August Meeting Recap
August 6th, 2007Our first meeting was amazing!
Over 25 PWCs, Caregivers (Spouses and Children from ages 10 - 60ish) and scheduled Speakers, MaryMargaret Lytle, Mike Petersmith and John Kern, were present. The meeting lasted until 2:30 due to the fact that my presentation took too too long for which I apologize. It amazed us that Central Market didn’t evict us. To all who attended, I am sorry my passion about CFIDS and our 5-year plan took hold. I promise to time my presentation for the next meeting. Although we were all exhausted we were elated at the knowledge and new acquaintances (soon to be more) we all met.
We all gave our “Profiles” and none of us wanted to leave until all had spoken. The stories were all too similar of driven, passionate about life individuals and the life-altering nature of CFIDS/CFS/ME. We discussed an amazing array of symptomology, coping skills. and knowledge.
We now have a Secretary, Carol Edwards and Treasurer/Auditor, John Bagzis, both (Non-PWC). Our deepest thanks to both for stepping up to the plate. We still need a Vice-President. Officer positions will not be load intensive. Board meetings will be held via email (due to the nature of the illness) or for 15-30 minutes before a scheduled Houston CFIDS Association meeting.
If you are interested in leading (monitoring) a “chat” group on Yahoo or Meet-up, please contact Jane at houstoncfids@wt.net * (We have had numerous requests for people to talk via online chat or by phone especially at 2 a.m. when no one is available).
Our next meeting will have Dr. Salvato speaking with a Q & A afterwards.
Please note:
NO MEETING September (Labor Day) 2007, November, 2007 or April, 2008 (due to room unavailablity). Check our website often for interesting information or questions.
Remember if you email the association with a question for posting with the group, we will consider it permission to give your email address for direct reply. This permission only applies to the group and will not be shared with other entities. I was getting overwhelmed with emails and this was the best way to solve the issue but as always, feel free to email me any questions or comments.
Thank you to all the out-going officers and other supporters regarding re-forming the association.
Jane Mostowitz, President
Houston CFIDS Association
I was overjoyed at the attendance at the August meeting and give kudos to Jane M. for being the catalyst for getting this up and running.
I wanted to ask how we can avoid the mistakes of the old CFIDs group which I heard became very negative at the end. I am also concerned with the vast distances that many PWC must drive in order to attend meetings.
I belive strongly in the value of knowledge and communication, so I am constantly expannding my resources and library of books. As far as some of the issues suffered by PWCs, I have several excellent books to recommend to members which include: REAL SUCCESS WITHOUT A REAL JOB by Ernie Zelinski, ENCOUNTERS WITH THE INVISIBLE by Dorothy Wall, and 101 SECRETS FOR A GREAT RETIREMENT by Mary Helen and Shuford Smith. If you cannot afford to pick up a copy, I would be happy to lend you a copy from my “lending library”.
Please let me know.
Wishing you all good health and happiness until our next meeting.
John & Cristina Kern