This was my first time attending BlogHer. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Here’s a list of my kudos for BlogHer10 in no particular order:

1. The way the sessions were organized by tracks (Geek, Professional, etc.)
2. Opening the parties to those of us who who were on wait lists. I got into CheeseburgerHer!
3. Being able to hear from International Scholarship Recipients. I was humbled by their work and their presence in general. All of them have a dignity about them that I am eager to gain for myself.
4. The diversity of sessions, events and parties and of course, bloggers.
5. The guide that included the schedule and a map of the hotel for someone who is geographically challenged like me.
6. The ability to connect with other bloggers on a personal level – my favorite part of BlogHer hands down, though I wish that there were more time for this.

Although I am a BlogHer newbie, sometimes the best suggestions come from an “outsider”.  So here are my suggestions:

1. Include more detailed info for people with disabilities/health conditions or a forum for us. I sometimes use a scooter but didn’t bring it. Yes there were posts and information about the excessive walking, but I thought I’d be OK after making up my calendar. Most of my events were at the hotel. What I didn’t expect was long wait times for the elevators, standing up as much as I did and the long walk to and from my room.
2. Open the Expo Hall and Swag Recycling Suite later and keep it open later so it doesn’t coincide with sessions. The Expo Hall coincided with most of BlogHer events. What a shame that so much swag wasn’t recycled because the suite closed too early.
3. Sponsors at the Expo Hall should recognize that those of us who write product reviews are professional bloggers. We want to meet with PR people, learn about their upcoming campaigns, talk about working with them, not just get handed something or enter a contest. Of course there were many sponsors that got the concept, but many that didn’t.
4. Ask sponsors to provide coupons instead of actual items. It’s easier for them to not have to ship or bring items easier for us to not have to worry about getting the stuff home. I gave lots of my swag away to the housekeepers and other staff at the hotel.
5. No sponsor should be allowed to have an event during sessions or Keynote addresses. I only know of one that did this, but there probably were others.

What were your favorite parts of BlogHer10? What do you think should change for next year?

I grew up in the Bronx, but it was a long time ago. It was when you could go outside and play without being locked inside a gate or having your mother watch over you like a hawk. If you did something wrong, your parents heard about it because your neighbors told them. You could go to a neighbor’s house and eat candy or cookies and not worry about being kidnapped. Although it wasn’t a small town it had small town values.

The Side-Yard Superhero (Life in Degraff: An Automythography), by Rick Niece shares about the author’s time living in DeGraff, Ohio. DeGraff was a very small town where there were no strangers, where people shared their happiness, quirkiness, sadness and successes.

Rickie, as he was known then, had a paper route and got to know many of his neighbors very well. You are introduced to them through his eyes and you get tidbits of their life stories, but those stories tell you a great deal about the characters.

The person that stands out the most is Bernie Jones, who had cerebral palsy and was confined to a wheelchair. Back then, with no laws to open up schools to children with disabilities, Bernie was stuck at home. He spent most of his time outside in his side yard. At first, Rickie was afraid to meet him, unsure of what to expect. In time, Bernie and Rickie become friends who touch each other’s lives in ways Rickie never dreamed possible.

You share their journey as well as the town’s ability to open up to Bernie and treat him as one of them. You also get to know a bit about the author’s current life as an adult and how his life in DeGraff forged his future.

My Review: I was very touched by The Side-Yard Superhero. It wasn’t only because of the small town images, but because of the way that Bernie was able to become a person in his own right through the caring of a young boy. Rickie met Bernie when he was only 9 years old and remained his friend until he left for college. This true story helped me to remember that children can do mighty things.

Because of being an advocate for people with health issues and disabilities, reading about Bernie and his disadvantages makes me recognize that we have come a long way but still have a long way to go. Education in the US must be open to all children, but the stigma of being “different” continues.

Buy It: The Side-Yard Superhero (Life in Degraff: An Automythography) is available on Amazon.com, Borders, Barnes and Noble and Hastings. It is available for about $14 – $18.

Review courtesy of Family Review Networks.

As some of you who read some of my blogs know, I am a proponent of stem cell research. I think since I have multiple chronic illnesses, including autoimmune diseases and these illnesses may pass onto my children or my grandchildren I want research available on many types of cures. There is currently research on stem cells for treatment of such diseases as Parkinson’s, certain neuromuscular diseases and Alzheimers.

There is controversy on gathering stem cells from fetuses as some people believe that the fetus is a living being. C’elle is providing a new way of harvesting stem cells by gathering them from menstrual blood. C’elle is owned by Cryo-Cell which gathers stem cells from umbilical cord blood. They are innovative and working with the National Institute of Health on this new program which they have named the Monthly Miracle®.

You can keep up to date on how the program is progressing by reading the C’elle Blog which is written by Mercedes Walton, the CEO of Cryo-Cell International.

How do you benefit from C’elle? You collect your menstrual blood with an easy to use collection kit. It is then mailed to Cryo-Cell where the blood stem cells are separated and stored. They are frozen for later use if need be. They can be saved indefinitely. There is a fee for this service and for the storage but the benefits outweigh the costs. Since this is a cutting edge service, there is an introductory fee. Don’t wait, you or a family member’s life may depend on it.

My Aunt Barbie fell last night at home and broke her shoulder and cheekbone. After being rushed to the hospital about 10 PM, being put through numerous tests and finally being admitted to a room, she was told that she would need surgery today.

My Mom and I arrived at the hospital this morning about 10 AM after calling the orthapeadic surgeon and the ENT to see if they accepted her Medicare HMO insurance and her Primary Care Doctor’s office to be sure that the referrals were sent to those doctors.

When we arrived we found her unwashed, with blood still her on her face and hands. She was parched, of course because she could not have anything to eat or drink due to having surgery. She had an IV in with an antibiotic, saline and Potassium. When asking the nurse about when her surgery was scheduled we were told that it wasn’t. And the doctors needed to evaluate her first.

This continued for hours. By 2 PM we were told that the surgeon would see us downstairs and she would have her surgery. Her IV had infiltrated so the nurse said that it would be better to have it taken care of in the surgery department.� By 5 PM and more requests about why she was not brought down to surgery yet, the nurse finally tried to put in her IV again. She was unsuccessful.

By 6 PM she was finally brought down to the surgery center where the nurse there had a fit to learn that my Aunt did not have the IV in for about 4 hours. We learned that her Potassium was so low that she might be unable to have surgery after all.

The nurse found her vein in no time and had to push three bags of Potassium in two hours because we were told that was when her surgery was scheduled, IF her Potassium level reached 3. By eight PM the last bag was done and the blood was drawn for her test.

My poor aunt was so out of it by then that she thought she was going home. My Mom and I were exhausted and frustrated. I ended up having a bad attack of symptoms from Myasthenia Gravis. I had finished all of my meds. My husband came and took me home.

I just called my Mom to learn that they had snuck in another patient before my Aunt so she still has not had her surgery. My Mom ended up leaving before the surgery could even begin, before even speaking to the doctor in detail about the surgery and not being able to make sure that everything goes well with my Aunt.

I have never seen such irresponsible behavior, such irregard for a patient’s dignity, safety and lack of concern. There will be a letter to the CEO of the hospital about this whole event.

The worse part of this is that my Aunt didn’t even get to see the ENT yet to determine if she needs surgery for her cheek. If so, this fiasco will not occur again.

Please pray for my Aunt who is in terrible pain and is being treated terribly.