an amazing year for you all

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Zoltan Mesko is Pretty Much the Coolest Person Ever.

Dec 28, 2012 by Emily Croke

Please note: I was legit in the process of beginning to write a blog about 
the many awesome things Zoltan Mesko does when the following events occurred. 

So last Wednesday was pretty much the coolest day ever. I was left entirely star struck multiple times throughout the day. First, I was humbled to receive such a warm response from Tony Rocha after I published the blog I had written about him. Second, the lovely Miss Olivia Culpo, who I had the honor of sitting next to during cabaret rehearsal in high school (my very cool claim to fame) won Miss Universe. Between these two occurrences, it didn’t seem like there was anything else that could make my day much better. Until I jokingly tweeted Patriots’ punter Zoltan Mesko after his improv show in Boston. And then this happened.

 

Being a HUGE Patriots fan, and coming from a big Patriots family, I already knew quite a bit about the Space Emperor of Space. Seemed like a pretty cool dude, hence the reason behind why I tweeted him saying he should be in an Em Croke Production someday if/when I hit it big. But, once he started following me on twitter, I (like a creeper) did a little bit of google stalking. Yes, I admit it.

What I came to find is that Zoltan Mesko is not only a really cool and hilarious guy, but also really nice and supportive of several charities aimed at bettering the lives of others.  Needless to say, this presented me with a perfect individual to share my film, “A Silent Epidemic,” with. Taking into consideration all of the work Zoltan does with hospitalized individuals, I figured he would probably actually care about the hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths that occur annually as a result of healthcare-associated infections and sepsis–unnecessary deaths that in many cases can be easily prevented by just making the general public more informed about what they are.

But, I also figured it’s the end of the regular football season, so that’s obviously a lot to focus on, and it’s also right in the middle of the holidays, so I didn’t want to be a huge pain and DM the Space Emperor informing him of all of this. I figured it could totally wait until after football season is over, right?

WRONG.

As I learned last night when I discovered that Zoltan Mesko-Patriots’ #14 - THE SPACE EMPEROR OF SPACE - unfollowed me on twitter…….

 

It was almost a coincidence that I discovered this when I had just been discussing writing a blog for the Space Emperor with my cousin Kaitlin, about all the good things he does. Because honestly, people who go above and beyond in their spare time doing things to better the lives of others really deserve a shout out. It’s the least I can do.

Now I will admit, I did run my mouth quite a bit the last few days via twitter. Mainly all nice words, with the exception of yesterday, which for all intensive purposes we will call “UF-Day” (rhymes with tough, because it was a tough blow to take). But in my defense, my words on twitter were for the greater good of the overall community. If you care to read more, I have outlined these various Twitter debates below.

 

I have a few quick things to say. First, thanks for the week-long follow. I’m sure I sound like a 14-year-old One Direction fan by saying this, but it was pretty damn cool to have someone in the NFL follow me on Twitter (the Space Emperor nonetheless). Second, I won’t take it personally. I do realize I must sound straight up wack from time to time on there. Really good representation of a Providence College education, right?

Third, and to get to the real purpose of why I’m writing this post, I truly do commend you for everything you do. It’s awesome to see people use their careers and talents to better the lives of others.

With that being said, I urge anyone who does charity work in healthcare to become aware of the serious threats we face in healthcare-associated infections, and sepsis. As I have learned since the death of my father in 2008 as a result of these largely unknown killers, hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths are occurring annually. Deaths that most people can’t prevent because they don’t even know what they are to begin with. After losing my uncle in 2006 to medical error, and even with having a nurse in the family, simply researching the risks of my father’s surgical procedure was not enough.

When I began my freshman year of college the week following my dad’s death, I began learning more about what happened to him, and began my journey to bring awareness to these unknown killers.

Quick side note, I really wasn’t joking when I said I see a future for you in comedy. And let’s be real, that’s coming from someone who has been endorsed as a future celebrity by the one and only Tony Rocha himself (with all 2.3 million of his twitter followers, holla).

In closing, I apologize if we creeped you out. But in any case, keep doing what you’re doing, because you’re awesome, and if you have a chance, check this out to help save some of the 99,000+ lives that are lost annually in the United States alone. Helping the general public to become aware of the threat at hand is the first step to bringing an end to this silent epidemic.

 

One more thing, here’s the link to the Zoltan Mesko Foundation Facebook Page. Like it, already!

And last but not least, GO PATRIOTS!

