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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Let's Get Together!

By Kiara Tatum


LtoR Mike MacDonough, Melanie Kozak, Jhenna Pacelli , Jason Kozak, Tara Suplicki, Kiara Tatum, Joshua Griffis, Collen Brunetti, Kevin Roberson, Braden Buehler, Kirsten Larson, Alex Castro Flipse & Picture taken by Debbie Castro (PHA/Director of Volunteer Services)
Planning for the first Generation Hope meet up started in the winter with the idea from Melanie Kozak and Colleen Brunetti.  They wanted all those who could get to NYC to come out and to have Generation Hope get together.  I suggested doing it during the warmer months because I know how difficult winter can be for me despite this winter being as a warm as it was.  I was really excited to meet some of the people that I known from Facebook.  Three days before the meet up, I had an emergency and was sent to the hospital by ambulance.  I really didn’t want to miss out on this gathering, so I prayed and hoped that I wouldn’t be admitted, and I wasn’t admitted.  I left the hospital later that evening with a prescription and instructions to rest for a few days.  However, I had to prepare for the meet up on Saturday.  I had to get my hair styled, so I did.  The medical emergency took a lot of energy away from me, but by Saturday morning I was ready to take the train to NYC to meet my phriends.  I looked forward to the meet up for months, and the lack of energy and an emergency hospital visit wasn’t going to keep me away from going to this. 


Kiara, Debbie, Tara, Kevin, Melanie
Weather was beautiful and I was anxious, but happy to be meeting up with phriends my age.  My support group members are older than me, and some of the patients have children my age.  So this meeting was important to find phriends that shared common interest with me and not just PH. First I met up with my NYC “tour guide,” Kevin, and he brought me to Ellen’s Stardust Dinner – Colleen’s choice in restaurant – near Time Square.  After two buses and a couple blocks of walking, we arrived. I was there amongst friends that I talked to on Facebook or email, but today we were in person.  So surreal!  We greeted each other with hugs and laughs as we waited to be seated at the diner.  Did you know that Generation Hopers are very talkative?  Well at least that day we all could be together and have a great time at the diner.  Enjoy the good food and company – great pick Colleen!  The wait staff sung songs from the musical "Rent" (Joshua Griffis's favorite musical) and "Mamma Mia", performed a Whitney Houston and a Michael Jackson number, and even did a great job rapping to Nicki Minaj’s "Super Bass".

Alex and Kiara
After brief discussion of what to do after we ate, we then headed to Time Square.  There were vendors in the streets, and we all shopped and looked around.   We had such an interesting time getting to know each other out in Time Square. Some of us – Alex Castro and myself – stopped and brought some jewelry.  And I’m not sure how many cups of coffee Debbie Castro had, but that girl loves some Starbucks coffee, and there are plenty of them in NYC.  While the man prayed for over me, Alex had my back just in case he decided to go pick pocketing or something.  And thank you to Melanie for coming to my rescue when the woman in the yellow t-shirt, who was mediating with other yellow t-shirt people, said to me that I could be healthy if I mediated.  Melanie gave a quick PH lesson with a Jersey attitude to the woman.  Using oxygen always seems to attract people of all kinds.  It’s hard to get used to the stares, but it felt great to have my new phriends around to support me.  It was getting late, and I know I had to get back to the train because I was running low on oxygen.  So I took the taxi with Jhenna and her husband, Mike to Grand Central Terminal.  We sat down and hung out at Grand Central before our trains arrived.  It felt so good riding home on that train.  Joshua posted on Facebook that the remaining phriends saw the musical Rent that night, one of my favorite musicals.  I wish I could have seen it with them, but you know that your life is controlled by your oxygen supply.

Kiara with Elmo
I really needed that day.  Being with other PH patients that are going through similar situations and your age was just perfect.   We may talk on Facebook, but it’s not real until you see each other.  It’s like you know you’re truly not alone.  That day brought more light to the darkness of having PH, it empowered me and I gained a little more hope, and now I’m more armed against my PH fight.  We already agreed to have another meet up possibly in October.  And maybe more Generation Hope meet ups will start popping up all over the world.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Young Adult Advisory Board: Driving Generation Hope Home

By Sean Wyman

Sean Wyman
During 2009 things were changing at PHA, and questions were being asked of the young adult patients on how PHA could better serve those who utilize their service. I was privileged to be a part of a focus group conference call with several young adults who have pulmonary hypertension, and we were being asked questions on how PHA could better serve us and others like us. I think at that moment was when things started to take place and soon after this conference call, myself and several others received emails asking if we would like to be part of the Young Adult Advisory Board for PHA. The goal of the Young Adult Advisory Board was to help develop programs for young adults and young professionals in their 20’s and 30’s.  Many of us have different needs than the children and older adult counterparts. Throughout the last two years, the Young Adult Advisory Board has helped bring forth the Generation Hope Google group, Facebook page, blog, and other resources for young adults with pulmonary hypertension.


Lindsay Nicol
Colleen Brunetti
 The advisory board consists of several young adults who are active in the community raising awareness and are advocates for pulmonary hypertension. Colleen, Brit, Lindsay, Sean (me), and our newest addition Josh have been working within our communities—online, locally, and beyond—to help enrich the lives of others that are much like ourselves, young adults that want not to be defined by our PH, but to inspire others to continue to fight and continue to hope. Colleen summed it up best when she said, “I helped start Generation Hope because I wanted to give back to the community and create a safe space where people our age could gather and share similar experiences.” Personally, I share the same sentiment, and I know that Brit, Josh, and Lindsay feel the same way. We work closely with Chanda at PHA to continue to provide ideas on how to improve PHA and Generation Hope services for young adults.

Brittany Riggins
Joshua Griffis
In closing, we on the Young Adults Advisory Board are here for you and always welcome comments and ideas. If you’re fortunate enough to be joining us at the 10th International PH Conference and Scientific Sessions, and you see us, let us know what you think. Finally, Colleen, Brit, Lindsay, Josh, and I would like to invite you out to Generation Hope After Dark on Friday, June 22, 2012 at 9pm. We hope that you’ll come out and meet with us and other young adults like you.  Rumor is a Special Generation Hope Drink will be availabe for purchase. We look forward to seeing you there!