Southern Sleep Society annual meeting-Atlanta, GA April 16-19, 2009
So off Tiffany McGuire (my youngest sleep technician from the lab-she’s a high school senior this year) and I go as we are driving to Atlanta for a sleep conference meeting. From Roanoke to Atlanta where our hotel is located, we should be driving approximately 431 miles. The beauty of that is we are leaving at 8:30 AM from Roanoke where it is 38 degrees this morning as we loaded and it is expected to be wonderful spring day for our drive as we pass thru North Carolina, South Carolina and then arrive in Georgia so we are looking forward to the adventure. I needed to make a couple of stops before we actually were down the highway with the first one being at the sleep lab (Sleep EZ Diagnostics, Inc. www.sleepezcenter.com ). Payday is Friday and they don’t mind me being gone (they probably in fact enjoy the time) but they do look forward to payday so I am leaving the checks with Michelle to disperse for me Friday AM. Next we are driving down I-81 to Christiansburg, VA so that I can have the regular oil change performed on my car and since my inspection sticker expired on the last day of March I thought it best to go ahead and not push my luck and get that replaced while they are at it. After a little bit of a wait since they said I needed a license plate light replaced to get the inspection sticker (why is it they ALWAYS find something that needs to be replaced so they can charge $3 for the part and $15 for the labor?), we were on our way to make 2 more local stops for marketing while in this area. First stop was Dr. Rivero’s office with literature for sleep issues and cardiac implications, a copy of Our Health magazine with Sleep EZ Diagnostics, Inc. featured as an independent practice/interview with one of our CPAP patients, and their Easter “goodies”. They are a great office and love Sleep EZ so we naturally take good care of them. Next was my stop by Rotech (Home medical equipment company) to leave off their Easter goodies and to point out the article in Our Health magazine for Sleep EZ as they had several there sitting on their coffee table as you enter. Annalise, the location manager had not seen the article so she was excited when I showed it to her. I was the one who came from Texas to train her when she first started here and I worked for Rotech. She had just been hired as a clinician for this location, she is now the manager and it is always good to see her. I had not planned on being there long so I pulled up to the front door horizontally so I’d be there very briefly and left the car running with Tiffany sitting inside as she waited on me. As I walked out the door a Parking Enforcement agent pulled up directly in front of the car as “she” faced it. I greeted her and apologized for parking next to the fire lane but explained instantly to her that I had no intentions of being there long. She sternly reminded me that the fine is $100.00 and I immediately thanked her for her patience with me as I told her “I could not afford that and my husband would not appreciate it either”, I thanked her and got into my car to get ready to drive off. She looked perplexed and said “ok” and we departed. I drove off and cracked up as I couldn’t wait to get on the phone with Thomas as we had just had this conversation the other day as he told me I wouldn’t be able to get out of a ticket if it were a woman police officer as I had done so 3 times when I made a trip to Texas last August. He just laughed and said “huh-ho” and was thankful not to have to pay a fine.
Ok now we are really on the road to drive to Atlanta for the conference. I kept telling Tiffany she could stretch out and take a siesta by all means as I think sleep is important-haha, she didn’t and hung right in there for the entire drive. Not to anyone’s surprise but we talked the whole way (in between my singing of course) and did not run out of things to talk about! We stopped in North Carolina for Subway to eat lunch. We talked and listened to music of various types and talked more-imagine that. Right as we passed through Greenville, SC I realized I had forgotten my bathing suit even after I had reminded Tiffany on several occasions as we planned for the trip. So after I used my GPS on my phone I realized there was no Walmart (what southern town has no Walmart?) but they had a huge Target so we re-routed as we turned around and traveled 3 miles back to the Target. We did not want to have to find a Walmart or Target in downtown Atlanta so we settled for this one.
