Last night I was catching up on reading some blogs and came across one that was written by one of the other people who attended HealtheVoices (HeV) who opened her blog post with my exact thoughts. She had been drafting and redrafting posts about her experiences of HealtheVoices and not knowing quite how to write it. She came down to the point of just getting it out and putting it down in a post. So this is what I am going to do as well because like her I have been going over how to write my experience and then rewriting it and never being happy or knowing quite how to word it.
So here goes…
Leaving the UK to go to Dallas was a mix of nerves and excitement. The lead up to the HeV event was so positive and the support from everyone was there right from the start so I was feeling at ease but also felt a little is this really going to be like this once I am there too. A small hiccup at the airport but I was soon at the hotel and getting ready to settle in.
There was no real plans for the Thursday night. There was dinner but it was a buffet and you could just go down and eat when you wanted. I am never very good at these things and went downstairs several times with the intention of going in to the dinner room but I kept bottling it so would head back up to my room. I was too nervous, and tired because I was still on UK time and had been up for about 24 hours at this point, but I needed to get over jet lag so I could enjoy the conference without crashing, so I forced myself to go in and join a table. I am so glad I did go down. The slight awkwardness of plating my food and all the time thinking which table should I ask to sit at, who won’t mind if I join them, there was 101 things flying through my head but actually some of those who I had my first meal with in Dallas are also the ones I had my last lunch with as well. I did have that bit of security with me at dinner though- I had my name badge/lable/neck thing so anyone I met knew my name, knew I was speaking but also knew that it was my first time attending the conference.
When I have attended conferences in the past I have felt at ease, and with each conference I attend and speak at I feel more confident but this was different. When I have spoken at conferences I have been there and what I am speaking about is my specialist interest and my experience, I tended to be the patient giving my opinion of essentially being an expert patient. This was a different ball game. Everyone there was like me, we are all experts at living with our own conditions and doing our own thing to raise the profile and difficulties we face trying to live a functional life.
I have never really thought of the work I do with asthma as advocacy, I actually didn’t like the word advocacy but attending HeV I came away feeling that maybe it was and I was an asthma advocate. People often ask me what drives me to do what I do, how do I come up with content, ideas etc. I never really know how to answer because I have never thought about why I do these things. I just do it because I hope that by sharing my story maybe people or even just one person might be able to take something from it and their experience will be a bit easier.
It sounds cliche but after my initial nerves everyone was so welcoming at the meeting. Wether you were a first timer or had been at all the HeV meetings in the past everyone was on the same level- we were all there for one reason. Everyone there is motivated to help make a change. There was a variety of people who have had a condition all their life, then some with conditions that vary, go into remission or are cured from it but through their experience they are sharing knowledge gained, experiences which were good or bad.
I still really am struggling to put into words all my emotions from the meeting but I think the photos speak for themselves.
So where do I go from here??
I have a few projects that I would like to pursue the most pressing one is to try and get rid of all the stock images media outlets are using which are subconsciously promoting poor inhaler technique. Almost every day I see a photo being used on a media article which shows a child or adult using a MDI (metered dose inhaler) with no spacer and even though there is no spacer the technique is not good either. In the UK there is an inherent problem with asthma management and self management resulting in high death levels from asthma attacks which can be prevented. One of these preventions is correct inhaler technique.
And a last disclaimer:
ANONYMOUS-ASTHMA 