Second Annual Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Conference
22-24 October 1999, Boston Marriott, Burlington, MA
Organized by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc.
PO Box 1545, New York, NY 10159-1545 Web site: www.thyca.org
Survivor’s Information Toll-free Telephone Number: 877-588-7904
Conference sponsors include: American Cancer Society, Knoll Pharmaceuticals and Genzyme Company

Evaluation summary prepared by Ric Blake, ThyCa ‘98 and ThyCa ‘99 co-facilitator.

Note: 66% of respondents included their names.
Note: 25% of respondents volunteered to help with ThyCa 2000

RATINGS
Overall, the conference was
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(poor) (excellent)
Average rating: 9.3 (9.3 out of 10)

Total number of responses received: 66
Number attending conference: 90

Rating of individual sessions by participants:

FRIDAY

Survivors’ Welcome #1 Facilitator: Gary Dionne, Methuen, MA
Educator and Trainer
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(poor) (excellent)
Average rating: 8.7

Survivors’ Welcome #2 Facilitator: Gary Dionne, Methuen, MA
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(poor) (excellent)
Average rating: 7.6

Survivors’ Roundtable Facilitator: Gary Bloom, Olney, MD
ThyCa Board of Directors, Chair
ThyCa Washington Facilitator
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(not worthwhile) (worthwhile)
Average rating: 9.5

Local Support Group Roundtable Facilitator: Ric Blake, Londonderry, NH
ThyCa Board of Directors
ThyCa Merrimack Valley Co-facilitator
ThyCa Support Group Coordinator, 1998-2000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(not helpful) (helpful)
Average rating: 9.5

Ask A Pharmacist Facilitator: Firdosh Pathan
Senior Attending Pharmacist
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(not helpful) (helpful)
Average rating: 8.3

Making Our Voices Heard: 
Advocacy and Cancer Facilitator: Lori Fresina
State Advocacy Director, Massachusetts
American Cancer Society, New England Division
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(not helpful) (helpful)
Average rating: 8.7

Insurance Questions Roundtable Facilitator: HealthCare for All and ACS
CANCELED

Survivors’ Partners and Significant Others: Taking Care of Ourselves Too 
Facilitator: Diane Blake
American Cancer Society, New England Division
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(not helpful) (helpful)
Average rating: 9.3

Look Good, Feel Better Facilitator: Lynne Graziano Morin
Director of Survivorship and Patient Services
American Cancer Society, New England Division
ACS Volunteer Cosmetologists
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(not fun or helpful) (helpful and fun)
Average rating: 8.8

Art Show and Sing-A-Long Facilitator: Megan Stendebach, San Antonio, TX
ThyCa Board of Directors
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(don’t do it again) (do it every year)
Average rating: 8.8

Movie Night Facilitator: Betty Solbjor, Waltham, MA
ThyCa Board of Directors
Movie: The Doctor starring William Hurt
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(don’t do it again) (have a movie next year)
Average rating: 8.9

SATURDAY

1999 Annual Meeting Facilitator: Gary Bloom, Board Chair
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(not effective) (effective)
Average rating: 8.5

Research Update: Human Biological Data Interchange
Facilitator: Joy Vilar, HBDI
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(not helpful) (helpful)
Average rating: 8.5

Ask A Doctor Facilitator: Gilbert H. Daniels, M.D.
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Average rating: 9.7

Ask A Doctor Facilitator: Arturo Rolla, M.D.
CANCELED Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston

Medullary Roundtable Facilitator: Karen Ferguson
Four medullary survivors attended; none returned evaluations.
Guest: Gil Daniels, M.D.

Anaplastic Roundtable 
No anaplastic survivors were at the conference.

Your Patient / Provider Relationship Facilitator: Judy Fleishman, Ph.D.
CANCELED

SUNDAY

Complementary Approaches: Reiki Facilitators: Betty Solbjor, Waltham, MA and Margot Gibbs, Londonderry, NH
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(not helpful) (helpful)
Average rating: 9.5

Complementary Approaches: Yoga  Facilitator: Teresa Campama, Philadelphia, PA
ThyCa Philadelphia Facilitator
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(not helpful) (helpful)
Average rating: 8.8

Post RAI Roundtable Facilitator: Dan Parker, Sedalia, MO
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(not helpful) (helpful)
Average rating: 8.1

Ask A Doctor: Radioiodine Treatment Facilitator: Donald Margouleff, M.D.
North Shore University Hospital, 
Manhassett, NY
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(not helpful) (helpful)
Average rating: 9.7

Ask A Doctor: The Low Iodine Diet Facilitators: Stephanie Lee, M.D., Ph.D.
New England Medical Center, Boston
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(not helpful) (helpful)
Average rating: 9.7

Web Site Roundtable Facilitators: Betty Solbjor, Waltham, MA
ThyCa Web Site Manager and Web Mistress
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(not helpful) (helpful)
Average rating: 8.3

AOL Chat Room Roundtable Facilitators: Karen Ferguson, Charlotte, NC, Judi Regan, Lowell, MA 
and Donald Margouleff, M.D., Long Island, NY
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(not helpful) (helpful)
Average rating: 8.2

Conference Feedback & Planning Facilitators: Gary Bloom, Karen Ferguson & Ric Blake
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(not helpful) (helpful)
Average rating: 8.8

Closing Session Facilitators: Gary Dionne
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(not helpful) (helpful)
Average rating: 9.8
_____________________________________________________________________________
Participants’ Feedback 
Next year please include: stress management / more relaxation techniques / low-iodine cooking class / special care giver sessions (parents of survivors / children of survivors / siblings of survivors and just significant others of survivors) / the research room; it was great! / 

For next year, please consider: repeating some of the most popular sessions / having sessions of one hour length with time for post-session Q & A in same room / having a hospitality suite near programs / veggie plates for those on low-iodine diet / have the sing-a-long part of each day’s program / don’t schedule any session opposite the doctors / longer session for Survivors’ Roundtable on first day / more general roundtables on day two and three for those who can’t attend day one / thanks for starting and ending sessions on time / select session in advance registrations / more help from hospitality to fill in the no-session times / more Reiki / have session on depression and anxiety and how to differentiate symptoms while hypo from chronic condition (depression) / to have the Barbie again; I’m going to take the idea in my hospital / have a map showing where attendees are from /better visual aides / repeat the research room and have more helpers / 20 minute between sessions / massage therapists / repeat sessions for caregivers on each day / some planned evening events / session on just “scar care” / more spaces for spontaneous chatting / coffee morning and afternoon / leave some time for sight seeing / list of participants made available to those attending / set up lists for people to eat together / make sure to include the Look Good, Feel Better / 

ThyCa ‘98 and ThyCa ‘99’s coordinator’s suggestions:: 
build a strong hospitality team who know local area and tourist highlights / plan sightseeing buses to pick up at conference site (both evening and day sessions / include sightseeing packages and workshop selection in advance registration / more people and more space for onsite registration; we’ve been too congested both years / make sure there is one master list of participants at the end of the conference / make sure each evening has both unstructured and structured social programs / repeat topics; the danger is a low attendance on the repeat sessions; not good PR if a diff. facilitator / if you do the raffles again, let folks select the item for which they are donating a $1 for a ticket / add more sessions focusing on living with a chronic disease: massage, stress management, healthy cooking, nutrition, acupressure for pain and nausea management, / list problems solving volunteers more prominently in more places / make agenda available at time of onsite registration / schedule volunteer preparation sessions the night before the first day of the conference / prepare gifts for facilitators and have the survivor-facilitator present at end of session