Tiffany and I were off to shop for bathing suits, she obviously is maybe a little less than half my size but we had a good time and found each of us a perfect choice to purchase. As we were in the dressing room her cell phone rang and it was Robbie from the office with a question for me and when I did not answer my phone (which was in the car currently) then he called hers. I called him back as we were checking out and he asked us what we were doing so I told him “trying on bathing suits” he commented, “I didn’t think you could do that”. I told him “yes you can you just have to leave your panties on to do so for health reasons”, then I told him “well you wouldn’t because you don’t wear panties” and we laughed. I answered his question and we were off to get gas and hit the highway again for the remaining stretch to the hotel in Atlanta. We arrived into the congestion and traffic at 5:45ish that was with 4-5 lanes each way and curb to curb traffic. As my phone GPS reminded me, “0.6 miles to heavy and congested traffic ahead” and that is was. Tiffany commented there would be no way she’d drive in this everyday as she said it makes her nervous. We got to the Hyatt located at 265 Peachtree St., NE, Atlanta, GA, 404-577-1234 at 6:15 PM and our room was not ready so they were going to text me when it was. Tiffany and I looked in the gift shop, asked for the location on the conference which would be here in this huge hotel, watched all the people coming and going, then decided to walk over to the Peachtree Mall that had a walkway connected to the hotel. The walkway was above the traffic which looked really cool and we settled for a local pizza place to get our food and sit in the designated tables in the middle of the mall. We eyeballed the DQ as we walked past it and questioned why Chik-fil-A was closed so early here. As we finished up I received the text that room #201 was ready for our arrival to settle in from the long day of travel. We did so then rested for a bit and decided at 8:40 PM neither of us should try to settle down for the night without DQ ice cream, so we made our way to satisfy that craving and then came back to our room for the night. It’s been a good day.
Friday, April 17, 2009-we woke up to a pretty day starting in Atlanta and made our way to the conference area to check-in and start going through the exhibits. The day started with temperatures at 45 degrees and ended with 69 degrees.
This was a small conference presented by the Southern Sleep Society (www.southernsleepsociety.org ) and it is a sleep professional group that is located here in Georgia but the members are from all over as they have been united since 1979. I thought it was best for Tiffany as this is her first exposure to a sleep society conference since she came to work for me. I had already told her that some of it would be over her head but it would give her something to chew on and think about as she is new to the field of sleep medicine but very interested in pediatric sleep. Continental breakfast was available 7:30-8:00 AM then the talks began at 8:30 AM (30 minutes later than scheduled) and lasted until 5:10 PM. For our lunch break we walked back over to the mall and had DQ, I ordered a kid’s meal with a burger and Tiffany got a chicken strip basket since she says they have the best gravy. I laugh and think to myself, yes and you should eat it on a regular basis so that you don’t blow away! By the afternoon break we were cracking up because one of the physicians that spoke earlier was sitting next to Tiffany and by now he had his head hung low and was sleeping during the other talks-how ironic is that? At least he’s with a group of professionals in case he thinks he needs help diagnosing himself….. After the day spent hearing talks we are heading back to our hotel room before our Awards Dinner Banquet at 7:30 PM at South City Kitchen @ 1144 Crescent Ave., (Midtown) Atlanta, GA, 404-873-7358 www.southcitykitchen.com: Celebrating its 15th year as one of Atlanta's favorite restaurants, South City Kitchen Midtown specializes in contemporary Southern cuisine with a sophisticated twist. Combining the energy of Atlanta with the warmth of a Southern home, the restaurant is nestled in an updated, historic bungalow on the city's famous Crescent Avenue. Dine on local specialties such as shrimp and grits, buttermilk fried chicken, she-crab soup, fried green tomatoes and banana pudding while enjoying the view of our exhibition kitchen or the Atlanta skyline on one of the best patios in the city. This truly is dining the way the new South intended. . As the people from this area describe it there are 3 areas in which people live in Atlanta and Midtown is one of them. We decided since we had not be outside any today and the weather looked great, we’d venture out for about an hour since we had that time to spare before getting ready for our dinner. We found a SunTrust for Tiffany to cash her check and