Mom, dad, and I went to the Stowe Weekend of Hope in Stowe, Vermont. We left early Friday morning (7ish), and got home Sunday night (also 7ish). I had a great time, and obviously enjoyed it more than my parents did, because I am the one who is the cancer survivor.
There were 342 people with over 47 different kinds of cancer attending, and with their friends, families, and care takers, there were over 800 people there.
I got a very cool name tag that had my name and city and state, along with the word “Thyroid.” I was the youngest cancer patient there (that I could see). I think that I got a lot of looks from wearing my name tag. You only wore a name tag if you were a cancer patient. It was obvious from standing with my parents, that I was the one with cancer. I want to keep wearing my name tag. 
Friday
Friday we arrived too late for me to go to the “Using the Power Of Your Mind” session with a hypnotherapist. But I was able to go to our hotel and shower. Then we went to The Bagel for lunch. They were donating 10% of their profits back to Stowe Hope. After lunch, we went up to the Trapp Family Lodge (the Trapp family is the real family from The Sound of Music) where we went to Cancer and Distress. It was just ok. 2/5 stars. I don’t feel like I really learned anything, but I made a fantastic joke when they were talking about suffering alone. I said that because I blog about everything, I make all of you suffer with me! I got a nice hearty chuckle.
At 4pm, we had the opening ceremony at the Stoweflake Resort. We were welcomed and told that we can take this weekend to do whatever we want. We can go to the sessions, hang out with our cancer friends, or just hang out in Stowe on the bike trail or in the restaurants. This was our time to relax, and we were free to do whatever we wanted with our time. I thought that was very nice, because they were paying for us to be there, and they didn’t care if we went to any of their cancer programs (but we did).
Friday night I went to the Dessert and Discussion about thyroid cancer. All of us with ThyCa met at a Stowe restaurant and just talked about having ThyCa. I had a apple cobbler, and the apples were deliciously warm, and the ice cream was just cold enough to balance it out.
Saturday
Dad and I woke up and went for a 3 mile run down the mountain road, and my mom came and picked us up. We immediately went to breakfast at the Hob Knob (where we were staying), and had delicious pancakes and toast. We missed the Opening Ceremony at 9am because of our run, but I’m glad I went running. We ran on Stowe’s beautiful bike trail.
At 10am, my sessions started with “Cancer and it’s relationship to Diet and Exercise.” It wasn’t all that informative, but my parents are now aware they shouldn’t be eating cured meat because of the carcinogens. I didn’t learn too much, except the dietitian said that Diet Soda was OK. Yay! Oh, and also you should wash your fruits and veggies in warm water.
At 11am, I went by myself to “When a Parent Has Cancer: A Guide for Supporting Children and Teens Facing the Serious Illness of a Parent.“ I went to this because I am in school for counseling, and I thought it would be informative. It was my favorite session of all that I went to.
At 12, I had Reiki done on me. The woman said she could see dancing. I dance a lot for fun, and I had been dancing that morning in the hotel room in front of my parents - who simply rolled their eyes at me.
At 12:30, the thyroid sessions began! There was:
Thyroid Cancer is NOT the “Good Cancer:” Patient’s Perspective
Familial Forms of Non-Medullary Thyroid Cancer and Questions on the Management
Follow-up of Differentiated Thyroid Cancers, and The Role of Nuclear Medicine in Thryoid Cancer
They were all “meh.” I didn’t learn anything from them, and next time will go to something else that I WILL learn from. Instead, I could have gone to:
The Nature of Hope: Psychological, Spiritual, and Physical Dimensions
Massage Therapy as Complimentary Medicine
Living Through Cancer: Your Survivorship Plan
Cancer in the Elderly
The Importance of Exercise in Recovery
Those would have all been more educational, and I could use them in my career as a counselor. I think that I already know enough about thyroid cancer.
After the sessions, we went to the Ben and Jerry’s Factory to get a tour. It ended up being free cause we were with the Stowe Weekend of Hope. We all got HUGE samples of Chunky Monkey at the end. My dad said “The best thing about my daughter getting cancer is the free ice cream.”
At 6pm - we went to Jamie’s rental house (a fellow ThyCa) for a delicious dinner. Thank God she had made eggplant parmesan, because I was worried about having to eat meat!
At 7:30, we went back into town for a candle light service. For a $5 donation, you could have a friend/family member’s name read during the service (either “in honor of” or “in memory of”), and then they would write them name on a bag, and have a candle inside of it. While we were there, I wish we had done one for my dad’s mom: In Honor of Mary Jo Streb. We all got candles to carry and place on the altar, so when I placed mine down, I thought of her.
At 9pm, we went to The Rusty Nail where a band, Primitive Soul, was playing for us. It was fun to go from church to a bar with everyone.
Sunday
My mom woke up up at 7:30, and said I didn’t have time for a run. We had breakfast at 8am, and then didn’t have to be at the closing ceremony until 11. I most definitely had time for a run. D’Oh!
The closing ceremony was also on the Trapp Family property. Behind the stage was beautiful mountains, and it was great.
Then we went to Burlington for lunch and a bit of shopping. We got some food for my Low Iodine Diet which starts on May 14. I’ve decided I won’t start eating meat until then, because while on my diet I can’t have any fake meat. I can’t have soy or tofu, or anything - but I CAN have hamburg and chicken as long as they haven’t been cured with salt.
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I most definitely want to go again next May. It won’t be free, but they offer discounted rates at the hotels. One I saw for only $59 a night, so discounted for two nights wouldn’t be bad at all!! Next year, I will go to different sessions, and not ones for thyroid cancer. I want to learn. I won’t go to the closing ceremony because it was cold and windy, and lame. We just listened to music and watched people dance. Lame but beautiful.
I don’t think my parents will come next year. I think that’s fine, because I know I enjoyed it more than they did. I really felt like home there, and I knew that people wouldn’t think it was weird if I walked into church wearing a blanket (which I did), because everyone else had cancer, and they’re probably always cold too.
I was with my peeps.
