[mekasan]

Hi Joe,

I attended the conference, which was amazing. Hundreds of women and some men meet for three days where we were offered informative lectures about our country's need for equal access to QUALITY healthcare, the pressures influencing the FDA, the media's inability to get breast cancer's stories correct, the future plans for computerized health care records, and more. Newt Gingrich predicted that we will see a cure for cancer by 2022 (at the latest). He felt that computerized health care records as well as the implementation of health savings accounts will be necessary to find this cure. He was somewhat vague and unconvincing in my opinion.

We were also able to select three smaller workshops. I selected one about the pros and cons of Health Info Techonology (aka computerized health care records), another entitled "Adovocacy in State Government", and finally "Starting Breast Cancer Advocacy in your Community". I known Michele and Cynthia attended different workshops.

The last day on was dedicated to capital hill vists where smalls group of conference member visited as a team with their state's senators and representatives (or aids) in order to advance four legislative priorities developed by the NBCC. The first prority was to ensure that the appropriations committee for the Department of Defense funded the Breast Cancer Research Program at the full $150 million for 2007. The second was to ask for support for the enactment of the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act (HR 2231/SR 757). The third was to ask for the preservation of Medicaid's Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program. Finally, we asked for guaranteed access to quality health care for all.

I personally met with five aids and explained my personal story as a way to ask for support.

The conference was jam packed with information, lots of fun, and truly an experience worth repeating. Please feel free to ask me any follow up questions. I would love to share

Sincerely,
Shannon