About "EB" the Cure

Me and my daughter Anna

My name is Laura and I am currently living in the region of Köln, Germany with my husband Thomas and our 17 month old daughter Anna. I am a former College math teacher and now stay at home mom/amateur blogger. I started my blog The Artful Gardener when we moved here about a year ago and thought it would be a good way to document my time in a foreign country, to keep in touch with my family at home in the United States and to make some new friends. I have found most of these things through blogging but I have also found a group of families who have touched my heart dearly as they struggle to raise their beloved children who suffer from a terrible and rare skin disorder called Epidermolysis Bullosa. I found through several blogs the opportunity to help support these families by reading their stories and supporting them with comments and now I would like to give more. That is how "EB" the Cure was started. We are trying to raise as much money as possible by May 21, 2011 for Bella's Birthday Bash, Anabella Ringgold's two year birthday anniversary.  Bella was born with the rare skin disease EB and passed on October 11, 2010. You can read about her story here. All funding will be donated to PUCK in honor of Bella and goes to help fund research to find a cure for EB.

Anabella Ringgold

Epidermolysis Bullosa, or EB a rare skin disease that affects children from birth on. This disease causes severe blistering of the skin from any friction or rubbing and most children aflicted with this skin disorder are wrapped up like mummies to help protect their skin from sloughing off, leaving raw and painful open wounds that can lead to infection. The affects of this disease are not only limited to the surface of the skin but can also cause blistering and painful lacerations inside the body as well. There are varying degrees of severity of EB but all children who are afflicted live in almost constant pain from open wounds, eating and breathing problems, infections and many eventually develop a form of skin cancer. Right now there is a clinical study underway at the University of Minnesota that is using bone marrow transplantation to help target the missing genes that are causing the skin to be improperly "anchored" on the body and stem cells are actually helping the body to produce new skin cells which behave more like that of the healthy donor. Funding will go through PUCK, a non-profit foundation, directly to the University of Minnesota's research team to help them find a way to improve current treatment procedures and fund new research that will one day lead to a cure which will make it possible for all EB children to live a life free from this debilitating disease.

Bella