walked up and down the sidewalks in both areas from our hotel to see many sights that were appealing to the eye with architecture along the way and art work. This is the Peachtree area of downtown and it has many sculptures throughout the area and several very old churches that are beautiful with their ability to age gracefully. We returned to our room for a bit and I briefly reviewed the local paper. The headlines for today are: “Jobless numbers offer some hope” as GA job losses are as follows for each metro area, Dalton has 6500 jobs lost which is a 8.6% change, Atlanta has 115,900 jobs lost which is a 4.7% change, Albany has jobs lost which is 3.9% change, and Gainesville has 2,200 jobs lost which is a 2.8% change. Other headlines are: President Obama is in Mexico and he will not renew assault weapon ban. In the vehicle world the headlines are: Toyota Prius a star on the rise. Saying hybrids gets slightly bigger for 2010, and the gas mileage is phenomenal. It is a gasoline-electric hybrid which is rated at 50 miles a gallon but with practice the motorists can actually get better mileage. Last year, more than 241,000 were sold and the company’s goal is 1 million this year. For local news: the Atlanta Dogwood Festival begins for the weekend today. It is a huge aspect for the artist market with over 250 creators from across the country. The festival is 73 years old and due to the drought last year it was moved to Lenox Square but this year was returned to its Piedmont Park stomping grounds. It expects 50,000 visitors to attend each day.
We got dressed and made our way to the concierce desk since we were in need of a taxi to take us to our dinner for the Awards Dinner banquet. It’s been a very nice afternoon with typical springtime temperatures. The taxi driver was “interesting” as Tiffany put it. He drove like he was driving in New York and was listening to a spokesperson that was evaluating the personality of the lion in the movie The Wizard of Oz, are you kidding me? He dropped us off after cordially opening both of our doors and the evening began. Tiffany and I knew no one but as usual it didn’t take long for us to meet a few people. There were probably 60-65 people from the Southern Sleep Society that were with us. We had family style hors d’oeuvres that consisted of grilled BBQ shrimp, pulled pork that was wrapped in a crepe, pimento cheese with vegetable tray and scallops with sautéed cauliflower. Then we had a choice of a salad or she-crab soup, we both chose the soup. It’s a local favorite and I see why! I chose the salmon for my entrée and Tiffany ate their fried chicken which is what they are known for here at this restaurant. Shortly after our meal they brought out several platters of family style desserts and OH MY GOSH-the banana pudding was delectable. Tiffany and I had actually asked for our desserts to be out in a “to go” container but the waitress said that would not be possible since their desserts are served family style also. There was also a fudge brownie type of dessert and an assortment of several types of cookies. Tiffany swore off any more bites of anything since she was absolutely stuffed after the entrée so she missed out, I on the other hand had to at least sample the banana pudding (even if it meant unbuttoning my pants to get up from the table! My Nana Miller taught me to eat dessert first!) and it was SO worth it. Everyone was very nice at our table and there were several conversations going around at the same time but we all seemed to have time to visit. After the awards we got ready to leave as we were stuffed to the gills and the Respironics rep from Houston and a woman sleep doctor from Houston were ready to leave also so we all took a cab together since we were all staying at the same hotel. We rode in a van and it was a much calmer trip than our previous taxi ride. As soon as we got to our room we changed into our PJ’s to get comfortable (so we could breathe) and we settled in for the evening.
Saturday, April 18, 2009-Our meetings began at 8:00 AM and we arrived 15 minutes early and I went to get coffee and something from the continental breakfast and arrived back ready to learn. Tiffany passed on breakfast but had some juice I brought her. When we had a break (they delayed it for 30 minutes) she decided she would go get her some salt that she said she needed, she returned from DQ with hash browns and a French Vanilla Moolatte with cool whip cresting it (she who says she “doesn’t really like sweets”). While she was gone the director of the conference called her name and 2 other peoples names that had been draw and had won a gift. I went with her to collect it and it was an Anti-Snore Shirt. She was not quite familiar with this article of sleep clothing so I explained it to her, she thought she should make Robbie try it on when we get back to the lab. We laughed and then she thought she’d just donate it to the lab for future reference.
