How we started

Phil's daughter, Jennifer, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor at the age of two. Phil and his wife were faced with having to make nearly instantaneous life-and-death decisions regarding her treatment, with little or no information to support them. To further complicate their situation, several of the neurologists involved disagreed about the diagnosis and possible treatment options. Phil spent countless hours pouring through medical journals, searching for what little information was available in simple, non-medical terminology. His goal was to educate himself so that he would be better able to make the decisions necessary to save his daughter's life. Today, Jennifer is a healthy 21-year-old enjoying life and attending university.

Cindy's mother became ill in 1981 with an "unknown" illness that was slowly sapping the life out of her. It wasn't until a trip to the Cleveland Clinic seven years later that Cindy's mother was finally diagnosed with a rare disorder known as Systemic Mastocytosis. After receiving the diagnosis, her mother returned to her home, where she began seeing a Hematologist/Oncologist. Sadly, her mother's condition continued to worsen and additional problems, including urticaria pigmentosa and myelodysplasia, were discovered. Her mother's weight had dropped from 135 to 70 pounds due to all the complications.

In 1990, while researching her mother's illness, Cindy was referred to a physician at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) who had just begun to conduct research into Systemic Mastocytosis. Cindy called him and described her mother's situation. The NIH physician contacted the her mother's oncologist and recommended an increase in her Prednisone dosage. Within two days, her mother began to gain weight again. Unfortunately, she had deteriorated too far to make the long climb back and passed away in 1991.

Having spent more than 19 years working with physicians and scientists within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, Cindy vowed that if she was ever in a position to create a reliable resource for patients, which would give them access to the highest quality medical information and support, she would! And when she met Phil in the CompuServe Med-Sig Forum, it was an opportunity to fulfill that dream. Phil had more than 15 years' experience in advanced software development. Out of the combination of Phil's technical expertise and Cindy's vast network of medical contacts, MedHelp was born. In February of 1994, never having personally met, MedHelp was launched.