Osteogenesis Imperfecta Conference 2014

Once again I have missed a month!  Not much happened during the month of July other than going on vacation for 2 weeks.  We traveled down to Naples, Florida where we spent a week and a half. We also traveled down to Key West.  Our last destination was to Daytona for two nights.  Overall, it was nice to get away and I would love to just pick-up and move.

At the beginning of this month I had the opportunity to attend the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Conference at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis, IN.  Osteogenesis Imperfecta is the condition I have.  I have not been to a conference since I was 6 years old which was in Orlando, Florida.  It was sad to see just how many people OI effects.  I caught myself saying just this past week "you don't realize how many people actually have OI until you attend a conference or they start showing up on a list of "people you may know.""  A lot of people consider these conferences to be a family reunion because it's the only time they can get together.

While a lot of the seminars are for parents with younger children who are just learning about OI, they also had seminars for Young Adults on a variety of topics. These included Transitioning Yourself to Adult Care, Becoming Your Own Self Advocate, and Self Esteem.  While some of these things are kind of a no-brainer, it's sometimes a good idea to have a refresher course. 

One thing I did notice while at the conference was that if you don't go to each National Conference every two years you're kind of an outsider--not  because you're different, but because everyone has their group of friends.  This is not to say that I didn't enjoy my time at the conference because I DID, but I look forward to the next one which is in Orlando, Florida where my conference journey began!