Adventures in Louisville: My Cervivor School Weekend Recap Part 1

Good morning, y'all!

As anticipated, Cervivor School Louisville was amazing. We learned lots of medical information, as well as discussions about advocacy, what advocacy means to each of us and how we can advocate effectively. It was a truly incredible weekend that ended way too quickly. So much happened (we carried on an unofficial Cervivor School tradition, and I met a blog reader!) that I have decided to break my recap up into multiple posts. This is part one.

On Friday, August 19, 2016, I boarded a plane in DC headed straight for Louisville. Those who know me, know that I do not travel well. I get panic attacks as soon as I wait for the car service to arrive. But I managed to make it through security, to the gate, and on to the plane without anything more than a little sweat and some shaking. For me, that's a win!

When the plane landed in Louisville, and I turned my phone back on, I had texts from sweet Erica offering to pick me up. We had appointments to get tattoos (a sort of unofficial Cervivor School tradition), so she swung by and got me, and we headed across the river into New Albany, Indiana. We picked up some last minute supplies, stopped for some really good pizza, and made our way to Bananafish Tattoo Parlour.

We were both tattooed by an awesome chick named Alexis. Erica went first, because she had to leave early to go do a walk through of the conference room that Cervivor School would be held in. She got a moon and three stars. I got an elephant in memory of my #cancerbestie Melissa.Here's Erica describing the meaning behind her tattoo:

After my tattoo was done, I hopped in an Uber and managed to make it back to the hotel we were staying at, the Galt House just in time to change and head out to the restaurant for the welcome dinner. The other ladies had been on a scavenger hunt, a team bonding experience, looking for Louisville landmarks, something teal, a cancer survivor, and a medical professional. Dinner was at a restaurant called BirraCibo, and it was so delicious! We also listened to a speaker from Advaxis, Kimberly Dorney, about immunotherapy treatment that Advaxis is designing so that your body's own immune system can fight off cancer. 

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel, and some of us got together in the bar on the third floor, that connects the two towers. We didn't stay too late, as we had an early and long day on Saturday: Cervivor School speakers from 8:00 am until 3:00 pm, and then the Pap Rally and Run from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. It was going to be a long day, or so we thought...

xoxo Jennie

Stay tuned for Part 2...