Mitochondrial Disease

Mitochondrial Cytopathy is the disease that took our beautiful Melissa.

Adults do get the disease and in Melissa's case she did not inherit it.

In the most simplest of terms it is a disease that destroys that part of the cell which produces energy. A body cannot function without energy.

It is a rare disease. In my humble opinion it is only rare because doctors either do not know about it or do not look for it.

Melissa was seen by the "best of the best" in our area and yet they could not diagnose her and refused to send her to Mayo Clinic. Melissa's husband found a doctor who would refer her to Mayo Clinic and that is where she received her diagnosis.

Since Melissa's passing I have found 48 individuals in our area who have been diagnosed. I have learned there are 14 Mitochondrial Chapters throughout the U.S., one of them is local, and 20 Chapters are in formation.

So to those who say "I want to know what is wrong with me, my doctor is not listening to me, my doctor does not know what is wrong with me", my question remains. Do you REALLY want to know?

http://www.umdf.org/