First Tracheostomy.com Pediatric Conference,
St. Louis, Missouri,
June 3-5, 2004

WOW!!! What a fabulous weekend. So much about this conference impressed
me. First and foremost, Ann and Karen did a super job organizing this
event. Everything went so smoothly, a nice combination of learning,
networking, support and fun. All of the speakers were excellent. It was a
thrill for me to meet Dr. Cotton. He is a very nice man, with a great sense
of humor. I was also quite impressed by the parents of children who are
ventilator dependent. Having a child with a trach is challenging enough,
but adding a vent into the picture is a whole lot more work and stress! I
was also happy to see so many dads in attendance.

I have gotten so much support and inspiration for networking with parents
on-line via email, listservs and message boards over the years, but meeting
people face-to-face is truly something special. It was nice to be at a
place where people have a real understanding of what parents of kids with
special needs deal with on a daily basis. And for parents of kids with
tracheostomies, this was an extra-special gathering. Where else can you go
where the sound of a suction machine is hardly even noticed? Or where you
can actually grab the wrong suction machine to suction your child! :-)
Every time a vent alarm sounded, you had to look around at the many
vent-dependent children to see who actually needed attention.

As I have said many times, information is important, but knowing you are not
alone is often most helpful. As a parent of three children with special
needs, I have found networking with other parents of children with special
needs vital to keeping ones sanity! It is the parents of children with
tracheostomies who have made Aaron's Tracheostomy Page so successful, by
sharing your children's stories, participating on the listservs and posting
to the message boards.

Aaron and I had the time of our lives and we would like to thank all of you
for your positive feedback regarding Aaron's Page. Your kind words make all
of the work worthwhile. I have returned with a renewed sense of purpose and
lots of ideas to make tracheostomy.com even better! Thank you also for the
beautiful plaque, which I will treasure for the rest of my life. Thank you
to all who contributed to this very special gift. Thanks also to Scott for
donating cherry stool, which made a lovely door prize for a lucky
grandparent of a child with a trach.

For those interested, I have posted some of my photos at:
http://community.webshots.com/album/150479962hpfdZx
I will also be adding a conference section to Aaron's Page soon.

Sincerely,
Cynthia Bissell
Aaron's Tracheostomy Page
www.tracheostomy.com