#ASCO19 Opening Session - Focus on Patients

The theme of this year's ASCO Annual meeting was

Caring For Every Patient, Learning From Every Patient

This theme was exhibited in many sessions I attended and highlighted in the Opening Session starting with Dr Bertagnolli, in her President's Address.You may read her complete speech at
https://connection.asco.org/blogs/2019-presidential-address-caring-every-patient-learning-every-patient?cid=DM1990&bid=15208062

First up @ASCOPres announcing mCODE: open source, free data standards that will allow for easier collection of EHR data....the same language for EHRs and the ability to communicate between platforms. This is big for #interoperability #ASCO19 pic.twitter.com/NhNcvBH5Bu

— Amanda Narod (@AmandaBinDC) June 1, 2019

All EHRs need to communicate with each other.
#ASCO19 ASCO President pic.twitter.com/qPVIXIWs81

— Dee Sparacio (@womenofteal) June 1, 2019

Dr Ang, a medical oncologist from Aukland, New Zealand spoke next.

Thank you Dr Ang for your presentation “Chemoboy” and for thanking patients , caregivers, researchers and those who work behind the scenes. “what is the most important thing in the world -the people “ #gyncsm #ASC019 pic.twitter.com/XOPQsk5v4A

— Dee Sparacio (@womenofteal) June 1, 2019

Having read two books Dr Atul Gawande wrote,  I was thrilled to be able to hear him in person.

You can serve a patient’s quality of life and quantity of life, #ASCO19 @Atul_Gawande

— Dee Sparacio (@womenofteal) June 1, 2019

 As I heard these next words I thought of how it matched with what I would be saying later that afternoon in the Fireside Chat with Dr Dickson.

Yes patients have goals and priorities! #gncsm #ASCO19
Less then a quarter of the time physicians don’t ask! @Atul_Gawande

— Dee Sparacio (@womenofteal) June 1, 2019

Palliative care can make a difference . @DanaFarber study. @Atul_Gawande #ASCO19 pic.twitter.com/JsbSc8dce3

— Dee Sparacio (@womenofteal) June 1, 2019

It was a privilege to speak at this year's ASCO meeting and Tweet from the meeting.
I was moved by the dedication of the over 40,000 health care providers -surgeons, oncologists, nurses, social workers, and researchers from around the globe who attended the meeting to learn how to improve cancer patient care. Thank you to each and every one of them.


Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!

New Year Aspirations

Another year begins!

As we welcome 2019,  I wish all my followers a very Happy and Health New Year!

If you are a regular follower you know that at the beginning of every year I don't make New Year Resolutions but rather aspirations. I tend not to feel too guilty if I don't quite get to do what I aspire to do, as you will see by the repeat aspirations below. But having concrete goals helps keep me focused.

Here are aspirations from 2018 that I will continue to work on this year.

• I aspire to continue to support women diagnosed with ovarian cancer through this blog and the  #gyncsm  community, to share my story as an ovarian cancer survivor and to promote ovarian cancer research.  ( I am excited to be attending and speaking at the ASCO Annual Meeting in June this year. More details soon.)
• I aspire to travel to Maine in 2019.  ( This has been on my list since 2016. But I'll keep trying .)
• I aspire to build an even better bond with my dog Amber so we can improve our work at the masters level in agility. ( My knee injury kept us out of the ring for the last 6 months of 2018.)  
• I aspire to go kayaking. (Once again my knee injury kept me from doing this last year.)
• I aspire to complete an online course in Genomics. (There just weren't enough hours in the day to get this done. I'm leaving this on the list though because I think this knowledge will only make me a better advocate.)

 Added to my list:

• I aspire to spend more time learning how to work with pastels. (I took an eight week art class and enjoyed the time I worked with the pastels.)
• I aspire to consistently attend yoga class. ( I dropped in on some classes in November and I felt calmer and more centered. ) 
• I aspire to step away from social media for a period of time each week and make connections in person - call or visit. 

What do you aspire to do in 2019?

Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!

Here We Come 2016

I had a wonderful 2015. I attended my son's wedding, raised over $3000 for ovarian cancer research at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and walked a 5K at Disneyland with my daughter to celebrate my 10th cancerversary .

I spent lots of fun times with family and friends. But there were some more challenging times too. My husband had some health issues and a surgery and I dealt with a knee injury, neuropathy and chemobrain. I also said farewell to three women who I met through an ovarian cancer support group and the Graceful Hope Foundation - Jeanne, Linda and Corinne. I know this sounds corny but I do feel blessed to have lived another year. 

For the past few years my first post of the new year includes a list my aspirations for the coming year. Resolutions are so 2010. I looked back at the aspirations I made at the beginning of this year. It seems like most of the things I looked forward to doing last year (in italics) are what I still want to do this year so I'll repost the list and add some new items.

• Continue to visit my children and grandchildren(Visiting my grandsons will be more difficult after they move overseas in May.)   
• Visit India
• Continue to advocate for ovarian cancer patients and research through this blog and the #gyncsm community
• Learn more about non-profit management and social media 
• Apply to attend the Biennial Survivorship conference and ASCO annual meeting
• Help my dog, Amber, achieve her Excellent title in Standard Agility ( Amber did get her AKC Excellent title in Jumps with Weaves)  
• Register Amber for UKI agility
• Continue to increase my physical activity and flexibility so that I can be a better dog handler and improve my health
• Continue to paint (Would love to try my hand at trompe l'oeil and pieces of furniture)
• Visit the state of Maine
• Take an online course - maybe art history, public health or theology

I hope the year ahead is filled with lots of adventure and few doctor visits for all.

Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!