We returned to expand our minds with the next few speakers for the day. The funniest one was Dr. Max Hirshkowitz who is a pulmonologist that is board certified in sleep medicine and is from Texas. He opened his talk on “Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Cardiovascular Disease” with a powerpoint and made the statement: Kids get a video and watch it over and over and over, adults buy a video and watch it once and maybe again if it comes on TV. He started his presentation as he opened up the powerpoint and we all could see “Sleepy” from Snow White as he yawned and had his head back as if he was ready to sleep. Dr. Max Hirshkowitz said “Snow White, a lady with a strange sleeping arrangement-7 guys. One of them snores and is a dwarf. He has no nares so an oral appliance will not work and he has cranial maxillary facial issues”. All of the sleep people (all of us in this meeting) laughed! His next case study presentation he used was a study originally done in Canada. He commented, “The great thing about Canada is they track everything in healthcare, the downfall is they don’t let you treat anything”. I laughed as Thomas is from Canada but they have socialized healthcare system which I’m afraid we are headed toward in my lifetime here in the US.
The final speaker was Dr. Wallace Mendelson of Galveston, Tx., he spoke yesterday also. He did a fellowship in Israel and told us of 2 professions that he learned while there and had never heard of them since. One being a Combat Optometrist who would stay on the battlefields so that if the servicemen were to break their glasses while in combat this eye doctor can make them new ones there on the battlefield. The other is an Implosion Therapist who when a prisoner is released/returned then they drive them to where the capture happened (glad we don’t do it like that here in the states). That is to help reverse the trauma to reenact-I’m not thinking that would be more trauma than relief?
So our lectures were over by noon and most were off to a conference sponsored golf tournament-Tiffany and I do not golf so we will venture off to the Dogwood Festival.
We had no newspaper delivered to our room today so I’m unsure of the current events so I will tell you a few important things going on for the year 2009: This year has a few noteable milestones. Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln would have turned 200 years old this year of 2009. (Thomas Jefferson would be 266 years old-for those of you who know me well, you know he is one of the people I would have LOVED to meet!) In comparison, Barbie is a sprightly 50…and still looking good. The same year Barbie was born (or rather first manufactured), the doors of the Guggenheim Museum in New York opened. All of these American icons have had an impact on our world. They have given us greater knowledge and freedom, artistic beauty and, most importantly a doll with a never-ending talent for reinventing herself. Barbie inspired kids along with other memorable toys of the last century like Easy Bake Oven (it keeps creating and cooking today), Slinky, GI Joe, Superball, Lincoln Logs, Mr. Potato Head (his parts are still interchangeable today), Play-Doh, Yo-Yo, Etch-A-Sketch, and Silly Putty. As I think of this list of toys, I think about how sometimes the simplest ones were the best ones. Perhaps because they invited your imagination to take over. Loads of imagination went into designing New York’s Guggenheim Museum www.guggenheim.org a visually stunning building inside and out. Much like the new Taubman Museum of Art we now have in Roanoke, VA. The Guggeneheim foundation (Since its inception in 1937, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation has been a preeminent institution for the collection, preservation, and research of modern and contemporary art. The global network that began in the 1970s when the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, was joined by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, has expanded since 1997 to include the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and the Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin. Each constituent museum unites distinguished architecture with great artworks, a tradition that has become a Guggenheim hallmark. Looking to the future, the Guggenheim Foundation continues to forge international partnerships as it works on developing new museums in the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. Thanks to its celebrated collections, special exhibitions, conservation efforts, educational initiatives, and scholarship, the Guggenheim is internationally recognized as a pioneer and touchstone for all cultural institutions) has ambitious plans to open the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi in the Unites Arab Emirates in 2012. Over in D.C., the Lincoln Memorial has housed the impressive 19-foot high statue of our 16th president since 1922. Bicentennial celebrations include a Birthday Gala and a Memorial Rededication. Lastly, the Galapagos-a well known chain of islands that is home to an astonishing 2,900 species. Thanks to conservation efforts, this part of the world remains virtually as pristine as it was in 1835 when Charles Darwin visited. Nowadays, that’s a rarity except for maybe Barbie; a hundred years from now she still won’t have a wrinkle!
