LindsayOctober is Dysautonomia Awareness month, and this time of year there are usually events and fundraisers worldwide to raise awareness. For the past couple years, there have been some amazing local events with music, speeches, and games. Like most things during the pandemic, awareness celebrations are being moved online this year. I will miss the in-person events, as they are always a great opportunity for me to see some old POTS friends and meet new people. However, I am excited about the virtual events this year because they allow me to attend events that I would not be able to attend in person.
Dysautonomia Conference
The annual dysautonomia conference held by Dysautonomia International each summer was moved to this month and will be held via zoom. It runs from October 15-18 and is completely free, although a donation is suggested and encouraged. They have a nonstop schedule packed with POTS superstars, like Dr. Grubb, Dr. Chemali, Dr. Sandroni, Dr. Blitshteyn, Dr. Goodman, Dr. Raj – I could go on and on. I’m looking forward to most of the talks, but am especially interested in the ones on small fiber neuropathy (since that’s my latest diagnosis), dysautonomia and sex hormones (although that one’s probably less sexy than I’m picturing in my head), and autonomic dysfunction in ME/CFS (because I have a lot of online friends with ME/CFS and would like to learn more). You can check out the full schedule here. Registration is still available here, but it starts on Thursday, so sign up now if you’re interested.
POTS 5k
Standing Up to POTS holds its annual 5k every October in Ohio. That’s too far for me to travel, so I have never been able to participate. This year, the walk is virtual, so I can either walk a 5k here in my city, or if I don’t feel up to it, I can wear my official walk t-shirt and cheer everyone else on from my own home. The virtual walk takes place the weekend of October 23-25, so I have all weekend to get in those 3.1 miles. Visit the Standing Up to POTS website to sign up.
If you know of any other events, please share!
“When we establish human connections within the context of shared experience we create community wherever we go.” – Gina Greenlee
Smell ya later.
– Linds
Ooo these sound good, thanks for sharing them. What a great idea to make the Dysautonomia International conference virtual and freely accessible. xx
Thanks, Caz! They had a lot of good information at the virtual conference. I missed a lot of the speakers (it was like 8 hours a day for 4 days), but look forward to watching the replay.
Awww, looks like I missed out on all the fun. I’m not much of a conference goer, I guess. I didn’t manage to make any of the virtual events this year. I kinda think they should all be open to virtual participation, though. I don’t understand why any org, especially those who are supposed to serve patients wouldn’t make it accessible for the homebound. I hope this terrible year at least helps to change that. Thanks for sharing about these conferences! I hope you’re doing well. Xx
I agree! There are a few conferences each year on the other side of the country, but I can’t travel to them. I never understood why more medical/health/illness related conferences weren’t made available virtually, since many of the people who need the information may not be able to attend. Hopefully this will be a new trend!