One-day Patient Conference in San Francisco, July 23, 2011

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The Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation (AA&MDSIF) is holding six one-day patient conferences in 2011.

One of these conferences will be held Saturday, July 23 in San Francisco, California. It's a multi-track conference for AA, MDS, and PNH patients and their families.

The conference will include parallel (simultaneous) sessions on topics related to AA, MDS, and PNH, as well as sessions to help you live with and cope with these diseases.

There will also be a Children's Workshop, for kids only, in parallel with the adult conference, run by staff from the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University.

Conference attendance is free. Breakfast and lunch are included. Discounted hotel rates are available to those who want to stay overnight.

Conference Program

Come hear about the latest information about diagnosis, treatment (including transplants), and medical research from leading experts, including:

• Dr. Lloyd Damon, University of San Francisco School of Medicine
• Dr. Carlos De Castro, Duke University Medical Center (tentative)
• Dr. Jason Gotlib, Stanford University School of Medicine
• Dr. David Margolis, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin
• Dr. Oxana Palesh, Stanford University School of Medicine
• Dr. Charles Parker, University of Utah School of Medicine
• Dr. Dianne Shumay, University of California San Francisco Medical Center

Patients and family members will also be able to

• meet these medical experts face-to-face
• learn skills for managing life with a bone marrow failure disease: coping with illness and fatigue, nutrition and exercise, etc.
• have your questions answered
• learn how to be your own advocate for the best care
• get to know other patients and family members like yourselves

Special programs included:

• Question and answer session for parents of pediatric patients
• Standing Up for Your Health (lunchtime program)
• Veterans & Bone Marrow Failure Diseases: a discussion and workshop especially important to Vietnam veterans
• Survivors Celebration (concluding program)

Living with Aplastic Anemia, MDS or PNH

When:

Adult conference: Saturday, July 23, 2011, from 8:30am to 5:00pm

Children's Workshop: Saturday, July 23, 2011, from 9:00am to 4:00pm

Check-in begins at 7:30am.

Where:

Crowne Plaza Hotel Foster City-San Mateo (Google map)
1221 Chess Drive, Foster City, CA 94404
650-570-5700 (main), 877-270-1393 (reservations)

Free shuttle to/from San Francisco International Airport.

Hotel self-parking is free.

Discounted hotel rates are available if you make reservations by Thursday, June 30, 2011.
See "Conference Hotel & Directions" on the AA&MDSIF event page.

Registration:

Use the online registration form to register for the conference.
The registration deadline is Wednesday, July 13.

For more information see the AA&MDSIF event page.