Happy New Year!!!!!!!

Just wanted to say Happy New Year! It's been awhile since I blogged, but I'm making a 2011 resolution to do it more! :-) A New Year is time for a fresh start....a fresh year...with much hope for the coming year. Peace, Love, & Hope to all! :-) Love, Brenda & Family

Flyer for HD Meeting! :-)

Itinerary for HD meeting!

Friday, August 6, 2010
5:00pm - 8:00pm HD informal gathering - meet & greet open house
Location: Hampton Inn & Suites
2450 69th Avenue, Moline, IL 61265
309-762-1900
Saturday, August 7, 2010
8:00 - 8:30 - Registration
8:30 - 9:00 - Welcome by Brenda Coulter, Event Coordinator,
Program Coordinator, Medical Education, Trinity
Introductions will be presented by Daniel Leisinger, DO
9:00 - 10:00 - Speaker #1
-Mohammed Yaseen, MD Quad City Pediatric Gastroenterologist
10:00 - 11:00 - Speaker #2
-Aliye Uc, MD Director of Gastroenterology Fellowship Program at
the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics
11:00 - 12:00 - Speaker #3
-Courtney Nichols, MSc, ScM, CGC, Genetic Counselor/Study
Coordinator at Johns Hopkins University
12:00 - HD patient group photo
12:15 - 1:00p - Break
1:00 - 2:00 - Speaker #4
-Nicole Murphy,mother of HD patient and author of the book,
"Hirschsprung's Disease: Solving the Puzzle"
2:00 - 3:00 - Speaker #5
-Angela Smith age 33, Hirschsprung's Patient
3:00 - 3:30 - Closing Remarks by Brenda Coulter
______________________________________________________
An adjacent "play room" to the meeting room is also in the works.
For direct questions, please contact me (Brenda) at coultebj@ihs.org
I look forward to meeting all of you! :-)

Where did May go???

So LOTS is happening around here! As for the meeting, we have officially been approved for 3 CME credits for physicians who attend the morning sessions at the meeting. SO COOL! This means they get educational CME (Continuing Medical Education) credits for attending a HIRSCHSPRUNG'S MEETING! YAY!!!! I still haven't gotten any news about funding, but please keep your fingers crossed! Everything is a go for the meeting. Hotel rooms are still open.
Please contact me if you would like to come or have questions about the meeting or surrounding area.

As for me, I made it through my EGD and Colonoscopy with flying colors! :-) The EGD was a breeze. I was very worried about the colonoscopy, but made it through the prep without an ER visit for dehydration, which was the goal. :-) They took biopsies throughout. All biopsies came back normal. One polyp was removed and sent to path. It came back as hyperplastic (stage 2 of 4). It is pre-cancerous, but VERY common....nothing to worry about. I need to go back in 5 years for another colonoscopy or sooner if more problems. It's just that I didn't think I'd be doing the whole "colonoscopy schedule routine" for a few more years. Twenty-nine is too young for this shit. ;-)

April Showers....

The meeting is only FOUR months away! WOW! It's just around the corner! I'm applying for grant money to help pay for breakfast and lunch that Saturday. Please keep your fingers crossed that we'll get some help with that. I hope everyone's travel plans are coming along. Please let me know if you have any questions or if I can be of any help!

On a personal note, I DID go see my new GI doc. She has ordered an EGD and a colonoscopy to be done at the end of this month/beginning of May. I'm nervous. I know the EGD will be nothing to get through, but I'm concerned I won't be able to do the prep for the colonoscopy and will end up backing out. I guess we'll see....

Tummy Jitters

I'm back from my first trip to Las Vegas for the ACOFP (American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians) Conference! We had a great time and I even learned a few things!

I'm getting a little nervous about this week. My doctor has referred me to a GI. I haven't seen a GI in over 10 years. I do have a lot of problems, so I agreed to go speak with the GI, but I hate the idea of "looking for trouble." ;-) I guess I just like to forget about my HD sometimes and have convinced myself that all my GI issues are over and done with (even though they are not). In my mind, I've suffered enough and should not be suggested to any more tests, procedures, or poking & prodding. The thought of another scope is enough to make me sick. One of my friends has said, "But if the GI can help, wouldn't it be worth a scope to help you?" My mind keeps going back to Angela and I cannot help but think that any "help" they give me could come out in the end worse off than I was before. It won't hurt to go speak with the GI doc, so I guess that's where I'm at right now...baby steps.

