Support

The Northwest ARDS Support Network provides outreach and support for:

If you are in a hospital in the Puget Sound region, we are available to come and visit in the hospital.  If you are an ARDS survivor currently living in the Puget Sound region, or have lost a loved one to ARDS, we would love to meet you and share our experiences.

Our support extends beyond the Puget Sound region.  We can provide e-mail and phone support (see Contact page).  There are also several discussion forums and chats where ARDS survivors and their families can communicate with others.  Many of us have found comfort in sharing our experiences with those who truly understand what it is like to have ARDS.  Some of us have also found that beyond the ARDS experience, we have other things in common and have made friends from all over the United States.  You can find these discussion forums and chats on our Links page.

We also host regular get-togethers, during which we share the experiences that only ARDS survivors and caregivers can truly understand and appreciate.  We are fortunate to have the support of some of the pioneers in ARDS research right here in our backyard--and they have offered to join us in our get-togethers and share with us their knowledge of ARDS and the latest in research.  For some survivors, attending one of these get-togethers is the first time they've met another person who can truly understand what it is like to be in a coma, to breathe on a vent, to have the dreams while in a coma, and to struggle with the emotional and physical after-effects of ARDS.  It's a very powerful experience.