Hope Summit Reflection: Part 1

There is a lot to say about my weekend in the Washington, DC area for Hope Summit. First of all, I'd like to acknowledge the amazing LUNGevity Foundation staff. Without LUNGevity Foundation I would had never met my wonderful LC community, and I would probably be still feeling alone, shameful, and locked inside of a closet with my diagnosis of lung cancer. THANK YOU, LUNGEVITY! <3

During the weekend (Friday May 4 - Sunday May 6, 2012) I reunited with some fellow alumni of the inaugural Hope Summit 2011. I also met many new friends, some of which I feel must be mentioned. For the sake of time, and so I do not go on rambling, I have decided to make this entry in to at least two parts.

Lynne Eldridge, MD - amazing- wow, I felt almost star struck. Lynne is the very talented author of the lungcancer.about.com and also has writen her own book about cancer, called 'Avoiding Cancer One Day At A Time: Practical Advice For Preventing Cancer'. I have admired Lynne's online writings for awhile now, and I made sure to let her know that I felt she represents the lung cancer community very accurately in her articles. I was surprised to find out that Lynne was a cancer survivor herself, breast cancer. I had always thought that the writers on that site were somewhat of a mystery, you see their photo, but person information is limited. Lynne is very dedicated to getting awareness out for lung cancer, even through her own diagnosis of breast cancer. There are not many people out there willing to fight for a disease that they really don't have a personal experience with, that is why Lynne deserves to be acknowledged. I cannot wait to dive right in to her book, and hopefully meet her again one day.

Eric Byrne - lung cancer survivor extraordinaire - What an amazing inspirational person I have had the pleasure of meeting, and he's so funny too!! Eric is the type of person everyone likes, and he's got the best accent! Eric is making strides not only in his community of Scottland, but he is spreading awareness in the USA as well. I feel very lucky to have met him. Thank you for the many laughs Eric, hopefully we will meet again.

Mel Majoros - the cancer warrior - Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I met Mel! Mel is a breast cancer survivor and advocate for ALL cancers. She hosts an online radio show on Empowerment Radio and advocates through her own blog at www.Thecancerwarrior.blogspot.com. Mel is one of the funniest people I have ever met. Mel was so refreshing to be around because of her attitude toward all cancers, it didn't matter that she didn't have the same type of cancer as me, we were connected by the big C. Cancer is cancer, and it all sucks. I am very excited to get connected with her blog and listen to her online show. And as like Lynne and Eric, I really hope to meet her again one day!

I had a blast this weekend! For more photos from Hope Summit please visit my Facebook page called 'Cure Lung Cancer Now!' and click on the photo album called 'Hope Summit 2012'. Until Part 2 of my Hope Summit journey, I encourage all of you to check out the links I have provided.