Countdown to Portland!!! World Parkinson Congress, 2016!

If you had a disease what would you think if I told you there was one organization out there dedicated to creating a worldwide dialogue to help expedite the discovery of a cure and best treatment practices for this devastating disease?  What if I told you such organization held an event once every three years that brought together physicians, scientists, nurses, rehabilitation specialists, caregivers and people with Parkinson's disease to one giant conference?  Well you'd probably say that would be nearly impossible and likely doesn't exist.  That of course physicians have conferences all the time, as do nurses and other fields.  Scientists I'm sure also have such conferences and we all know there are conferences aimed at people with diseases, but none that bring all of those areas together.  Well I'm writing to tell you that if you have Parkinson's Disease you are in luck!  Because the World Parkinson Coalition does just that!  It brings all areas from research to people living with the disease from ALL OVER THE WORLD together under one roof for one enormous and incredible conference.

Say what?  Yup, you read it correctly and it's incredibly exciting!  I for one am a huge believer in the fact that you have to be your own health advocate.  That of course we have movement disorder neurologists as well as countless other people on our 'care teams' that are all experts, but nobody is truly an expert in your disease but YOU.  You are the one that lives with it day in and day out.  You are an expert on what treatments work and what don't, how well you cope with certain things, how your disease is progressing etc... Of course we should rely on the expertise of those people who have studied the field and we do but we should constantly be educating ourselves. 

For that reason among countless others I am thrilled at the opportunity to not only be honored with being an official blogging partner of the WPC among 15 other incredible Parkie's around the world but am super pumped about this conference.  September 20th-23rd the Parkinsons World will gather in Portland, Oregon for three amazing days of education.  I know several people that attended the last WPC in Montreal and they were all blown away with what a valuable experience it was and the opportunity to meet & share with each other as fellow Parkie's as well as the experts.  I cannot wait and am anxiously counting down to Portland!

What is also very exciting is yesterday was the launch of the countdown to Portland Podcast series with Dave Iverson & John Palfreman.  These podcasts are going to be jam packed with great guests and amazing information to give a sneak peak at some of the topics and sessions you'll be able to experience at the conference.  The first one is now live and I encourage you to take the time to have a listen!  You can find them at this link:  https://soundcloud.com/world-parkinson-coalition

Their website is packed with information from the past 3 conferences and armed with information about their mission and what they do.  You can also find all of the WPC blogger's links there as well.  http://www.worldpdcoalition.org/?page=BloggingPartners  I cannot wait to meet some of these blogging partners in person.  I have already gotten to know several of them through their blogs.  I'm grateful to them that they chronicle their journeys as well.  We can all learn from each other, laugh with each other and maybe sometimes cry too.  We all share a common bond and that's what's going to make this trip in September of 2016 so wonderful!

So...... I'll see you in Portland!!!