Re: conference snippets 4

[Guest guest]

Some went out to lunch, and many of us stayed to hear Fritz Bell ("GoodShape"), Art Mellor, Lester and Norman Brown. Since gave an outstanding account of the conference, I will only continue about the people and not so much the actual event.

Much gratitude for the outstanding job Fritz has done with his website all these years, the Histamine/LDN forum that's part of the Goodshape site. In spite of some incidents not worth mentioning, Fritz keeps the spirit of his site alive and it was great to be able to chat with him in person. Art gave a great presentation, even though, as I found out later, he missed his LDN the night before. But Dr. Bob assured us missing a day is no big deal

Rob and his wife confused me at first, when I heard they were involved with the Boston Cure project, I thought he knew Lester, from Boston, who runs the BrainTalk.org forums that used to be Mass General's. But they're from the ski capital of the USA. They both seem so familiar at first.. but by the end of the day, EVERYONE seemed Familiar. I guess after 4 decades you just meet so many people that everyone looks familiar? No, I don't think so, I still meet people who are 'new'. But the aura in the room, and the energy everyone there was radiating, it didn't feel like a first meeting, even those who aren't involved in our groups. It wasn't like Deja Vu, the actual event didn't feel like I was there before, just being with the people 'again', but it was the first time for most.

I never met Dr. Norman Brown before, but he was certainly captivating. It was great to chat some more after the event. Love is the key, for sure. Great analogies. Can't add any more than has already covered.

During this time, Gluck extended a great thanks to Chuck Seden, who, unfortunately, wasn't at the Brown Bag Lunch, he and his wife went out to eat and not back yet. Chuck had offered to pay for any attendee who couldn't afford the conference fee. I don't know if, or how many, required that, but the offer was beautiful. I was outside when Chuck and his wife got back, so I told him what said and thanked him for all of us.

So it's now 1:50 and time for the LDN Advocates Panel. I was asked to be on that panel but I declined. I don't regret that, the 4 on the panel said more, in both words, and emotion, than I could have added to. Everyone already knows my story anyway. I was still outside from the break when Joyce was being introduced. When I walked back in the room, the entire day changed. Being the next speaker after Norman Brown was perfect. said it all, words can't describe it, you had to be there.

was next. To hear her story with her dad, following Joyce's presentation, well, I think everyone was already with a tissue or napkin in their hand. These are the stories that count. These are the stories that pull at the heart strings. These stories ARE what LDN is all about. There's no denying it, and it's not easy to hide. When your life is changed, affected by a not-fully-understood disease, when you feel like your life, or a close loved one's, is OVER, it seems for many like a religious experience. TRULY born again. Not from saying some words, or having a belief, or gathering with people once a week, but truly being given a Second Chance at life. This is Real Life, I do NOT hear these stories from other prescription takers. The stories I hear from other people do not match, or even come close, to the INFOMERCIAL videos neuros give out from those companies. But we seem to be hearing them from people taking LDN.

Sammy Jo then gave a great presentation of her own personal story, with EDSS graphs showing her progress, or rather, a chart that looks like the stock market of the last 5 years... not a slow decline, but like many of us... down down down... until The Bottom. My bottom wasn't as bad as a 7 on the scale, but to come back from a 7, to be doing as well as Sammy Jo, you just CAN'T make these stories up. WHY would anyone? Sammy Jo and her site LDNers.org are a great asset to our future hopes. Was also great chatting with you and your husband after the conference.

The final speaker was Boyle Bradley. Following her email to the group, there's nothing more to say. Her story is known by most of us as time went on, but to hear it all in one sitting really paints the picture, especially meeting Noel. I enjoyed hearing your interview last year from the Galway show, was even better in person. Love your accent Definitely have to get a copy, or a few, of your book and share it with friends and family.

This bring us to 2:50pm and about half couldn't stay any longer, most of the reasons I heard were to relieve babysitters or deal with other family obligations. I guess those who left will just have to wait for the video. The Breakout Activity was next. 8 teams were created, and each had just one bottom line question to answer. Everyone was given a sheet when they first arrived in the morning, given out alternately assigning people to each team. Since half left, the teams had to be reallocated, and there was nobody for Team 8 - Organizing.

I don't have the paper, I had Team 8, which, in retrospect, is basically what I've done the last 3 years. So I just wrote down my website links and gave the paper to . After addressing all the points involved for each team question, 1 person from each team presented their results. If the day was any indication of how things may be going forward, WE are off to a great start!

Just after Gluck thanked everyone for coming, said she would help host a possible Second Annual LDN Conference in Washington DC. Everyone still there thought that was a great idea, so now we have a few months to work out the details. I assume we will need a larger conference room for next year.

I had a good night sleep last night, when I finally got to bed. I just woke up a while ago but had to finish up this email before even thinking about anything else. So there ya have it... just another point of view from a quite memorable day in our collective histories.

Definitely don't want to rush anything, but I'm already looking forward to next year!

Re: [low dose naltrexone] conference snippets 3

and now it's Lunch Time, except for those who went to the Brown Bag Lunch session.... but for me, definitely bed time... it's now 3:30am.. time flies.... to be continued....