Who knew that the weekend we planned to attend the GIST Summit and GIST Day of Learning in Houston would be the beginning of the annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo? Cowboy hats, boots and jeans were everywhere! It was an exciting time to visit, and we were happy to be a part of it!
Sara Rothschild and I spent the weekend of February 28th through March 1st meeting with medical professionals in Houston to introduce them to the resources The Life Raft Group offers. These connections are so valuable. It was a pleasure to meet so many caring professionals who were genuinely interested in learning about The Life Raft Group.
This mutually beneficial relationship of referral will help us direct patients who are seeking expert care in Houston. The Life Raft Group looks forward to welcoming new patients and caregivers because of our newly formed relationships. Most importantly, we were extremely excited to partner with GIST Support International (GSI) to provide education to the GIST community by combining both the annual GIST Summit and our own GIST Day of Learning (GDOL).
We had over 150 registrants! It was a wonderful event where we had the opportunity to meet so many new patients and caregivers. These type of weekends are so rewarding. We welcomed many new members to the LRG because of many wonderful conversations. We are appreciative of having had this opportunity to introduce ourselves as a resource to so many.It was a wonderful weekend all around! We look forward to the next time we can see our friends again in Texas.
Agenda Snapshot:
Dr. Neeta Somaiah, MD Anderson Cancer Center, opened the event and presented a session entitled GIST 101: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS RARE CANCER. PATHOLOGY OF GIST was presented by Dr. Alexander Lazar, also of MD Anderson. NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN GIST DRUG DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH was presented by Dr. Michael C. Heinrich, OHSU. Dr. Christopher Scally, MD Anderson, presented SURGERY: THE PRIMARY TREATMENT FOR GIST and Dr. Jason Sicklick, USCD, presented THE GENOMICS OF WILDTYPE GIST & NOVEL SURGICAL APPROACHES FOR GIST.
After the presentations, our experts, headed by panel chair Dr. Robert S. Benjamin, MD Anderson Cancer Center, conducted an ASK THE EXPERTS session which lasted nearly two hours.
