Happy Anniversary Floxie Hope!

I started www.floxiehope.com one year ago today – on June 20, 2013.  It’s my floxiehopeiversary / blogiversary / siteiversary.  A drink will be had to celebrate.

In the year that it has been up, Floxie Hope has had 177,547 page views from, I dunno, a somewhat smaller number of individual viewers.  I have argued that the number of people that have seen my articles is close to the number of page views for Floxie Hope because I publish a large portion of my articles on other sites – www.hormonesmatter.com and www.collective-evolution.com.  I have no idea how many people have viewed my articles on those sites, but I like to think that the number of page views on Floxie Hope is a close approximation to the number of people reached.  177,547 people reached in a year – not too bad, if I do say so myself.

One of my posts, How Pharmaceuticals Came To Be The 4th Leading Cause Of Death In America, on Collective Evolution, has 12,000 Facebook shares, and it got picked up by Real Farmacy and got another 9,400 shares.  Awwww, yeah!  Sorry for tooting my own horn, but I’m really pleased about how many people have read what I’ve written about the dangers of fluoroquinolones.

Most people need to hear a message a few times before they believe it to be true.  Some people heard about the dangers of fluoroquinolones for the first time through something that I wrote.  Some people heard it a second or third time, and started to believe that it was true after reading one of my articles.  Some people went back to the Links & Resources page of Floxie Hope and noted that there are hundreds of peer reviewed journal articles on the dangers of these drugs.  Some people looked up the sources that I cited and realized that I may actually know what I’m talking about when I say that cipro, levaquin, avelox, floxin and the other fluoroquinolones are dangerous drugs that are hurting people on a cellular level.  The message is sinking into people’s consciousness one viewer at a time.

I’m pretty pleased about the number of people reached.  The word is getting out.

An amazing community has been formed on www.floxiehope.com.  If you look through the comments, you’ll see that wonderful, intelligent, insightful people have provided support and encouragement to their fellow floxies on Floxie Hope.  I am so pleased and honored to know each person who has shared his or her knowledge and insight.  Your words of wisdom and your encouragement are greatly appreciated!

I have come to consider the people who I correspond with about fluoroquinolone toxicity to be friends.  My floxie friends are strong, resilient, interesting, thoughtful, smart, generous people that I am so happy to have in my life.  🙂  I’m sorry that we have come together in the way that we have.  But alas, some good can come from bad, and the relationships between floxies are as valuable and precious as any other relationship.

The feedback that I get from the people who have been positively affected by Floxie Hope keeps me going.  I hear from people who let me know that the information on Floxie Hope has given them guidance, direction, and, most importantly, hope.  I tear up with joy when a friend tells me that an article that I wrote helped him to convince his doctor not to prescribe fluoroquinolones frivolously; or when I hear that what I wrote has helped the family of a floxie friend to understand what she is going through; or when I hear that the message of hope and resilience that I am trying to spread saves a relationship or even a life.

I’m glad that I could help.

You are not alone.  None of us are alone in this struggle.  We have each other.  It’s an honor to be part of a community of people that supports and cares for its members.  None of us ever wished to be a part of the floxie community, but it’s nice that while we’re here, we have great people around providing encouragement and support.

A year ago today, I started Floxie Hope because I knew that I needed to hear stories of hope and healing when I was sick and terrified.  When I was sick, I needed to know that some people recover and I needed to hear that I would be okay.  I ended up getting that message from other places, and through time, trial and error.  Now people can get that message through this site.  The stories of hope, healing, perseverance, strength, etc. that are on Floxie Hope have helped so many people, and I am so thankful to everyone who has provided their story.  You are all appreciated!

I think that I have been successful in making Floxie Hope a place where people can gain hope and help.  It couldn’t have been done without the rest of you, so I thank each and every one of you who has helped by reading, sharing, commenting and/or writing for Floxie Hope.

The next step will be to make change.  There is nothing that is okay about people getting hurt by fluoroquinolones.  Fluoroquinolones are dangerous drugs that should not be used frivolously.  The fact that they are being used frivolously and that they are hurting people is wrong.  It is a problem and it needs to change.  We, as a community, will make it change.  We have the truth, and quite a bit of scientific evidence on our side.  With some perseverance, intelligent strategy and luck, we’ll make it happen.

Advocacy is something that can be done when you have your strength and health back.  Those who don’t have the strength or health to advocate need hope.  I hope that you gain hope from this site.  It’s what it’s here for.

Xoxo

-Lisa