My pal Pam

One of the most marvelous and often unexpected things about life on the net are often the people you get to meet. Some, as the media is so quick to point out, are nasty and icky, but I've learned that you meet some like that in real life, too. My experience is that most people, both on the net and IRL, are pretty decent.

One of the "decent" folks is a woman named Pam I've encountered while editing the hep C list. I came upon the article while doing research for a client, and saw that it needed a great deal of work, mostly in repairing and improving the references. It's the first list on WP I've worked on, and now my repertoire includes two lists that I've created myself.

Pam is no WP expert, but she knows a lot about hep C and does wonderful advocacy work for folks who suffers from the disease. She also understands the importance of having quality articles/lists on the project about hepatitis C. I know very little about hep C, but Pam has taught me the importance of education. With this list, I've kinda run into the dilemma I often run into with my pet articles--it's a very "unsexy" topic these days, in spite of the prevalence of the disease. This list is on the short side because hep C has a lot of stigma attached to it, even more than AIDS/HIV. I think it's kinda strange that more celebrities are more willing to admit they're HIV-positive than HCV-positive, but that's because the stigma attached to hep C is stronger than AIDS.

In spite of being non-WP savvy, Pam has taken on herself to do away with this stigma by helping me with this list. She figures that if someone newly diagnosed sees that someone like Naomi Judd or Natalie Cole has hep C but has successfully gotten treatment and lives a happy and productive life, it provides him or her with hope. I've learned that hep C is one of the most under-diagnosed ailments, so as Pam stated below, this also could save someone's life by inspiring them to get tested.

So here's Pam's words, cut-and-pasted from my comment box:

peachstatepam said...

You are awesome Christine! Thank you for all the hard work you do at Wikipedia. As you know I am especially interested in the Celebs that have Hep C page as hopefully it will bring about some recognition to this unrecognized epidemic in our country. Hep C patients outnumber HIV patients 5 to 1 but most people don't even realize that Hep C is only transmitted blood to blood much less any other facts about it. YOU ROCK and all your hard work is very much appreciated.

Peace
Pam
www.myspace.com/figmento

Well, thanks pal. As I've told you before, I keep you around because you're so wonderfully complimentary and supportive. Editing for WP, especially the kinds of articles I tend to be drawn to, can be a lonely enterprise. Ya don't get much recognition for it, doncha know. I appreciate that you're helped me so much in the improvement of this list. I think it's time to try and get it to featured-status. If I didn't have to take off right now and actually make some money this afternoon, I'd do it right now. Perhaps tonight. Please expect some direction from me in an email to get your support, since that's why it failed a few weeks ago. You rock, too!