Endometriosis Blog: National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week --- WE'RE LISTED ON THE BLOG ROLL OF THANKS!!

I was honored to see in today's Invisible Illness Week Blog (an email feed) that this blog is listed on Lisa Copen's "Blog Roll of Thanks" for blogging about National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week and explaining to the chronic illness community how this blog relates to Chronic Illness Week.

Since I just began blogging on June 1, 2008... this was the first year I had heard of or participated in National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week.

I cannot stress enough the amount of information available from this organization. I have listened in on some of the live seminars (and participated in the conversations on a couple of them on live calls) and I am really impressed with the quality of information and just how much the people facilitating these chronic illness seminars "get it".

It's amazing to me how much energy and information is being exchanged between so many people in just one week's time. There are hundreds of bloggers involved in this awareness week.

It's an opportunity for chronically ill patients to learn, get support, and network with other patients. There are a variety of websites that are offshoots of the main site.

Here is the main site that I've listed on other posts:

http://www.invisibleillness.com

In addition to patients getting support and information... it's a chance for chronically ill bloggers to connect with each other, compare stories, share information, and improve the quality of their own blogs by what they learn from other chronically ill bloggers.

There is a vast amount of information available during this awareness week on a wide variety of chronic illnesses.

I really like the way the seminars cover not just info for patients but info for their loved ones and support people too.

Chronic illness affects marriages, families and relationships too.

While patients clearly need support, so do their loved ones!

I urge you to check out the seminars available online at the following site:

http://www.invisibleillnessconference.com

Some of the seminars have already taken place and some are yet to come today and tomorrow. However, all 20 seminars are going to be available archived online. So if you missed one, you'll still be able to hear it.

As I mentioned yesterday, many readers here will especially appreciate this seminar:

Jenni Saake's seminar on: "Medications, Illness, Fertility and the Desire for Motherhood"

I believe there are numerous seminars that may interest you. So take a peek at what's available and see if something catches your eye. I have only heard a couple of them so far but the ones I heard were great.

It's great to get such wonderful support in the comfort of our own homes. Since many chronically ill patients find travel difficult (due to pain level, financial obstacles, chemical sensitivities, and any other number of reasons), it's really nice to participate in an awareness week with seminars comparable to what one would find at an in-person conference...

The difference is that there's no airfare, gas money, conference fee, or even leaving home to participate!!

I highly recommend checking out what the main website and seminar website have to offer.

Here again are those websites:

http://www.invisibleillness.com
main site

http://www.invisibleillnessconference.com/
seminars/how to access blogtalkradio archives

I heard quite a bit of buzz about this awareness week on chronic illness blogs in the last few weeks. After participating in this awareness week myself, I now understand what the buzz was about.

See related links:

Sunday, September 7, 2008 Endometriosis Blog: Tomorrow is DAY ONE of National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week 2008!!

Monday, September 8, 2008 Endometriosis Blog: ***TODAY*** Kicks Off National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week 2008!!

Tuesday, September 9, 2008 Endometriosis Blog: National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week - Shameless Plugs For Their Merchandise

Wednesday, September 10, 2008 Endometriosis Blog: National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week - "Medications, Illness, Fertility and the Desire for Motherhood"

There is a great deal of information in one place, for free, and available online. You can't beat that!

This article was posted by Jeanne via "Jeanne's Endo Blog" at www.endendoat.blogspot.com.

Endometriosis Blogger Honors BlogHer '08 (San Francisco)!

Well, the BlogHer '08 Conference in San Francisco, California concluded yesterday.

I read about this conference for months before I even became a blogger on June 1, 2008. The anticipation had really been building for many people regarding this conference.

Since becoming a blogger, it seems to be something I heard or read about on a daily basis. So many of the blogs I've come across as I've started up my own blog were written by women who were going to the BlogHer '08 conference in San Francisco.

Last week I wrote two Guest Blog articles for Tracee Sioux of www.sosiouxme.com while she was on her trip to the BlogHer conference.

When reading Pamela Jeanne's infertility blog Coming2Terms, I learned she was also attending BlogHer.

There has been a lot of buzz about this exciting conference on many blogs I've seen in recent months.

I would be lying to you if I said I didn't envy those who has the opportunity to attend the BlogHer '08 Conference in San Francisco.

There are a multitude of reasons my secret desire to attend this conference made no sense but it didn't make want stop wishing I were going to it:

(1) I have only been blogging since June 1, 2008 and it would have been premature for me to go.

(2) With my illnesses and level of disability, a trip for a conference in San Francisco, CA would be impossible for my body to handle.

(3) I wouldn't have been able to afford it.

(4) Most likely it has been booked for many months... before I even had heard much about it.

By using twitter and email, I have had some communication with Tracee Sioux during her trip.

I also twittered back and forth with Pamela Jeanne (Coming2Terms) during the conference.

Also, I was invited on twitter to be a contact person for a woman named Kristen King (who was at BlogHer); I later read Kristen's twitter update that she had met Tracee at the conference.

I read transcripts that someone transcribed live (and they did an amazing job capturing the comments and giving readers the idea of what it might be like to be there) and received twitter updates from several people regarding which workshop they were in, how awesome it was, what type of topics were covered, etc.

So I guess you could say that I stayed close to my computer this weekend and lived somewhat vicariously through those who has the privilege to attend this conference.

I have always wanted to go to San Francisco. It's one of those cities that looks so pretty in the movies: the hilly, winding streets and the trolleys... It just looks like a fun place to check out. So I am happy for those who did attend! By all accounts I heard the conference was a big success.

I have installed a cute BlogHer '08 "widget/tool" in my right sidebar right under my bio. Check it out!! There are links to sooooooo many blogs on it!! Just click on what looks interesting to you and the blog will pop up.

Since the widget gave an option to 'add yourself', I did just that. If you sort by first name under "jeanne", you'll get to my blog. These widgets are out there everywhere. I found that out yesterday when I got slammed with email after I had added myself on the widget. I encourage you to check out other bloggers on the widget.

For more info about BlogHer conferences see this link:
http://www.blogher.com/blogher_conference/conf

This article was posted by Jeanne via "Jeanne's Endo Blog" at www.endendoat.blogspot.com.

Have a great day! :)