The 5th annual Midcoast Lyme Disease Support & Education conference was held on Friday, April 26 at the Augusta Civic Center from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Admission was free and although attendance of 437 was lower than anticipated, the positive feedback from all who attended including community partners and exhibitors was truly overwhelming. In years past, we have always held the annual conference on a Saturday but due to limited venue availability, Friday was our only choice. We did hear from many ahead of time that they wished that we were holding it on Saturday because they were unable to make it during the work week. Now we know to stay on a weekend to get a larger crowd.

But the chatter we were hearing all day long was more about quality and less about quantity. The attendees were thrilled to be able to spend one-on-one time with the many different medical providers and the booth vendors were able to offer full hands-on demonstrations and really network with those who stopped by their booths. I was told many times “if there had been a larger crowd of people, we wouldn’t have been to spend that quality time with one another.”

We heard “this was the best conference you’ve thrown to-date” and “this was one of most professional and organized conferences I ever participated in” to “you really outdid yourselves with the speaker lineup” and “I don’t know how you do it but you raised the bar yet again! I can not wait until next year!!”

And there will be a next year - Mark Your Calendars now for Saturday, April 11, 2020 at the Augusta Civic Center.

And we couldn’t ask for a better venue! The Augusta Civic Center offers up so much space that we held the entire conference in the Main Auditorium. We were prepared to seat up to 1,500 including a 20-foot x 40-foot stage with full handicap accessible ramp for one of the speakers. The sound was excellent. No matter where you were in the room, you could hear the speakers delivering their talks but to was not so overwhelming as to drown out the conversations people were having with the booth vendors. Each side complimented the other and the attendees benefited from it all. From hearing the experts share about their particular field of interest whether it was government-related updates from DHHS to the new Maine public law in effect and how it benefits the people of Maine who want to see a naturopathic provider for health care. We heard national updates from Pat Smith, President of the Lyme Disease Association about how prevalent Lyme and tick-borne disease is becoming and from IGeneX Laboratories on updated blood tests and also from a CT psychotherapist on educational supports for students with Lyme and tick-borne illness. Bob Maurais of Mainely Ticks was presented with a certificate of achievement for his company’s steadfast dedication to not only raising education but also prevention through pest control options.

There was a nice break in the middle of the day that allowed for the attendees to circulate and network with the many providers who came to share their products and services for the day. Sawyer Products was there educating people on prevention for their skin and clothing. We saw many people hugging with tears in their eyes when they connected with resources they didn’t even know exist. I had many coming up to me asking for help connecting with a Lyme provider and I was able to walk them over to different booths, make the personal introductions and then step back, knowing that they would be in good hands.

I had a few doctors come up to me and comment about all that the conference was offering. One provider said, “I don’t know how you do it but every year you manage to impress me and that’s not easy to do” and we both laughed. I had another provider say that they’ve heard about our conferences but this was the first time attending and it was not what they were expecting (in a good way).

The afternoon brought about a more serious tone with a variety of medical providers addressing everything from natural diagnosis and treatment to mental health symptoms, patient advocates sharing their stories and why current processes fail. I saw crowds of people gathering around the speakers afterwards to further address questions and received additional information and direction.

Understanding is what the patients and their families need. Understanding not only of what they are going through but why and what can be done to further the healing process. In my opening remarks, I mentioned that Lyme and tick-borne disease is not a cookie-cutter illness and we are not cookie-cutter patients. We continue to see doctors using the same treatment protocols and we continue to see a rise in the deteriorating conditions of so many patients. Coming to our free conferences, they - both medical provider and patient ~ get exposed to more education, better diagnostic and treatment options and a clearer understanding of why some patients improve and some do not. Knowledge is power and empowering the patient is what we strive to do every day by validating their struggles and connecting them to much needed resources.

For those who could not make the conference, speaker PowerPoint presentations (only) will be uploaded to the conference website in the next week: conference2019.mldse.org

Paula is the president of the MLDSE, the co-chair of the Access to Care Services and Patient Support subcommittee of the Federal HHS Tick-borne Disease Working Group, the Maine-partner of the national Lyme Disease Association, member of Maine’s CDC Vector-borne Workgroup and active in Maine’s Lyme legislation. You can reach her at paula@mldse.org or visit www.mldse.org