 

About that Twitter conversation I mentioned earlier…

The results of the 2013 Pro Bowl were released, much to Kait Dolloff and my disdain. While 7 Patriots were chosen, I was kind of ticked off about the whole situation. I mean, Kaitlin and I, as girls, feel that the hotness of the NFL should be better represented. Yes, I’m well aware that this has nothing to do with football, but too bad. Y’all should take it into consideration, it’s sure to be a money maker. With that being said, we discussed what we feel should be the Pro Bowl of hotness, which I jokingly called the spicy bowl. Here’s how that conversation went (kind of):

 

 

 

 

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The World Needs More People Like Tony

Dec 19, 2012 by Emily Croke

As I’ve come to learn, raising awareness via social media isn’t always as easy as you would think. My cousin Kaitlin and I learned early on while trying to promote my film A Silent Epidemic that while Twitter can be an amazingly powerful tool, there are also many loopholes, or as we like to refer to them, “Twitter Police.” Apparently asking too many celebrities (in our case it was less than 20) to RT the film to save 99,000 lives was considered “spam,” and quickly landed us in what we have since dubbed “Twitter Jail.” This of course was right after I had just gotten an RT from actor Eric Balfour, who I had the honor of meeting last winter while in Los Angeles.

But the point of this post is not to criticize Twitter for its policies. I obviously understand the importance of such practices, although it would make life A LOT easier if there was a way for those of us who do have good intentions to be able to set ourselves apart from legitimate spammers in the hope of promoting our causes and saving lives. That’s where Tony Rocha comes into play.

Tony Rocha (@RealTonyRocha) is a Twitter celebrity. In his own words, he is a web marketer, radio and TV director, and social media consultant. He has also been involved with TwitChange, and several other campaigns aimed at raising awareness and promoting positive changes in our society. I recently tweeted my film to Tony, and was ecstatic when he retweeted it to his over 2 million followers. I really can’t even begin to thank him enough for this generous act.

Tony is amazing when it comes to helping others to raise awareness about causes that need recognition. He simply gets the importance of the simple click of the RT button on the connect tab. He realizes how much that means not only to his fans, but how much it can mean in terms of saving a life.

Take for example the story of Ruby Owen, a little girl in the UK that has been fighting multiple brain tumors since 2009. Ruby’s family recently learned that after years of heroic fighting, her condition is now terminal. Continuing to fight this horrible illness, Ruby and her family have taken to Twitter for community support (follow @RubyOwen5).

Just as I did with the link to my film, Ruby’s parents tweeted Tony to inform him of their daughter’s situation. He immediately retweeted their message, recognizing a family in need. This is how I became aware of Ruby’s story, via Tony’s initial RT. I have to add that it makes me SO HAPPY to see celebrities and other public figures tweeting links like Ruby’s to raise awareness, and I truly hope to see more of it in the future.

The Twitter account has been helpful in raising donations for the Donna Louise Children’s Hospice Trust (@TheDLCHospice) that is taking care of Ruby.
Ruby’s parents cite the generous donations received by the hospice facility as one of the reasons she is still alive and fighting. Donations can be made by visiting the following link: justgiving.com/rubymayowen.

Tony also asked his followers to help Ruby’s cause by following her Twitter account (@RubyOwen5), which got her to over 120,000 followers in just a few days! This is unbelievable for a number of reasons, not only because it demonstrates how effective it can be if more celebrities help out with legitimate causes, but most importantly shows how we’re able to positively impact lives.

Continuing to pay it forward, Ruby’s Twitter account is also now being used to raise awareness for others fighting cancer, like 6-year-old Ryan (@akaRyansMum), and 8-year-old Mason (@MasonsMagic).

I’d also like to take the opportunity to thank the other celebrities and individuals who have taken the time to watch, tweet, and share my film. Kathy Ireland is another amazingly helpful celebrity who recognizes the importance of these various causes and uses her fame to help raise awareness. Thanks again so much Kathy for sharing my film, I truly appreciate the help, and also all that you do to help other individuals raise awareness about various causes. I really can’t find the words to thank everyone enough for the help, it means the world to me!

I wanted to write this post not only to take the time to thank Tony and all individuals who take the time to help various charitable causes, but also to share Ruby’s story with you. I hope these generous actions inspire more individuals to follow suite. There are so many simple things we can do to help make the world a better place, and honestly it really is as simple as tweeting and sharing the messages of those of us who are trying to make a difference. So PLEASE, keep doing good things for others, not only in the wake of the tragedy in Connecticut (which will be the topic of a later blog post), and not only during this holiday season, but ALWAYS. If there’s one thing we can learn from bad situations, it’s that in the end, all that really matters is the love we have for one another.

I certainly hope to continue with this cause not only to raise awareness about this topic, but eventually be able to have a large enough audience to help others get their important messages out there as well. With that being said, please follow  me on Twitter (@ASilentEpidemic), and/or via Facebook. I also urge you to please visit follow Ruby (@RubyOwen5) and donate to her cause. And of course, don’t forget our important mission here at A Silent Epidemic to raise awareness about healthcare-associated infections and sepsis by watching our film! Thanks again so much for the support!

 

 

 

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