Tiffany and I gathered ourselves for an afternoon walk that everyone tells us takes 30 minutes as we head back to Midtown to find Piedmont Park for the Dogwood Festival. We met a nice older couple along our way and we escorted them majority of the way to the festival. As it was getting to be mid-afternoon I thought it was best to get some lunch before we actually arrived at the festival but it was within eyesight for us now. Tiffany told me she is a very picky eater and she was right. I saw a Jason’s Deli (which we have in Texas, Caitlynn and I used to love to eat at the one in Lubbock-we looked for an excuse each time!) and suggested it since she had never eaten at one. We entered and I thought she should look over the menu so we could order, when she glanced at it she said she didn’t feel like she would like anything on the menu so we made out way down the walkway to Subway so she could order her sandwich the way she likes them: dry with mustard and turkey. We ate and enjoyed it as we are off to the festival. WOW at all the people, hardly enough walking room but there were people of many facets of life. We strolled through the park area and then headed back for our walk to the hotel. Tiffany was in hopes of finding a tanning salon on our walk but the one we came across she said she could tell, “it’s too expensive”. I asked how she could tell that from the front of the building and she assured me “I just can”. As we walked our return route we opted to walk on the opposite side of the roads this time for a change in scenery and that it proved to be. There was an Open House in a restored condominium building so we made our way to the 2nd floor of the building as the young couple who owned it offered wine and cookies as the people came in and out to observe. Tiffany nor I accepted any wine or cookies but the living area this little couple occupied was very cute and due to the small size they had created a very practical living space without clutter-which I loved!
The day was nearing the end of the afternoon as we arrived back at our hotel so I read for a bit and journaled, Tiffany talked to her dad on the cell phone and she made a short visit to the gym and upon her return I made my way there to do my running time. The exercise was good as I needed it after sitting in meetings for the last 2 days, not to mention the drive here also. We got cleaned up and went to the Hard Rock Café for a much needed burger-nothing like a good burger! The Hard Rock’s are always so busy, loud, crowded but with great paraphernalia and music with videos, gotta love the old school music back in the day! Locally there must have been several proms as the teen crowd was all dressed in formals-they are looked beautiful.
We made our way back to the hotel and began gathering our stuff and simi-packing as tomorrow would be the day to leave. I was happy of the thought to see Caitlynn and Thomas (and the Rat Dogs-all 3 of them), they would be ready for rest as Caitlynn’s dad Lynn arrived the day we left and will fly back to Texas in the morning. Caitlynn has not seen him since summer so he finally decided he’d come here to see where she lives and meet her friends so I thought it was a good time since I would not be there. I have the best husband in the world as he opted to not come on this trip as he felt he should be available if Caitlynn and Lynn needed a “break” while he visited. He stayed at our house during his trip so he would not have to afford a hotel and Thomas let them use the Ford pickup with his GPS for Caitlynn to be able to show him a little bit of her stomping grounds here where we’ve made our home in Roanoke,VA. Lynn has never been to VA, in fact he’s only been to Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Tennessee in his entire life to visit.
Tiffany was excited about going home also as she tells me that she used to get home sick when she was younger but she says she’s better now though she still feels lonely when she’s not at home and is relieved when she knows she’s headed back. For this reason she states she has decided not to go away for college in the fall and she will attend a local community college, VirginiaWestern in Roanoke. She will continue to live with her dad and go to college.
