LPGA tour player Terry-Jo Myers testifies before the US Congress on behalf of all IC patients. In December of 1997, Terry-Jo is honored at a luncheon held by the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). She receives the Heather Farr Award for her demonstration of determination, dedication, and spirit through the game of golf.
Senator Harry Reid receives an award from the ICA acknowledging his vigorous support of IC in Congress for the past seven years.
Three physicians join the ICA's Medical Advisory Board: Robert J. Evans, MD, of Tannenbaum Urologic Associates in Greensboro, NC; Robert Moldwin, MD, Assistant Professor of Urology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Director of Long Island Jewish Hospital Interstitial Cystitis Center; and Christopher K. Payne, MD, Director, Center of Neurourology, Assistant Professor of Urology, Stanford University School of Medicine.
The ICA begins the production of a new physician education newsletter, ICA Physician Perspectives. Two issues are published in 1998.
Fact Sheets for Social Security Disability Insurance and Men & IC, respectively, are added to our series of Fact Sheets, now totalling fourteen. A Men & IC brochure, as well as a brochure to assist in the recruitment of ICA volunteers, are also designed and published.
In March, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announces a 5-year study to plan, conduct and analyze data from randomized, controlled clinical trials. The study is officially titled the Interstitial Cystitis Clinical Trials Group (ICCTG), and is an NIH-funded project. Dr. Vicki Ratner is a member of the ICCTG advisory board.
The March issue of Urology Times, a monthly newsmagazine for urologists and related professionals, devotes much of its publication to IC, with extensive coverage of the NIDDK/ICA International Symposium, held in the fall of 1997.
The Bladder Research Congress meets in San Francisco in April, and is attended by urologists and research scientists. ICA President, Dr. Vicki Ratner, speaks on behalf of the ICA to discuss opportunities for IC research funded or administered by the ICA, through our Pilot Research Program and the Fishbein Family Interstitial Cystitis Research Foundation.
In May the ICA is represented at a Mayday Fund conference held in New York City. The Mayday Fund is a private foundation dedicated to reducing the profound problems associated with chronic pain. Eighteen other consumer-based pain organizations are also in attendance.
In May/June the ICA unveils a newly designed conference display booth at the American Urological Association (AUA) conference held in San Diego. This is the largest and most prestigious gathering of urologists in America. ICA staff members distribute physician education packets containing information on research program opportunities, the IC Fact Sheet series, ICA Physician Perspectives newsletter, brochures, slide presentations, videos and other IC materials directed at the medical community.
On June 22, in Washington, DC, ICA President Dr. Vicki Ratner receives a prestigious advocacy award from the Society for the Advancement of Women's Health Research. Dr. Ratner is honored for her efforts "on behalf of the thousands of women who have suffered with the debilitating disease of interstitial cystitis."
The June issue of Contemporary OB/GYN features a cover story by ICA Medical Advisory Board member, Dr. Grammun R. Sant. The seven-page article is entitled, "Interstitial Cystitis, a Urogynecological Perspective."
First for Women (May), Saturday Evening Post (May/June), Cosmopolitan (June), Urologic Nursing (June), New Woman (July), Newsday (July 20th) and Self magazine (August), feature articles discussing of IC.
The makers of Elmiron, Alza Corporation, announce a new nationwide IC research study testing various increased oral dosages of Elmiron.
Clinical trials are underway to test the effectiveness of intravesical BCG (bacillus Calmette-Guerin) in treating IC.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves a new study to test the use and effectiveness of the sacral nerve stimulation device, Interstim, in treating urinary urgency, frequency and pain. Manufactured by Medtronic, Inc., Interstim was previously approved in 1997 for use in treating incontinence.
The ICA's National Telephone Support Representatives discover a very neglected/minimally recognized area within IC research - children with IC. A support list for parents of children with IC is developed. A groundbreaking article on this subject is published in the summer ICA Update.
The ICA's annual Raffle for Research raises over $43,000, all of which is earmarked for the ICA's Pilot Research Program.
The Fishbein Family Interstitial Cystitis Research Foundation awards its first IC research grants to six IC researchers.
The ICA offers two newly published books by IC patients: Beverly Laumann's A Taste of the Good Life- A Cookbook for an Interstitial Cystitis Diet, and, A Delicate Balance-Living Successfully with Chronic Illness, written by Susan Milstrey Wells.
In the fall of 1998, the ICA announces the appointment of Nancy Taylor as its new Executive Director. New ICA national headquarters are established in the Washington, DC area.
The ICA appoints its first Director of Government Affairs, Kristin Holman.
The ICA Update conducts its first-ever survey of readers' satisfaction. The newsletter and the ICA Resource Materials Guide are redesigned.
The ICA Web site, http://www.ichelp.org/, receives a new look. Many new resources, informational materials and articles are added to the site.
A national Hunner's ulcer patient support list is created and made available to patients. Other patient support lists available include a pregnancy & IC list, a surgery support list and a men's support list.
Of particular interest to male IC patients, in November, the NIH announces a five-year groundbreaking study of chronic abacterial prostatitis, a condition with symptoms very similar to IC.
Updated information and design for all ICA brochures is in the final stages. These new brochures will be available in the spring of 1999.