Pulmonary
Hypertension Symposium 2004 was held at the Radisson
Hotel Burnaby BC on March 6 2004. The event was hosted
for the third annual year by the BC
Pulmonary Hypertension Society. An outstanding seventy-five
participants attended this year compared to twenty in
2000. Everyone came to hear the latest on Pulmonary
Hypertension and its treatments, meet others with this
disease and learn more about BC Pulmonary Hypertension
Society.
Elizabeth McCall, president BCPHS, started the event
with an update on the activities of the Society. These
included participating in a Canada Day parade 2003 in
Sydney BC, public service announcements on PH being
aired on radio stations across BC and a display table
at Cowichan District Hospital in Duncan BC during PH
awareness month in November 2003. She encouraged others
to become actively involved in promoting Pulmonary Hypertension
awareness in their home towns.
|
Elizabeth
McCall, president of the British Columbia Pulmonary
Hypertension Society, with Dr. Levy.
|
The first presenter was Dr. R. Levy,
a PH specialist. As Dr. Levy looked into the crowd he
said, things are different then fifteen to eighteen years
ago, now it is difficult to ascertain who is family and
who is a patient. He spoke of Canadian statistics gathered
from the ten of twelve PH Centres across Canada, the etiology
of this disease, its treatments and advancements.
Dr. J. Soos, clinical Psychologist, was the second
presenter. Speaking on stress and how it affects all
of us. He explained how we can perceive images and become
stressed out on them before they occur. Cooping skills
on how to deal with stress where discussed, including
the use of breathing techniques, humor and visualization.
After lunch, remaining participants were divided into
five groups. Each group had a different question. Questions
ranged form how to increase PH awareness to how has
PH affected your life. There was a very comfortable
flow of conversations to be heard at each table. It
was a wonderful opportunity for everyone to meet in
a relaxed atmosphere.
All left looking forward to PH symposium 2005.
email