Morning came early and I let her sleep later than we have been doing due to the very 1st class at 8AM not being of interest to us but we were there by 8:45 ready for the 9AM. Today will be completed at noon as the end of the conference. I can tell that Tiffany is overwhelmed with the information (not to mention the terminology) but she has said for the last 1-2 yrs that she’d like to be a nurse so this will be the 1st of many lectures she will sit in on that physician’s present information. I think she struggles with what her dad wants her to do for her education after high school versus her insecurity to make decisions on her own. This is a fact that she makes known as we talked on our drive here, she says she “just can’t make decisions, it’s just too hard for me” she tells me. This is obviously an area she struggles in and is very aware of it with the help of a counselor she meets with on a regular basis. That is something I have honestly never really struggled with, what to believe in or the ability to form my own opinion. I believe we are all here by a greater being above us and he freely gives us a free will to use but choose wisely and look to him for your choices to head down the right paths in life. This reminds me of a story that motivational guru Zig Ziglar tells of a memorable revival service led by early twentieth-century evangelical firebrand Mordecai Ham. He is perhaps best known for being the preacher on the night of Billy Graham’s conversion. One evening, before taking the podium to deliver his typically fire-and-brimstone sermon, Ham was approached by a stranger. The man pulled the preacher aside and said, “Mr. Ham, I am here because I’m curious. But I just want you to know that I don’t believe in heaven, I don’t believe in hell, I don’t believe in God and I certainly don’t believe in prayer.” Ham thanked him for his honesty and stepped onto the stage and addressed the large crowd. “Folks, we’ve got an unusual man at our service tonight. He doesn’t believe in God, and certainly doesn’t believe in prayer. So I want all of us, the entire time I’m preaching, to pray that God will kill this man before I’m through.” As soon as the words left Ham’s mouth, the non-believer leapt violently from his seat and elbowed his way past his fellow congregants into the aisle. He sprinted toward the door and burst out of the building, all the while screaming at the top of his lungs, “No! No! No! Don’t you do it! Don’t pray that! Please, don’t you do it!” So as the old saying goes: “Stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.” Hopefully with time this will be a passing phase in Tiffany’s life as I wish her the best on her path for the future.
The release from our conference lead us to check out and have valet bring the car so we could get on the road home. It’s an overcast day but that makes for good traveling weather as far as I’m concerned, so off we go….
I encouraged Tiffany to sleep as it will make the trip seem faster (why that is I am still unsure of even at my age?) but she stated she has always had a difficult time sleeping in a vehicle but after the first hour her head was back with her mouth open for a good 45 minutes-regardless of my driving as my daughter likes to tell everyone that I am the worst driver she knows. I began looking for a place to eat and Tiffany woke up as she did share with me that she loves Out Back Steakhouse as they usually eat at the one in Roanoke when it’s someone’s birthday-especially hers. She shared a story with me about this last birthday meal when her family met there and Robbie joined them late so they pulled a chair to the end of the table and the waiter who served them had very hairy arms. So every time he’d have to reach past Robbie to get to everyone when he needed to service the guests gathered for the family meal and Robbie was grossed out by the hairy arms passing his plate each time!
We stopped in Clemson, SC to eat at their Out Back Steakhouse which looked to be very new. We got our bellies full without even having dessert and made our way back to the highway to home. Caitlynn kept texting/calling me as she wanted me to give her my ETA because she was beside herself. She couldn’t wait to show me what Thomas had done when he put his racing carburetor on her truck over the weekend and it was running smoothly now when they’d start it, she could not wait for me to see! Our arrival was 25 minutes ahead of schedule so we had time to get Tiffany loaded and on her way so she would not be home too late due to school in the morning. Following that Caitlynn showed me her prize possession-her truck WITH the new carburetor and then we left to go watch Thomas’s hockey game as his season was coming to a close this week. Off to another week of family, work, and planning for another trip.
All my travels in life lead me to think about all the things I am so fortunate to have in my life-the best things in life are definitely free, enjoy them all!
