I would like to tell you about interstitial cystitis and ask for continued funding of research to find a cure for this painful, debilitating disease. Terry-Jo Myers and I am a professional golfer completing my 13th year on the LPGA tour. While today and every day I appear healthy to anyone who meets me, that is because the effects of interstitial cystitis are not visible to others. Many of you may already know that my IC story has had a happy ending, for have been able to find relief. I am here to give a voice to all those IC patients who are still too ill to leave their homes, and cannot speak to you today.
Interstitial cystitis is a chronic inflammatory bladder condition.
Its cause is unknown and there is no uniformly reliable treatment. I was diagnosed with IC shortly after I developed symptoms at the age of 21, and I was told that nothing could be done. Every step I took was painful, and for a tour player it was torture. Often I could not even bend down to line up a putt. I had to urinate about 50 times a day, including 10 to 20 times at night.