Mast Cell Awareness and Sean-Michael

Hello and welcome to my new page, Mast Cell Aware. This blog is under construction. It will be growing swiftly I am sure, but only as quickly as my health allows. So please be patient and check back if you do not yet find what you are looking for. Also, please let me know if you have suggestions of facts, resources, awareness and fundraising efforts so that I can add them to the appropriate pages. If you'd like to learn more about mast cells right away,  there are some helpful links on the right side of this page.

Sean-Michael Gettys with his Vogmask June, 2013

A little about me. My name is Sean-Michael Gettys. I am an artist who was born and raised in California and currently lives with my loved ones in Laveen, Arizona. I am also a person living with chronic illness and pain who has been looking for a diagnosis for a very long time. In order to deal with the stress of recent health issues, I began making art every day, and keeping an art therapy sketchbook. Along the way I started to develop a character named Masto Maybelle and some of her Faithful Friends.

I will write a more in depth story on the page "Me and MCAS", but for now just let me say I am happy to have a label for things but very disappointed that there is no cure and that the treatments are not always that effective. You can see what Masto Maybelle and her Faithful Friends are up to on my Peace Full Creations page.

It is a very scary thing to live with the constant threat of anaphilaxis. Not everyone with a mast cell disorder does, but I have shocked several times. Some people shock more often than me, others not at all. Some have hives, some do not. Some are small children, others are full grown adults. Some have been sick or had severe allergies all our lives, others were perfectly healthy until they were not. The only thing which seems consistent is that we all have mast cells which are either over active or there are too many of them. More on that coming soon on the "Facts" page.

No one should have to suffer in fear and pain with no idea what to do next when there are at least some answers out there. I am glad to finally be finding some. This is not a medical site, and is not meant as a place to seek medical advice, I am just one patient advocating for myself and empowering myself with as much information and resources as I can find, and I want to share those things with others.

Sadly there is not yet a cure, and I will be adding links to various fund raisers to the "Awareness and Fund Raisers" page as I discover them, because research for a cure and better treatment is still needed. Please comment in the appropriate section if you have any recommendations or suggestions.

Again, if you'd like to learn more about mast cells there are some helpful links on the right side of this page.  Thank you for your time and patience as I get things rolling.