About a year ago I decided to launch this website and Chiari & Syringomyelia News.  On July 16th, 2003, the site went live and the first issue of the newsletter was posted about a month later in August.  Needless to say, I had no idea what to expect.  In retrospect, it would have been impossible to imagine the response.

It hasn't quite been a year yet, but since there is no July issue, I thought I'd take this time to share with you some of the accomplishments of the past year.  The bullets below deal mostly with numbers, but they are far outweighed by the emails I receive daily from people describing not only their problems, but the impact the newsletter has had on their lives.  Newly diagnosed people feel more comfortable going to the doctor, family members better understand what their loved one is going through, and the scientifically curious are excited about the different lines of research. 

Here are some numbers:

• 11 issue of the newsletter

• Over 40,000 unique visitors to the site

• Over 60,000 total visits to the site

• Currently averaging over 7,000 visits per month and growing quickly. 

• Over 550,000 individual web pages viewed;  this too is growing quickly

• Over 10,000 people have looked at the Overview Presentation, including doctors, nurses, radiologists, family members, teachers, principals, and co-workers

• Over 2,500 people have bookmarked the site

• I've lost count of the number of emails I've received from people

I truly believe that the numbers for the next 12 months will dwarf these.  The momentum is building, and as it builds we will take advantage of it to launch an Awareness campaign, and maybe even a campaign to to try to get more Federal research.

Thanks for a great first year.  I can only imagine what the next year will bring.

- Rick Labuda