At the age of 27, Estrella Bibbey, now 39, was a photojournalist for Newsday in New York, recently married and on a mission in the fast-paced world of journalism. As she charged forward in her career, though, her body betrayed her.
She found herself exhausted at the start of the day, often too weak to hold up her camera for the photos she would take. Thinking she had simply caught a bug, she worked through the pain week after week, only to have the feeling worsen as the months passed.
“My mouth was so dry, I would form that white crust around my lips,” Bibbey said. “I had to carry a napkin just so I could talk to people.”
The pain proved debilitating, and Bibbey was forced to retire early. After moving to Stockton and then to Fremont, in 2008, she and her husband, Jerry, settled their family in Boulder Creek, where Jerry is the Boulder Creek Country Club golf course superintendent.
Bibbey was eventually diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that attacks the moisture-producing glands and affects 4 million Americans. Ninety percent of those are women. Sjögren’s often goes undiagnosed, and the diagnosis time is between 4 and 6 years, because of the seemingly innocuous nature of the symptoms.
Bibbey’s hope is to help raise Sjögren’s awareness by any means possible. To begin her crusade, she started raising money for the Sjögren’s Syndrome Foundation in Washington, D.C. The foundation is a clearinghouse for medical information about the syndrome.
Last year, Bibbey recruited 15 friends to raise money for a team that would race in the 6-mile Wharf-to-Wharf race in Santa Cruz. To her amazement, the team pulled together $15,000 to help the Sjögren’s Syndrome Foundation.
This year, she set out to double that. She again found 15 friends to run with her, along with Sjögren’s Syndrome Foundation Chief Executive Officer Steven Taylor, who will fly in from D.C. for the race Sunday, July 24.
“We have already cleared $12,000,” Bibbey said proudly this week. “There are some big contributing doctors who helped us out last year and have verbally agreed to again this year, so I am confident we will hit the $30,000 mark.”
In preparation for the Wharf-to-Wharf, the team has been training every Sunday morning for four months. To raise money, the team has helped Bibbey with a number of fundraisers.
The team set up a lemonade stand for the Boulder Creek Fourth of July parade, hosted closest-to-the-pin contests at the Boulder Creek golf course, held a bake sale at Coldwell Banker in Boulder Creek and petitioned their own family and friends for donations.
For information, or to make a donation: www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/estrella-bibbey/2011w2w
