Upcoming 2011 Events
Meetings Resume at Sacred Heart Hospital in September 10,2011.--Remember we do not meet on the first saturday of the month if it is a holiday weekend.
Welcome back, everyone! The first meeting in fall 2011will be Sept 10th. (Theme: Family dynamics )
By special request from within the group, this meeting will start together with all members together--patients, family, caregivers, and patient advocates. We will then split the meeting with patients meeting in the main conference room and caregivers/patient advocates meeting in a room nearby.
During our joint and separate discussions, we will encourage members and their support teams to acknowledge the unique gifts that have allowed them to successfully navigate their journeys to wellness thus far. Those gifts--those skills--have allowed them to get through painful, tough times. We will invite group participants to examine and identify "what's enough," and "when's enough," --- for themselves and with their loved ones. We will invite members to examine whether they can let themselves and their families/caregivers off the "perfectionist hook" and say, "What I am doing or you are doing is sufficient. My family and I are doing our best."
Group members can help each other find their gifts by sharing individuals stories about how they utilize their inner power to get through the toughest times. Let's inspire each other with the stories we will share! We can help nourish each other and inspire one another to show our best selves to each other.
Guest Speaker to Deliver Presentation at November or October meeting so keep those two dates open and check back. It will be a really great speaker as we had in the June Meeting At the , we will be hosting Dr. has spoken at our group in years prior, and he returns to us with some exciting news about RSD/CRPS. Currently, he is involved with
Dr. Getson has been a tremendous supporter of the RSD/CRPS community. Dr. and his wife demonstrate an ongoing commitment to stopping RSD pain and finding a cure; they are advocates for patients in the finest sense of the word.
A New Sisterhood: Lehigh Valley RSD/CRPS Support Group Connects with Montco RSD/CRPS Support Group
Thanks to the enterprising spirits of two local support groups, individuals in the Lehigh Valley and the Souderton/Montgomery County area will have access to more frequent meetings. The executive boards of both groups have connected to create a bond that allows for an increased flow of helpful information amongst both groups members. This communication also allows for review of various types of external information to help both groups assess this information's appropriateness for their members.
LV RSD/CRPS Support Group offers a special welcome to its new sister support group - Montco RSD/CRPS Support Group run by Stephanie M. This group's meetings occur at the Souderton Mennonite Church. Meetings will be held during the week on a wed/ or thurs from 12 pm to 2:30 pm. Members of both groups can now attend all or some of the meetings to increase opportunities for support.
If desire information about MONTCO group meetings, please call 1-267-888-7559. We encourage you to monitor this group's schedule and attend events that will support you in your wellness journey. One example of an upcoming anticipated event for the MONTCO group will be the sponsorship of a guest speaker who is a dermotologist knowledgeable in treating skin conditions caused by RSD/CRPS.
Preparing for the Achilles walk for Hope and Possibilities
We remind our members that the RSDSA will hold its annual Achilles walk for Hope and Possibilites ( roll and run too) in NYC central park on Sunday June 26th. As the national organization's major fundraising event of the year, it offers attendees some unique opportunities to meet and bond with other individuals all over the country who come to walk to raise money and awareness for RSD/CRPS. Those who have walked met amazing people and have kept in touch with them via email or facebook. The networking experience is really heart lifting with RSDSA members from around the US. Raising money can be done through word of mouth or through email and facebook now. The attendees can design an igive account which is very simple to make on line. The igive account allows persons to donate directly to RSDSA through your account where you can tell your story and put up a picture to let people learn more about what you have been through and why it is so important to donate to this cause. All money raised will go to research for RSD/CRPS. Persons may also make an account and be a virtual walker as well. Of course you can also have people give money or checks to you personally and then you can send them into RSDSA in Conneticut. We want our support group to have more walkers this year. It is okay to go slow and take in the sites. Family and friends are encouraged to walk and also walk for those who cannot walk themselves. There is a five mile walk, run or roll and there is a 1mile walk, run or roll too. It is amazing to see all the people involved with other disabilities as well.
