Pulmonary hypertension support group forming

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Shirley resident Jeannette Morrill knows what it is like to live with a rare disease in rural Maine and have no local support group, so she is doing something about it.

November is Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Month, she wrote of the disease she has had since 1973 that was diagnosed in 1976.

In June, she “attended the International PH Conference in Miami,” she continued, where she learned she is, “most likely, the longest survivor of this disease” in the United States.

Pulmonary hypertension, Morrill explained, “is a rare disease of unknown cause that results in narrowing of the blood vessels of the lungs, thus causing high blood pressure inside the lungs.”

“Blood pressure, when measured on the arm, with a cuff, is quite normal,” she added, “maybe even a little on the low side.”

The disease involves the heart and lungs because the heart must worker harder to force blood through blood vessels that have been narrowed by the disease.

PH can lead to heart failure and is often fatal, Morrill explained.

As a member of the PH Association, she is “actively trying to inform others about this rare disease.”

Morrill is the leader of the Maine PH Support Group, which meets in Portland every other month.

For those who can’t travel to Portland, Morrill is starting a support group in our area.

The first meeting of the new PH Support Group is 1:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 6, in Dean 1 at Thayer Unit of Maine General Medical Center in Waterville.

Morrill is aware of people in the Bangor area “who suffer from this disease.” If those people attend this meeting, “we could discuss starting a group in Bangor,” she wrote.

Anyone affected by this disease as a patient, family member, caregiver or friend of a patient, is welcome to attend, she stressed.

For more information, Morrill asks that you contact her by Friday, Dec. 3, at 695-3042, or morrill@midmaine.com.

Speaking of Shirley, Dr. Everett Parker, pastor and teacher for the Shirley Community Church, invites you to celebrate the opening of that church in the former Shirley United Methodist Church building and the beginning of a capital campaign, by attending a baked bean supper from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, at Shirley Town Hall.

Admission is by donation for the church’s first “mortgage repayment fund-raiser,” he wrote.

Parker also invites you to attend the service at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 21, which will emphasize memorial gifts and serve as a homecoming for those no longer living in the area.

Shirley Community Church recently purchased the 98-year-old “church on the hill.”

The capital campaign will help pay off the mortgage and make repairs to the building, especially the roof.

For more information about the campaign, call Parker, days, 695-2909; nights, 695-3163; or write 719 Moosehead Lake Road, Greenville 04441.

Disc jockey Bob Duschene is the guest auctioneer for the third annual Audubon Benefit Auction.

The event begins with a preview and hors d’oeuvres at 6 p.m. at Fields Pond Audubon Center in Orrington.

Auction items include autographed Stephen King books, jewelry and gift certificates.

Call the center, 989-2591, for more information.

St. John’s Women’s Council President Nancy Taylor invites you to choose from among many delicious goodies during “A Thanksgiving Holiday Bake Sale,” 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, at St. John’s Catholic Church, 207 York St., Bangor.

There you will find things you won’t have to make for Thanksgiving, including pies, breads, cakes and fudge.

My colleague Dick Shaw will sign copies of his newly-published book, “Bangor in Vintage Postcards,” 1-3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, at the Bangor Museum and Center for History, 6 State St.

Visitors can purchase books at the museum and view “Images of New England-Visions of Bangor: Photography and the Human Experience.”

Admission is free.

The Bangor Museum and Center for History is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and noon-4 p.m. Saturday.

The annual Christmas fair sponsored by Elm Street Congregational Church in Bucksport features a “simple luncheon” prepared by “the men of the church,” wrote Nancy Bourgon.

The fair is 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, at the church.

A number of talented people have contributed “beautifully-painted wooden crafts, which we feature each year,” Bourgon wrote, adding that fair tables also feature other crafts, baked goods, attic treasurers, greens “and our famous cookie walk.”

Admission is by donation, and refreshments will be served for those attending “An Afternoon of Beautiful Music,” 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 21, at Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church, 828 West Main St.

The concert is presented by Pine Tree Hospice, which provides volunteer services to area residents during the process of dying and bereavement.

For more information call the church office at 564-2872.

Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; 990-8288.