Wednesday, May 9, 2012

ONS Convention and a marriage proposal!

This past weekend, I took part in the 37th Annual Oncology Nursing Conference in New Orleans, LA.

Now that the conference is over and I’m back home, I can tell you that I spent three nights and four days in downtown New Orleans all by myself! :0) Aren’t I a big girl? Hah! My family wasn’t very happy that I was all alone, but my husband had to work. Ah well…I survived and that’s all that matters!

Onto Congress!

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If I ever have the opportunity to attend Congress again, I will arrive the night before. I had to leave my house at 4:30 a.m. to make it in time for a 9 a.m. conference start time. I made it a little before 9 a.m., but still had to park, check in, and register, etc. Too much of a headache! So next time, I’m arriving the night before!

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Opening ceremonies!

Thursday night was the Cure’s 2012 Extraordinary Healer Award Ceremony and Dinner!

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A Jazz Band was there to greet the attendees!

Even though I forgot to take a picture of the “real” food, here’s a glimpse of our finger foods prior to the dinner!

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Living in Louisiana, I wasn’t sure what to expect – but I do have to say that ONS did a VERY good job of giving the out of town-ers an authentic Louisiana experience. We had Mardi Gras beads, a Jazz Band, authentic food, samples of tabasco sauce, and a lot of good times! Laissez les bon temps rouler!

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Another neat thing about the banquet….Diahanne Carroll was our guest speaker! She spoke about her own battle with breast cancer and it was really neat to hear her story!

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It didn’t hurt that McDreamy was on the back of our programs, either! :0)

The following morning, I was snapped out of a deep sleep by a very loud fire alarm at 4:45 a.m.! I had my cell phone alarm set for 6:30 a.m. and wasn’t planning on waking up that early!

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It took what seemed like forever for the fire company to arrive to clear the building – but they finally arrived, and by the time we were permitted back in our rooms, I wasn’t sleepy anymore!

I decided instead to get dressed and head over to the Hilton for one of the many breakfast programs.

I read our convention guide and decided that I would attend the Oncology Certified Nurse breakfast. What drew me to the breakfast was the write up description about the guest speaker, Kyle Garlett. Kyle is a 4-time cancer survivor, he’s had a heart transplant, a hip replacement, and he now competes in iron man competitions!

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His story was truly amazing and touching! I cried through 90% of the breakfast. I was (and still am) very grateful for the fire alarm that went off at 4:45 that morning. Hearing Kyle’s story was incredibly moving and encouraging – and just what I needed to hear. I really truly believe that the fire alarm went off at 4:45 that morning just for me (kind of like God’s divine intervention – because He knew what I needed right when I needed it)! So, I apologize to everyone who had to wake up so early in the morning just for me! :0)

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After the breakfast, I had a chance to speak with Kyle and purchase his book. I read  the first chapter tonight and can tell that I’m going to have a hard time putting it down!

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Night time in New Orleans was exciting – as I had my pepper spray in my hand everywhere I went! I made sure to stay aware of my surroundings and only stay in areas where I felt safe.

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I had breakfast in the Expo hall a few mornings! The Millennium booth was offering Beignets! They were super yummy, too!

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For lunch on Saturday, my new friends Joni, Vernon, and I headed to Coop’s place so Joni could have an authentic Cajun/Creole style meal! We both ordered the Cajun platter which included Gumbo, Red Beans and Rice, Shrimp Creole, and Jambalaya! Yummy!

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On the last night of my trip (Saturday night), I decided to venture out to Pink berry for dessert! On the way back to my hotel, I passed in front of Harrah’s Casino. A well-dressed young man was standing in front of Harrah’s holding a beer in his hand. I attempted to stay aware of my surroundings and make eye contact with everyone I passed. The young man told me hi so I responded with a nice “Hi! How are you?” His answer? “Hey! Do you want to get married?” He was obviously drunk and had no idea what he was asking of me! Hah! I told him that I couldn’t marry him because I was already married and he said that he didn’t mind! Ah yes, fun times New Orleans, fun times!

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You could tell it was the last day of the conference – the room was practically empty!

On my way out of town, I stopped at Mother’s for lunch!

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Yum!!

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I also participated in a 5K on Saturday, but there will be more on that in an upcoming post!

Overall, I had a great time at the conference and loved getting to network with other oncology nurses from all over the world! If I have the opportunity, I would love to go again! Next year’s conference is in DC and word on the street is the 2014 conference will be held in Anaheim (hello!!)!  :0)

2 comments:

  1. Happy nurses week! Sounds like a fun convention and lots of good food.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks like you had a blast! How cool about meeting Kyle!

    ReplyDelete

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