In April, at The Lowes Philadelphia Hotel in Philadelphia, PA, an organization called Living Beyond Breast Cancer will be holding their 9th annual convention for those living with Metastatic disease.

I have decided to go and with the help of a travel/lodging grant I can.

Much to my surprise the grants are funded by none other than Susan G Komen.

I’ll admit, I did have some reservations about requesting a grant from an organization I have huge problems with but then again by accepting it, learning as much as I can and sharing that information with my readers and social media followers, well, that is more important to me. I still feel Komen could and should do more for metastatic women and men and I still feel they view us as pretty pink Breast Cancer’s dirty little secret. But that’s an issue for another day.

I’m as excited as I am apprehensive. This will be the first time I will be in the company of women facing what I have for the last 18 months. I’ve been talking to many via Facebook and/or Twitter and with some, formed a bond. We have talked about how nice it would be to all be in one spot and talk face to face. In April, we will get this chance. While I am over the moon about this, the reality is that our bonds of friendship will grow stronger and while we have no cure for our illness this may be the last time some of us see each other. As much as that scares me, I’d rather have this chance than none at all. All of these women want to be part of bringing metastatic breast cancer to the forefront and help further research efforts. An amazing group.

I am hoping to get a lot of good information from the seminars I’ve signed up for. There are 2 Saturday and 1 Sunday. I plan on sharing what I learn in future blog posts. So, be sure to look for them at the end of April.

Many of us, including my roommate, are arriving on Friday night. We have casually talked about meeting up possibly for dinner. That should be a lot of fun.

I’ve already started mentally preparing what I’m going to pack. As usual, I will over pack because that’s just what I do. This is only the second time I will be traveling without my husband. This also makes me a bit unsteady but I’m sure once I get there I’ll be OK. I’m most concerned about my connection – and missing it. I can’t walk very fast and I’m terrified I’ll have to navigate an airport I’m unfamiliar with in little time.

I’m currently trying to fight off some kind of bug. Fever today was 100° and the fluid in my lungs continues to rattle around. Hopefully I can keep it at bay but the fluid can’t be a good thing. Tuesday will be 3 weeks I’ve had this lung issue. Time will tell……..