On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, our grade school decided to go for the world record. The world record for the most blue lips, that is!
We were helping raise awareness for Pulmonary Hypertension, a lung disease that decreases the amount of oxygen that is able to reach the tissues of the body. The most recognizable symptom of this condition is, you guessed it, blue lips.
To raise awareness, the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA) has been asking people all over the world to “PuckerUp4PH.”This entails people putting on blue lipstick and kissing a PHA mailing card.
PHA is hoping to collect 40,000 of these cards which would set a world record. HCGS decided to help.
Now, over the years, our grade school has helped with many causes. We have jumped rope for the heart, and collected pennies for Haiti. We have collect socks and pop-tabs. Currently, we are in the midst of a food drive for the American Red Cross and a penny drive for Toys-For-Tots.
But the PuckerUp4PH campaign is probably the most unique thing we have done for a worthy cause. The kids really got into it, patiently allowing some high school volunteers apply blue lips stick (with individual hygienic applicators), kissing their card, and then allowing their picture to be taken, complete with a blue-lipped smile.
Now, not everyone participated. My son, for instance, just couldn’t stomach the idea of wearing lipstick, even for just a little while. But most kids were good sports and I’m proud to say that they left for Thanksgiving Break very aware of this lung disease.
So what exactly is PH? It is a disease in which the blood pressure in the arteries in the lungs elevates, putting pressure on the heart. It is fairly rare, and because it shares many symptoms with other conditions like asthma, it takes over two years (on average) for PH to be diagnosed. There is no cure but there are effective treatments, if diagnosed early. Undiagnosed, PH has a worse prognosis that many forms of cancer.
The symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain, fainting, cyanosis (blue lips) and swollen ankles and legs. Basically, if you have shortness of breath that’s not improving with treatment, talk with your doctor.
All this information was provided by PHA. We have a parent in our district who was diagnosed with PH. This parent turned lemons in lemonade by joining the association and becoming active in raising awareness for the disease. Hill City Schools were glad to assist in Operation Blue Lips. If you have any questions, you can find more information at www.phassociation.org.
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