Tuesday, January 20, 2015

LOL or WTF? Only you can decide.

My LOL moment, or possibly my WTF moment this morning. After I posted an image update on my "Dancing with Rejection..." GoFundMe campaign of my fistula (the "Gold Standard" for dialysis) in action, I was informed that the image was unacceptable and it was removed. 

They wrote: "We are reaching out to let you know that we have removed and image you posted  in a recent update to your GoFundMe page. Images used on GoFundMe must be suitable for all audiences and cannot contain blood or other graphic content."


I mean, they were nice enough about it, but I was surprised that this daily reality for millions of dialysis patients worldwide could be deemed unsuitable.



This image was deemed to be "unsuitable" by GoFundMe.
When I got home last night after my latest dialysis treatment (which went well, thanks for asking) Id had some time to think about and realized...it must be the "color" of the blood that is so unsuitable. So, after fiddling around for a minute I came up with an alternative image.

Hoping this green-blooded version is less offensive.
Surely to goodness, this slightly altered version of the image would be less offensive. What do you think? It's just sad (and very revealing) that this daily reality, that keeps me (and millions of other dialysis patients worldwide) ALIVE to fight another day, as we hope and pray for the Gift of Life (a kidney transplant), is censored and taken down by GoFundMe.

While I appreciate the amazing response to my GoFundMe campaign, and also the very fact of its existence as a powerful platform for raising awareness, I also would humbly suggest that they should revisit their policy of "graphic content" in light of our reality.



2 comments:

  1. Oh man Michael that is a crazy assed whacked out attitude. I think you might be right about the colour thing. The Hulk would probably been acceptable to them. Nutty world we live in! I am praying for you man red or green! <3

    Love,
    Cat

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    1. It was quite a shock to see the "green" version when it popped up on my screen for the first time, Cat. I was like, "It's the Jolly Green Giant!" The Incredible Hulk only reared his head in the discussion a bit later, LOL.

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