Now that Vegas is out of the way, I'm back to working diligently on the HD meeting. We've come quite a ways and I'm so excited to meet all of you!

HD Meeting - Questions for an HD Veteran

Angela Smith, 33yr old patient with HD will be speaking at the HD meeting about some of her experiences with HD and would like to know if there are certain topics/questions you would like to hear her talk about. Please post them as a comment or e-mail them to me at brendajna@yahoo.com and I will forward them to her.

Thanks!
Brenda

Hotel Blocks & Welcome Reception

HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS:
- A block of 5 rooms have been reserved at the Hampton Inn & Suites
Rooms are $109 plus tax.
To make reservations, please call 309-762-1900
Please mention "Trinity HD Meeting" when placing reservations
Hotel address: 2450 69th Avenue, Moline, IL 61265

-A block of 8 rooms have been reserved at Stoney Creek Inn &
Conference Center.
Rooms are $99 plus tax.
To make reservations, please call 309-743-0101
Please mention "Trinity HD Meeting" when placing reservations
Hotel address: 101 18th Street, Moline, Illinois, 61265

Welcome Reception:
Friday, August 6, 2010
5:00pm - 8:00pm HD informal gathering - meet & greet - open house
Location: Hampton Inn & Suites
2450 69th Avenue, Moline, IL 61265
309-762-1900

Two More Speakers!

Courtney Nichols, MSc, ScM, CGC, Genetic Counselor/Study Coordinator from Johns Hopkins University has agreed to come to the meeting and speak about the ongoing HD study! She will also be bringing some study participation kits, so if anyone is interested, she will speak with them privately after her talk and they will have a chance to participate in the study!

Also, Nicole Baxter-Murphey will be attending the meeting and will speak about her book, "Hirschsprung's Disease: Solving the Puzzle." I believe she will have a few copies if anyone is interested!

I'm working on an outline for the days events and still need to talk to the hotel about reserving a block of rooms.

Still feeling a little under the weather, but I wanted to update all of you about these things.

A visit to the ER

Last night, I began a round of the "yuckies" around 7pm and this continued practically non-stop until I left the bathroom and headed to the ER around 1:30am. Dx=Gastroenteritis. I had it twice in 2008 when I was pregnant with Taylor and once the year before that. I hope this isn't going to be a yearly thing! It came out of NO WHERE! It's really scary just how quickly I get dehydrated. My mom was told from the time I was little that any time I began throwing up like that, to head in to the ER right away. I suppose all of you have been told the same thing. Sometimes I forget that I'm not built like everyone else and am more susceptible to some things than "non HD" people. I don't really think about that until I'm already very sick.

I got a few rounds of phenergan, toridol, morphine, and of course....IV fluids. I was sent home with Zofran & Bentyl. My tummy still hurts as does my back where my kidneys are located. I've had some drinks and kept them down, so I'm hopeful that will continue, but I'm still in the "icky" phase right now.

PHOTOS WANTED!!!!!!!!

Hello friends! I've recruited a photography friend to take pictures at the HD meeting! YEA!

I've also asked her to put together a slide show for the meeting. If you're willing, please send pics of your HD loved one either then & now, or just now. I've looking for encouraging images and something to represent how strong we are and how much hope we have for future HD patients!

Please send photos to my e-mail address: brendajna@yahoo.com

Please submit photos asap. The deadline for slide show photo entry will be May 1, 2010.

Thanks a bunch!

Brenda

Long awaited conversation

Today, I got a call from Angie who was also born with Hirschprung's Disease. Angie is about my age and from what she told me, I am certain she has had a tougher go at "post op" life than I have. This was the first time I have ever spoken verbally to another adult with HD. It was indeed nice to talk to "someone like me." This is making me even more excited about the upcoming meeting next August. I'm hoping Angie and everyone else out there can make it! It's such a relief to know that others experience the pains & problems that I have. It's also a relief to know that others have beaten the odds as I have. The voices of HD patients are getting louder and stronger as the research continues daily. This gives me so much hope for my grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and further generations that may inherit the faulty gene as I have.

Angie,
It was so nice talking with you today. Please call me once in a while even if it's just to chat.
We are not alone! I will be praying for you every day. Don't give up the fight just yet. You have much to be proud of. You are a survivor.
Take care of yourself!
Brenda