YSC/LBBC Conference
Posted 2/28/2010
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I have been in Atlanta this week-end to speak at the annual Young Survivors Coalition ( http://www.youngsurvival.org/) and LBBS (www.lbbc.org) conference. It has been fabulous. I have been invited several times to speak at this meeting and always accept with delight and enthusiasm. I well remember the first YSC conference that I attended. Remember that I have been in this work for decades and have probably known more women who have breast cancer than women who have not. However, I was completely unprepared for the emotional shock of walking into a packed ballroom of young breast cancer survivors. Certainly, I always am working with several women in their 20s or 30s, but being confronted with the reality of this disease's assault on young women and their families was staggering. I haven't been to other meetings where there are special "sit and chat" tables for women who were diagnosed during pregnancy or "mothers of toddlers".
My workshop was focused on "Taking Control of End of Life Issues." This is not exactly anyone's favorite topic, but there were about 25 women there who wanted the facts and the opportunity to feel better informed and better prepared. Email me (hhill@bidmc.harvard.edu) if you would like a copy of the slides, including a lot of resource information. We were really fortunate to be joined by Haley Schwartz, the Director of the Atlanta Breast Cancer Legal Project. She had the answers that I don't re details of legal questions.
This Conference takes place every February, and there will soon be information about 2011 on the YSC website. There is travel money available to help women come. Consider it.
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