Thyroid Cancer Survivors Plan Second Annual Conference

CONFERENCE DETAILS
Event 2nd Annual Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Conference
The ONLY conference in the world for survivors of this rare cancer.
Name ThyCa ’99
Dates 22-24 October 1999
Place Boston Marriott, Burlington, Massachusetts, USA
Cost $25 per person / students free with identification. Scholarships are available.
Organized by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc.
Web site http://www.thyca.org
Address ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc.
PO Box 1545, New York, NY 10159-1545

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

From October 22-24, thyroid cancer survivors from across the United States and Canada will meet in Massachusetts for the world’s second annual
meeting for the survivors of this rare cancer. The conference is organized by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc., a nonprofit 
organization dedicated to survivors’ issues. Sponsors include the American Cancer Society, New England Division, Knoll Pharmaceuticals and
Genzyme Company.

The cost is only $25. Students may attend free. Survivors may register online at ThyCa’s web page at http://www.thyca.org, by e-mail to
registration@thyca.org or by writing to ThyCa ‘99 Registration, PO Box 243, Millersville, PA 17551 until October 1, 1999.. Scholarships will be
provided upon request..

This an informal, nuts ‘n bolts conference where survivors will have a chance to talk face-to-face with other survivors and with leading thyroid cancer
specialists in small, intimate group settings.. For many, this will be the first time since their diagnosis they have met someone else with this cancer. This is not a disease that effects large numbers as does breast and prostate cancer. In the United States, fewer than 15,000 are diagnosed with thyroid cancer annually. Of the estimated 200,000 survivors in the United States, fewer than 1,500 will die of the disease this year.

Professional facilitators include: Arturo Rolla, MD, an endocrinologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, and founder of the ThyCa Mailing List; Gilbert Daniels, MD, Co-Director of the Thyroid Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; Donald Margouleff, MD, Chief
of Nuclear Medicine at North Shore University Hospital, Manhassett, NY; Firdosh Pathan, Senior Attending Pharmacist, Massachusetts General
Hospital Pharmacy Department; Lori Fresina, State Advocacy Director for the American Cancer Society, New England Division; and Judy Fleishman, Ph.D., Behavioral Scientist at Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, Lawrence, MA.

Unlike last year, when workshop topics were limited to surgery, radiation, nutrition, medication and caring for care givers, ThyCa ‘99 will add
complementary treatments including Yoga, Reiki, Healing Meditation and creative self-expression. Friday and Saturday survivors’ art from around
the US and Canada will be on exhibit. And throughout the three day event, volunteers will be available in a special research room with Internet
access to help participants learn to use the Internet to research medical issues.

Conference organizers are committed to help other survivors because thyroid cancer is a disease that impacts everyone for life from the time of
diagnosis. They must learn to cope with a strict regimen of daily medications plus the impact of periodic tests and treatments that can significantly affect the quality of their lives temporarily. The conference is
only one of the resources the newly incorporated nonprofit volunteer 
organization has created to help survivors around the world.

“Talking with other survivors and learning from their experience,” says Gary Bloom of Olney, MD, Chair of the ThyCa Board of Directors, and
Facilitator of the Washington, DC ThyCa Support Group, “is an important part of living with this disease. Until 1997, when a group of survivors
began to build a worldwide network of free services for survivors, we lived in complete isolation. Now we have two mailing lists and a weekly chat
room on the Internet dedicated to survivors’ issues. This year we created a web site at http://www.thyca.org with guidelines for radiation and other
treatments. Now, within a few minutes, someone newly diagnosed can access information about their disease, learn about treatment options and
find links to the best medical information in the world.”

Those who join ThyCa before the end of ThyCa ‘99 will be a charter member of the Association. Membership costs $25 annually; a lifetime membership is only $225. Membership fees, Bloom says, pay for the cost of maintaining the resources available to survivors such as the web site and the toll-free telephone number that will be available this fall.

ThyCa ‘99 CONFERENCE FACILITATORS
Diane Blake, American Cancer Society, New England Division
Ric Blake, ThyCa Board of Directors, Londonderry, NH
Gary Bloom, Chair, ThyCa Board of Directors, Olney, MD
Teresa Campama, ThyCa Philadelphia Support Group Facilitator, Mullica Hills, NJ
Gilbert Daniels, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
Judy Fleishman, Ph.D., Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, Lawrence, MA
Karen Ferguson, ThyCa Board of Directors and Online Chat Room Co-host, Charlotte, NC
Lori Fresina, American Cancer Society, New England
Cherie LeClair, ThyCa Merrimack Valley, Portsmouth, NH
David Margouleff, MD, North Shore University Hospital, Manhassett, NY
Firdosh Pathan, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
Judy Regan, ThyCa Online Chat Room Co-Host, Lowell, MA
Arturo Rolla, MD, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA
Reese Shamansky, ThyCa Board of Directors, New York, NY
Betty Solbjor, ThyCa Board of Directors, Waltham, MA