TCN: Monthly Meetings

Sonoma County Information & Support for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Lyme Disease & Co-Infections

Monthly Meetings

Dates

MEETING DATES

2010 NOTE OUR NEW MEETING PLACE: PALM DRIVE HOSPITAL in SEBASTOPOL
January 9	Marina James-Galvin: Metabolic Typing & Nutrition - How Your Blood pH Affects Your Health. Marina James-Galvin is a Certified Nutrition Consultant from Bauman College, where after special study she did her paper on Chronic Fatigue. She specializes in Metabolic Nutrition, Weight Reduction, Eating Disorders, Chronic Fatigue, and Digestive Issues. For more information, see www.marinajames.com.
February 13	JoEllen DeNicola, Nutrition Director for the Ceres Community Project, will talk about the nutritional aspects of healing. She will demonstrate the Ceres Immune Broth, delicious Green Smoothies and Energy Balls from Ceres’ new cookbook, Nourishing Connections, the Healing Power of Food and Community.
March 13	Steven Campbell: Making Your Mind Your Mentor. Author, speaker, and mentor, Campbell will tell us how the principles of his book, Making Your Mind Magnificent: Flourishing At Any Age, can be applied by people with chronic illnes. He provides straightforward information on how you can improve the quality of your thoughts...and thus the quality of your life.
April 10	Deborah Shemesh: Here's the Deal: Finding My Way Back Home to Health. Shemesh, a Chopra Certified Instructor, will share with us the steps she's taken to heal her body. She will offer some exercises to maintain health, including some breathing exercises, guided meditation, and movement.
May 8	Cindy Zafis, DC. Nambudripad Allergy Elimination Technique (NAET). Dr. Zafis, of Zafis Chiropractic, will talk about sensitivities to foods, pollens, and chemicals and managing vaccine ramifications to the body. She'll explain how NAET & supplements can eliminate your allergies/sensitivities to substances and rid your body of any associated symptoms such as stuffy head, painful joints, and feelings of fatigue and weakness. She will explain how to minimize reactions to vaccines and work with hidden long term neurological ramifications that may occur.
June 12	Anne M. Bernard, LAc, Dipl.O.M. (Acupuncture & Naturopathy). Topic to be announced.
July 10	*TBA*
August 14	*TBA*
September 11	*TBA*
October 9	*TBA*
November 13	*TBA*
December 11	HOLIDAY BYOL. Please join us for our holiday Bring Your Own Lunch (BYOL), held in our our usual meeting room. Because of the wide range of food sensitivities so many of us have, we decided it is less stressful for everyone to bring something for themselves they know is safe to eat, so we can all spend some worry-free time noshing on our lunch and getting to know one another in a way not possible during speaker meetings. If you do want to bring something to share with others, that's fine, too, but do please bring the ingredients list so everyone can determine if it is something safe for them to eat or drink or not.s

MEETING TIMES

2:00-2:10 p.m. - Introduction / Announcements

2:10-3:30 p.m. - Information Program (speaker, video, or topical discussion)

3:30-4:00 p.m. - Speaker-Audience Q&A / Introductions / Networking

4:00-4:30 p.m. - TCN Library open / Continued large and small group discussion and networking

MEETING FORMAT
The meetings start promptly at 2:00 with the program portion of our meeting (speaker, video, etc.). The program portion of the meeting will generally last until 3:30, but may run longer depending on the needs of the speaker and the audience. After the program portion there will be time for questions, general discussion, and for members to use the TCN Library.

When we have a speaker, video, or panel discussion, please be courteous to those presenting and providing the program. Wait to ask questions if requested, and help make sure that everyone who has questions (or answers!) has a chance to speak.

Some support groups can be very depressing, a situation which tends to turn away those who are looking more for information, comfort and validation rather than a meeting that is emotionally and physically draining to all in attendance.

TCN, rather than having "support group" meetings where people exclusively talk about their illness and listen to others doing the same, TCN puts the emphasis on information through the use of speakers, videos and panel discussions. As the speaker-audience Q&A winds down, audience members can begin to talk with one another, meeting new people, sharing their stories, learning from on another.

MEETING LOCATION

NOTE: We are meeting once again at Palm Drive Hospital in Sebastopol.

Conference Room
Palm Drive Hospital
501 Petaluma Avenue
Sebastopol CA 95472

Map & Driving Directions

The parking lot we use is between the building and Petaluma Avenue. The lot has plenty of parking spaces, more than we've ever needed. When you turn into the either driveway, just turn into the parking lot, and park nearest the visitor's entrance. If you need to unload materials (or a passenger), you can do so under the covered entrance way to the visitor's entrance. The conference room is just inside the visitor's entrance, on the left side of the hallway, across from the reception desk.

ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES
We thank you for respecting the needs of our participants by helping make our meetings accessible to all.

Come fragrance free
Please respect others and refrain from wearing fragrances, fragranced hair products, fragranced lotions, and all other fragranced products, and clothing scented by detergents, fabric softener, and dry cleaning chemicals. Remember that if you previously wore a garment while wearing perfume or other fragrances, chances are those around you who are hypersensitive to fragrances may still be affected by the lingering chemicals even if they are not detectable by you.

Please be very careful about what you are wearing: even very small residues of fragranced products clinging to your clothing or body can cause reactions ranging from loss of voice, respiratory impairment, nose bleeds and more to those who have MCS. Remember: even a small amount of fragrance is as much of a barrier to those with MCS as a few steps are to someone in a wheelchair. People who come to meetings with scents on them will be asked to leave the offending garments or materials in their car or, if that is not possible, to leave the meeting.

Newspapers should be left outside the door.

Snack considerately
If you bring snacks, please avoid strong smelling ones. Many of us suffer from distractibility and noise intolerance. If your snacks are packaged in cellophane, please transfer them into a low-noise container before you come.

Dress appropriately
Due to autonomic nervous system dysregulation, we all respond to ambient air temperature differently, with some people being cold in the same environment that others find comfortable and still others find unbearably warm. So, if you are usually cold or usually warm, please dress in layers that you can put on or take off as you need to be comfortable. Feel free to bring a blanket or a quiet personal fan if you need one.

Get comfortable
Most of us have chronic or acute pain, so feel free to bring a special chair or pillow, or get up and walk around or stand in the back or sides of the room. Everyone will understand.

Access our room
The meeting room is wheelchair accessible. By everyone striving to keep it fragrance free, we can help ensure that nearly everyone will be able to tolerate being in the room for a couple of hours.

Thank you for following these guidelines
All of the accessibility guidelines may sound ludicrous to anyone who is used to just strolling into any gathering without regard for any of the above. We all remember how that felt, and would love to have that freedom again. Unfortunately, our brain, autonomic nervous, endocrine and immune systems have sharply curtailed those carefree days.

TCN Library
The Carousel Network compiles a variety of information resources of interest to our members, including books, videos of meetings, collections, and newsletters. These materials are available to TCN members only.

The library is open for returns only prior to the meetings, and opens again from 4:00 to 4:30 for browsing and checking out library materials. Returning materials before the meeting ensures that all materials will be ready and available after the meeting, when the Library is open for browsing and check-outs from 4:00 to 4:30 PM, at the end of the formal meeting program. The Librarian is available to check materials out, and to check returning materials back in.

Materials may be checked out for one month, with the member checking the library item out with the Librarian at one meeting, and returning it to the Librarian at the next meeting. If you can't make the meeting, or otherwise need to contact the Librarian, please send your email to the TCN Librarian, or leave a message on our voicemail, 707-324-8881.

To become a member of The Carousel Network, you can join at the next meeting, or print out the membership form, and mail it, with your $20 payment, to: The Carousel Network, 122 Calistoga Road #216, Santa Rosa CA 95409-3702.

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For more information, please visit Melissa Kaplan's Chronic Neuroimmune Diseases and Lyme Disease websites.

The Carousel Network/Chronic Neuroimmune Diseases is an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization. We do not give medical advice nor does TCN endorse products or treatments. Members of our group are being treated with mainstream and alternative therapies, often in combination. If you have CFS/FM/MCS, we encourage you to work with an informed health care practitioner as you make the choices and decisions about your own treatment.

Join TCN: Members receive our bi-monthly newsletter, email meeting reminders, and borrowing privileges from our TCN Library. TCN is supported solely by membership dues and donations. You can join at one of our meetings, or complete a membership form and send it with your check for $20 to The Carousel Network, 122 Calistoga Road #216, Santa Rosa, CA 95409. Memberships are due for renewal annually from the date joined. We thank you for renewing promptly.

Disclosure for Grantors and Contributors: The Carousel Network was granted and maintains tax-exempt status under Section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue code. More specifically, The Carousel Network is an organization described in Section 501(c)3, 509(a), and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi). As required by the above IRS sections, The Carousel Network makes its annual information return (IRS Form 990) available for public inspection for three years. Also available are the Carousel Network's exemption application, supporting documents, and exemption letter. These documents are on file with the Carousel Network's president and available at board meetings.

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