I’m not sure which mattered more to Johnson & Johnson – that I was a musician with a pretty substantial national following or that I was a broke-a** musician without health insurance, but a huge thanks to them.  However, let me rewind a bit.

For those of you who may not know, I have been a chronic psoriasis sufferer since I was 15 years old.  It has been a huge source of frustration to me as I work through physical pain, social stigmas, and in general just feeling uncomfortable in my own skin.  When the new ground-breaking medication ‘Stelara’ was introduced late last year, I was sure it would be a long time until I would ever be able to try it.  At $5000 per shot and several shots per year, the annual medication can be well over $20,000 – not to mention it must be administered and monitored by a licensed dermatologist.

So this week I was thrilled to discover that Johnson & Johnson would be providing me with the medication at no charge throughout 2010.  I’ll blog about my progress with the medication, on occasion, and post updates and possibly before-n-after photos (if I can find some that I don’t feel are gross). 

Stelara works on a brand new principle, utilizing the latest in psoriasis research; each injection blocks a specific set of proteins that (and this is my non-doctor explanation) somehow confuse my immune system and result in psoriasis.  Friday, April 2nd, will be my first injection.

If you suffer from psoriasis and want to find out more about Stelara, go to:  http://www.stelarainfo.com/

Those who know me know that I love women, in fact, some might joke that I love women “a little too much.”  So when it comes to the gay community, I can’t say that I understand what it means to have a same-sex attraction or the societal challenges gays and lesbians face, but I definitely know what it meant to be persecuted because I was different (see High School).  Needless to say, when my sweet lesbian friend Jessica called me to perform at her Utah Wedding last week, there was no way that I could tell her ”no.”  Conveniently, I was already in Salt Lake City recording my new album, so on Saturday I drove to a church near the University of Utah having no idea what to expect.

During the wedding ceremony I played some pretty background piano music that I improvised entirely – mostly variations of church hymns - as Amanda and Jessica and their wedding procession walked to the front of the standing-room only chapel.  Jessica’s only instruction to me was “you can play anything but the wedding march.”  So I took some liberties, even adding some simple light Jazz to the mix.  Later that night, during the evening reception at the Museum of Art, I played a brand new love song off of my new album called “God Made You Just For Me” as well as my rendition of “It’s a Wonderful World.”  The brides danced with each other and then danced with their fathers as I sang.

All and all, it was a beautiful snow-covered day and the two girls looked both elegant and ecstatically happy.  The biggest thing I got out of the experience was a simple reminder that no matter if we are gay or straight, black or white, or tall or short, we are all God’s children and we all deserve to have love and be loved.  Everyone deserves happiness.  Thank you Jessica and Amanda for reminding me of that and for allowing me to take part in your important day.  Congratulations!!

Curious about the happy couple?  Check out their blog:  http://lesbianmomma.wordpress.com/