If you aren't doing anything today at 3:00, tune in to Dr. Phil:
Steven Cojocaru, known to fans as Cojo, was the go-to fashion guy on the red carpet and lived a life of glitz and glamour. But that changed when he received the worst news of his life –- he was diagnosed with kidney disease and needed a transplant -- not once, but twice. Cojo chronicles his struggles in the book, Glamour, Interrupted: How I Became the Best Dressed Patient in Hollywood, and sits down with Dr. Phil to talk about his tumultuous journey.I suppose I'm willing to give him one more chance. In the past, Steven has talked about his kidney failure and transplant, but hasn't really talked about the fact that it was brought on by Polycystic Kidney Disease.
Now, naturally I'm biased ... but I believe if you're a public figure and you have something like this, you have a responsibility to go out there and advocate for all the patients that are struggling. If Michael J. Fox can educate the world about Parkinson's ... then Cojo can, at the very least, speak the words "Polycystic Kidney Disease" on national television.
Health issues are a private, personal matter ... but if you're going to go in the public eye and talk about having a transplant ... then why not help the cause? Common, Cojo ... we're counting on you.
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change
Michael Jackson - Man In the Mirror
ThirtyWhat,
ReplyDeleteI'm 100% with you on this one. One in 500 people has this disease. And since it is relatively indiscriminate with respect to race, gender, religion, nationality, etc., it stands to reason that must be some number of people out there in celebrity-dom that have PKD who could use their fame to help bring some much-needed publicity to this disease. Who are they and why do they keep quiet?
Bob ... I hesitate to write what I really feel ... because I feel very adamantly about this.
ReplyDeleteIf you are a public figure, and you have a disease like PKD, you have the opportunity to make such a positive impact in our nation and in the PKD community.
And you're right ... statistically, there HAS to be celebrities out there with PKD. Why isn't anyone coming forward? Hell, Erma Bombeck was one of my favorite writers ... and SHE had PKD. Why ... oh WHY didn't she advocate for us?
I'm just speechless ...