We had another successful PMD Family Support Conference! This was a milestone year for us as it was our 25th annual conference. We had 15 families from 9 states as well as 2 from Canada. Of those 12 were returning members of our extended PMD family and 5 were new additions that quickly became part of the family. (As per the norm in Indiana.) There were 13 PMD males in attendance and 1 PMLD girl. We had some early excitement on Wednesday when Nicolas C. got all choked up on a chicken nugget and had to take a trip to the ER. Thankfully he was able to cough it up and was released about 11:30 pm. The excitement didn't end there though, since their dinner got cut short they reheated it when they arrived back at the hotel and as they were settling in for the night they received an unexpected visit from an IMPD police officer. Apparently there was a strange odor wafting through the corridor and they suspected it to be coming from the Bob and Teresa's room. When the police officer knocked on the door she explained that there was a strong smell of marijuana in the hotel and asked if she could come in to check the room. Of course they let her in, she scanned the room using her flashlight, and when she decided that maybe they weren't the guilty party and turned to leave the beam of her flashlight found Nicolas lying on his cot in the corner, his bright eyes and big smile caught her a little off guard..We're sure that for a moment she was probably left wondering if these crazy Texans and their teenager may have been the culprit after all. However, Bob assures us that they were most certainly innocent.
On Thursday some of our early arrivals took time to attend the Strawberry Festival. We had our usual trip to the Indianapolis Zoo on Friday, however, we did receive a little bit of special treatment. We were given a private tour of the new Orangutan exhibit while the zoo was closed to the public. The guide was awesome, she really took time to make it special for everyone. Also, all the kids received a stuffed Orangutan which was a nice gift for them to take home. Everyone who was able to attend had a great time!
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We had our normal doctors appointments with Dr. Walsh (Neuro) on Friday for those whom choose to see him. On Saturday we were missing a few of our core group of doctors because of prior commitments, but we still had presentations from Dr. Larry Walsh (Neuro), Jen Dickerson (Genetics Counselor), and Dr. Grace Hobson (Research Scientist). After the presentations from the doctors Kayleigh presented the dad's whom were present with a mug full of little treats for Father's Day. For our big family dinner on Saturday evening we skipped the usual trip out, and opted to have the hotel cater dinner for us. Although it was convenient, it wasn't as good as Bucca De Beppo's or The Old Spaghetti Factory. While waiting for dinner to be served all of the families were presented with goody bags and we enjoyed a slideshow DVD that featured pictures from all of our past PMD Family Support Conferences. After dinner we had a special treat of cake pops that were lovingly made by Patti and Kayleigh. Patti (Momma Bear) was battling a bit of a viral bug, so, she had to keep her distance from all the kids. It was quite hard for her, but she did what was best for "her babies." We also had the usual trips to the Indianapolis Children's Museum, Circle Center Mall, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Victory Field for a long game followed up by fireworks. And, of course we had our share of late night chats. We also received two proclamations issued by the Indiana State Representative that were very nice. We are so honored to be able to host this event every year, its such a joy for us to see all of our returnees and meeting new families is equally as great! We are so thankful to our wonderful group of doctors from IU/Riley Hospital who made the commitment 25 years ago to volunteer their time and talents to make this conference possible. We also want to send a big thank you to all of our volunteers who help make this weekend what it is for our families. We hope to continue this for many years to come, Amanda is already pushing the planning for next year. Hope to see you all there!!
If you would like to see photos from our earlier PMD Family Support Conferences please click here.
If you would like to see photos from our earlier PMD Family Support Conferences please click here.