1. First, let me say that on the whole the conference was great. However, our first impressions were, sad to say, negative. Environmentally, this conference was not designed for weaklings--or in our opinion, the elderly. It was difficult to access unless you stayed there (we didn't) and the Caesar's Palace, where it was held in Las Vegas, is HUGE. There were short flights of steps scattered throughout the buildings--just two or three, but enough to make wheelchair and walker travel difficult and further tire out the rest of us over 70. It must have been confusing for the many people living with LBD who attended too--A casino is a noisy, busy place with way too much going on. It was also either very cold (in the building) or very hot (during the social gatherings outside). It took us several days after we got home just to recuperate! I hope they choose a better venue for the next conference.
On the positive side, still speaking about physical comforts, they did a great job of keeping us fed. We didn't have to go out for any meals during the whole two day conference. They also provided some entertainment although we were too tired to stay and enjoy it. Those who did apparently had a fun time.
2. That said, let me repeat, the conference itself was great. It lived up to its name and really was international. We loved hearing speakers and meeting people from all over the world. We also liked that they divided the conference into professional and care partner tracks. Of course, we attended the care partner track and it was great that we didn't have to struggle as we usually do at these conferences to be able to understand the speakers. They did start out the conference with a morning session where we all met together. This gave us a small taste of what the scientists were working on. We liked that too. What they are doing is so important to all of us in the long run.
3. A highlight of the conference for Jim was being recognized from the podium as a founder of the Lewy Body Dementia Association. He is the only one of the five co-founders who is still actively working with LBD although he is no longer directly associated with the LBDA. As he should be, he is very proud of this accomplishment. Another highlight for us was that our book, A Caregiver's Guide to Lewy Body Dementia, was the top book listed in the Patient and Care Partner Guide, given to every family in that tract.
4. Rosemary Dawson, Jim and I put together a poster presentation that you can still see on our website. Even though there was only a very short time allotted for poster presentations, ours attracted some good attention. You can read the abstracts about all of the posters by clicking here. . A review of these abstracts is planned for a future blog so that you can get an idea of where researchers and clinicians are putting their focus.
5. Perhaps the best part of the whole conference was the chance to network with other LBD people. We re-connected many specialists such as Dr. James Leverenz, with whom we once enjoyed doing a presentation and Dr. Tanis Ferman, a pioneer in recognizing the need for behavior management with dementia. We caught up with old LBDA friends, Angela Taylor and Mark Wall, and put a face on other LBDA staff that we'd known only virtually. We also met finally personally some people we've worked with virtually for years, such as Rosemary Dawson, Caring Spouses moderator, and Norma Loeb, who is the founder of a fairly new organization, the Lewy Body Resource Center in New York. (Check it out here. She has tons of information on her site!) We talked to active care partners often accompanies by their loved ones, which is something we love to do. And finally, we got to talk to some folks from other countries. We met and visited with several people from the UK, including the founder of the Lewy Body Society. We had a meal with a doctor and nurse from Korea. Although these women had read our book in English, they were excited to learn that it had recently been published in Korean. We had a good conversation with a doctor from Australia, comparing our nation's acceptance of alternative therapies. He reiterated something we had heard before, that Australians are much more accepting of these non-drug treatments than the traditional US medical system is. One thing we didn't do well was collect business cards and so we often remembered the people but not their names. (Note to self: do better at this next time.)
6. Personally, we had a chance to visit with family members in the Las Vegas area. This was good because this year has been a sad time for my family. We have recently lost two of our beloved family members. One, a nephew's wife, died after a long bout with Lewy Body Dementia. While we were sad to lose her, we were happy to know that she rests better now. The other was that nephew's younger brother. His death during what they thought would be a routine surgery to fix a long-lasting problem was unexpected and much more difficult to deal with. On a happier note, we also visited Jim's daughter who has moved with her husband to a community near Las Vegas. They weren't even moved in yet but they took us on a tour of their lovely new home, which includes a separate "casita" (one-room mother-in-law apartment) available for us when we come to visit.
The next blogs will be about information presented at the Las Vegas conference. You are in for a treat because Rosemary Dawson will be a guest blogger for some of this. I will also be reviewing the abstracts to give us an idea of researcher and clinician focus. Actually, the conference has provided us with a ton of information and over the next weeks, we will share some of that with you!
For more information about Lewy body disorders, read our books:
A Caregivers’ Guide to Lewy Body Dementia
Managing Cognitive Issues in Parkinson's and Lewy Body Dementia
Responsive Dementia Care: Fewer Behaviors Fewer Drugs
Riding A Roller Coaster with Lewy Body Dementia: A Manual for Staff
Helen and James Whitworth are not doctors, lawyers or social workers. As informed caregivers, they share the information here for educational purposes only. It should never be used instead of a professional's advice.
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