How My Conference Trip Came About

About a month or so ago, I was so fortunate to receive an email from Lisa Rendall. I had not known Lisa prior to this email but I was very happy to meet her. Not only is she a fellow mets gal but she also introduced me to the idea of going to a metastatic breast conference in West Conshohocken, just outside Philadelphia. 

The conference was put on by Living Beyond Breast Cancer. After reading her email, I quickly went to the website and was immediately interested. What held me back was fear because I would be going alone. I thought I was physically strong enough but mentally ... I’ll be honest, I was afraid. It took me some time to make the decision and when it was made, a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I sent my registration in and wasn’t looking back.

Now I needed to book a flight. I only had a few short weeks before the conference so I knew all the good flights would already be gone. Well it turned out to be a good thing because I received an email from my friend Arlene and she said Air Canada was having a seat sale. I jumped on the phone and booked my flight. I ended up making a few stops but saved a bundle.

Once I booked my flight I then decided to mention the conference on the blog. That is when I got a couple of emails from some mets gals in Calgary saying they were also attending. In fact we ended up connecting in Calgary as we were all on the same flight to Toronto. It was nice to have some company along the way.

I now needed a place to stay so I booked a couple of nights at the Philadelphia Marriott West. I wanted a roommate to help share the costs. It was suggested I go to the discussion board on the Living Beyond Breast Cancer website. That is where I connected with Vilma. She and I became roommates and friends. Since then Vilma started a blog entitled … Not Just Sadness, where she shares her cancer story.

While I was making plans for the trip, I received an email from Chris Lynds from The Edge of Light blog. She said she was also going to the conference.

And finally, one gal from a support group here in Edmonton made a last minute decision to come to this conference. What a great time it was meeting these gals.

I have to thank Lisa for sending me the email that started this whole process.