First Digital Conference for CLDF CLDF’s first national digital conference took place on Saturday July 3. And while meeting over Zoom may be different to gathering in a hotel, we were delighted to once again give our families the opportunity to hear directly from a range of medical experts.
“I can certainly relate to so much of this presentation! Managing teenage emotions, through a pandemic and when living with a chronic illness, is certainly a daily challenge!” Parent
“Thank you so much for all the reassurance, encouragement and hope you keep giving us. Those conferences are precious to us since we began our liver journey.” Parent
Paediatric clinical psychologists, Dr Helen Lowther and Dr Emily Fraser spoke about the anxieties and unknowns which come with caring for a child with a liver condition, a subject close to the heart of many of our parents. Dr Deepak Joshi of Kings and Mwesi Magumba, a youth worker from Leeds talked about transition and gave an insight into adult liver services, while Dr Girish Gupte of Birmingham Women and Children’s Hospital spoke about the latest advances in the management of paediatric liver disease and new treatment options on the horizon. Sharing personal experiences has always been a big part of CLDF conferences and we are so grateful to Ronnie and Rachel for giving such an open account from a parent’s point of view, and to our young people, Mollie and Gemma, for depicting the reality of being a young person with a liver condition. All those attending found their presentations truly inspirational, and we know how valuable these personal accounts are to others. The opportunity to ‘ask the expert’ is always a conference highlight and this time Dr Tassos Grammatikopoulos of Kings and Lindsay Hogg, specialist nurse from Birmingham Women and Children’s Hospital rounded off our afternoon by answering questions on a range of topics. “This year’s conference was obviously very different to those in previous years, but we were very pleased with how it went from a technical point of view,” said CEO Alison Taylor.
“Thank you Mollie and Gemma. You both are so brave. It is always an eye opener of what the patients and families that we look after have to go through. It takes a certain kind of exceptional bravery to talk at such a forum about what you have been through. Well done to both of you.” Medical Professional
“We’ve had excellent feedback from speakers and delegates and now feel we have the blueprint for similar events in the future. We’re looking forward to delivering more events where families can hear directly from medical professionals in a way which is accessible and convenient. Our huge thanks go out to the medical professionals who supported the event” We are aware the timings of our digital sessions don’t always fit with busy lives, so we have developed a brand new webpage to share as many of our information webinars as possible over the coming years. If you were unable to attend the CLDF Digital Conference or want to watch back, you can view a selection of sessions from the day here https://childliverdisease.org/liver-information/webinars/.
5 Liverlife
