So for a quick study break I decided to write about Saturday. It started with breakfast with a group of survivors 15-25, where we were to discuss friendships. This group was hosted by people trying to create resources that patients can give to their friends to educate them on how best to support the patients. It was really cool to meet more people in a closer age range, and also to discuss this topic. I was really shocked how every single one of us had a story of "close" friends who had abaondoned us, but also had the story of people we barely knew coming out of the woodwork, to support and encourage us! It was cool to share our hurts together, and celebrate the friends who stuck by us. Hopefully I'll be able to write more on this later.
After breakfast we had a keynote session by Dan Shapiro, an author, professor, TV consultant, and survivor. He was a fantastic speaker, as he outlined the different cancer/ill sterotypes in TV, and how that has morphed through the ages. There was such a sense of comraderie as he showed clips, and we were all able to either laugh or cry through them together.
After that, Steve, Danielle, and Nateisha who had just come in from Cleveland went for a short walk ending in lunch. It was nice to get to know each other better, and talk about our experiences.
For the afternoon session, I went to one called "Just for Girls". There was also a session Just for Guys, and Just for Caregivers. It was an open forum, moderated by a therapist. We chose a few topics to speak about, but only had time for a little more than one. It was neat, because some people would ask questions, or share how they were struggling, and then others would answer with their own experiences.
That night, UH wanted to take all of us Cle people out for dinner. They took us to Maggiano's, and we had a very nice evening, with a fantastic dinner. It was a very relaxing evening to end a busy few days!
Back to my room to pack up and get ready to finish out CancerCon!
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