Past attendees report that they have shared hotel rooms near the park and others can take the bus that morning or carpool and drive up that morning with others. The registration can be done on line or through the main RSDSA office. If you are in the event, you must get there by 7:30 am to get your numbers and t-shirts and the infamous RSDSA photo session of the whole group that gets put in the newsletter and also the website. It is something so uplifting to see people finish who never thought they could complete the walk. So, let's get out there and start to train so we can have more walkers from our group this year and family or friends too.
View www.RSDSA.com for complete event details.
Helping Hands for the Lehigh Valley RSD/CRPS Support Group
We should give ourselves a hand! As a group, we raised in excess of $200.00 from our Annual Flower Fundraiser in conjunction with Lehigh Valley Home & Garden Center on Crackersport Road in Allentown. We gratefully take off our hats to the owners and staff for continuous support! Our hard core horticulturists report that their flowers and vegetables flourished throughout the spring and summer.
This year we will have our flower sale again in 2012,so keep that in mind as this is our major fundraiser besides individual donations at meeting. We hope that you all can participate. Even people that live further out of the area were able to get friends and family to purchase the flower vouchers and make a trip to get their flowers with the voucher after a support group meeting and made a day of it. You will be able to get your flower and veggie sign up sheets at the march or April meeting. We need all the sheets returned no later then May. However, if you want the best pick of the lot then you want to get the voucher tickets to your patrons before May, so they can select their flowers and veggies as early in May as possible to get the best pick of the lot. We sell flats of flowers in which they also let us put some veggies in with the flats too. And we also sell very large overflowing hanging baskets of flowers. They are amazingly hardy plants. So, please alert your friends, family and neighbors as early as possible to buy their plants from you instead of another place. They will be supporting you and your RSD or FM through supporting our group fundraiser. We all know many people who are huge flower and vegetable people, so let them know that they can buy better plants from us for a good cause. People actually feel good about being able to purchase something they normally buy, but are able lend a helping hand in the process to those with disabilities.
We extend gratitude to the William Rotariu family and the Joseph Quirk family who paid for the printing of the group's newsletter in the last two quarters. The gift of printing is an especially appreciated aid for this non-profit group. We must keep a tight line our money in order to maintain our group on a very limited budget.
We were fortunate--in the past and present--to have contact with individuals and institutions that purposefully support the Lehigh Valley RSD/CRPS Support Group with gestures of time, educational knowledge, and--from time to time--financial gestures. Thanks to all.
As of December 12, 2009, our website went live. We offer a special to Lehigh University's Dr. MJ Bishop and her graduate student, Richard Rosenblum. They created the site's structure using html coding. We also want to make a special thanks to Doug Scott, a graduate student at Lehigh University, for his help in getting the newsletter into our website for the fall. It is not an easy task to make it fit into the space that we have provided. The support group also acknowledges the team effort of Therese M. Gyauch, M.A. and Patricia L. O'Donnell, M.Ed. who gave birth to the initial content of this site.
Ongoing Opportunities to Break Through the Pain: It's Up to You!
Illness and disability can sometimes isolate us from others. But this does not have to be the case. A support group offers you the opportunity to meet others who "get where you're coming from." Use this support group to break through your sense of isolation. Attend monthly meetings. Make attempts to stay in touch between meetings as you get to know people. Be the one who inspires others to meet outside the group for some fun or some relaxation.
Look forward to annual events like the Christmas party, but don't hesitate to send out the call to others to join you for activities--even daily ones like a slow walk in the park, a new therapeutic exercise class, or a cup of coffee (or two) on a park bench. You are the core--the heart--of this support group. You will make the support group work for you or not. Use our message board to connect. Don't be aftraid to make new friends and try new activities. (Just remember to pace yourself!) Widen your community, and feel how wonderful that expansion can be!
Food, Fun, & Bonding
We intend to create a time of celebration and bonding at our meetings. We heartily encourage you to surprise the group with your favorite fall spring goodies. We are a food-loving, comfort-seeking crowd. We love varied treats and beverages. . . a hallmark of this crowd.
As you join us, we encourage you to share your "survival tips" with the group. If you have magazine or journal articles that have helped you, feel free to bring them. Have a helpful book? Bring it. If you have physical items to show & tell, please bring them along too! We do have journal articles about the latest research and treatment for RSC/CRPS and FM for you to take home at each and every meeting as well.
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