Thyroid Cancer
Survivors Plan Second Annual Conference
22 August 1999
CONFERENCE DETAILS
Event 2nd Annual Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Conference
The ONLY conference in the world for survivors of this rare cancer.
Name ThyCa '99
Dates 22-24 October 1999
Place Boston Marriott, Burlington, Massachusetts, USA
Cost $25 per person / students free with identification. Scholarships
are available.
Organized by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc.
Web site http://www.thyca.org
Address ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc.
PO Box 1545, New York, NY 10159-1545
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
From October 22-24,
thyroid cancer survivors from across the United States and Canada
will meet in Massachusetts for the world’s second annual
meeting for the survivors of this rare cancer. The conference is organized
by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc., a nonprofit
organization dedicated to survivors’ issues. Sponsors include the
American Cancer Society, New England Division, Knoll Pharmaceuticals
and
Genzyme Company.
The cost is only
$25. Students may attend free. Survivors may register online at ThyCa’s
web page at http://www.thyca.org, by e-mail to
registration@thyca.org or by writing to ThyCa ‘99 Registration, PO
Box 243, Millersville, PA 17551 until October 1, 1999.. Scholarships
will be
provided upon request..
This an informal,
nuts 'n bolts conference where survivors will have a chance to talk
face-to-face with other survivors and with leading thyroid cancer
specialists in small, intimate group settings.. For many, this will
be the first time since their diagnosis they have met someone else
with this cancer. This is not a disease that effects large numbers
as does breast and prostate cancer. In the United States, fewer than
15,000 are diagnosed with thyroid cancer annually. Of the estimated
200,000 survivors in the United States, fewer than 1,500 will die
of the disease this year.
Professional facilitators
include: Arturo Rolla, MD, an endocrinologist at Beth Israel Deaconess
Medical Center, Boston, MA, and founder of the ThyCa Mailing List;
Gilbert Daniels, MD, Co-Director of the Thyroid Unit at Massachusetts
General Hospital, Boston; Donald Margouleff, MD, Chief
of Nuclear Medicine at North Shore University Hospital, Manhassett,
NY; Firdosh Pathan, Senior Attending Pharmacist, Massachusetts General
Hospital Pharmacy Department; Lori Fresina, State Advocacy Director
for the American Cancer Society, New England Division; and Judy Fleishman,
Ph.D., Behavioral Scientist at Greater Lawrence Family Health Center,
Lawrence, MA.
Unlike last year,
when workshop topics were limited to surgery, radiation, nutrition,
medication and caring for care givers, ThyCa ‘99 will add
complementary treatments including Yoga, Reiki, Healing Meditation
and creative self-expression. Friday and Saturday survivors’ art from
around
the US and Canada will be on exhibit. And throughout the three day
event, volunteers will be available in a special research room with
Internet
access to help participants learn to use the Internet to research
medical issues.
Conference organizers
are committed to help other survivors because thyroid cancer is a
disease that impacts everyone for life from the time of
diagnosis. They must learn to cope with a strict regimen of daily
medications plus the impact of periodic tests and treatments that
can significantly affect the quality of their lives temporarily. The
conference is
only one of the resources the newly incorporated nonprofit volunteer
organization has created to help survivors around the world.
“Talking with
other survivors and learning from their experience,” says Gary Bloom
of Olney, MD, Chair of the ThyCa Board of Directors, and
Facilitator of the Washington, DC ThyCa Support Group, “is an important
part of living with this disease. Until 1997, when a group of survivors
began to build a worldwide network of free services for survivors,
we lived in complete isolation. Now we have two mailing lists and
a weekly chat
room on the Internet dedicated to survivors’ issues. This year we
created a web site at http://www.thyca.org with guidelines for radiation
and other
treatments. Now, within a few minutes, someone newly diagnosed can
access information about their disease, learn about treatment options
and
find links to the best medical information in the world.”
Those who join
ThyCa before the end of ThyCa ‘99 will be a charter member of the
Association. Membership costs $25 annually; a lifetime membership
is only $225. Membership fees, Bloom says, pay for the cost of maintaining
the resources available to survivors such as the web site and the
toll-free telephone number that will be available this fall.
ThyCa ‘99 CONFERENCE
FACILITATORS
Diane Blake, American Cancer Society, New England Division
Ric Blake, ThyCa Board of Directors, Londonderry, NH
Gary Bloom, Chair, ThyCa Board of Directors, Olney, MD
Teresa Campama, ThyCa Philadelphia Support Group Facilitator, Mullica
Hills, NJ
Gilbert Daniels, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
Judy Fleishman, Ph.D., Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, Lawrence,
MA
Karen Ferguson, ThyCa Board of Directors and Online Chat Room Co-host,
Charlotte, NC
Lori Fresina, American Cancer Society, New England
Cherie LeClair, ThyCa Merrimack Valley, Portsmouth, NH
David Margouleff, MD, North Shore University Hospital, Manhassett,
NY
Firdosh Pathan, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
Judy Regan, ThyCa Online Chat Room Co-Host, Lowell, MA
Arturo Rolla, MD, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA
Reese Shamansky, ThyCa Board of Directors, New York, NY
Betty Solbjor, ThyCa Board of Directors, Waltham, MA
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