Hi All: As I will not be able to join in the conference call on Wednesday, I asked Colleen if I could contribute some of my thoughts through a post, so here goes:

Hi, my name is Teresa, @hopeful33250, and my primary groups are Parkinson’s and Neuroendocrine Tumors (NETs).

What aspect of your personality or skill set do you feel adds the most value to Mayo Clinic Connect?
I feel that my curiosity, search for knowledge and persistence to find answers are strengths that I bring into my mentor position. I’m not afraid to talk to doctors when they are not clear or when I question their ideas. As a result, I have caught diagnoses when doctors did not think there was anything wrong. As a result, I seek out doctors who are willing to listen and work with me (I’ve dropped a few doctors along the way and developed some new medical relationships). I always encourage my group to seek 2nd opinions when they are in doubt. Encouraging others to be proactive is important to me.

My favorite pastimes are spending time with friends, family, music, movies and books. I’m also part of a Parkinson’s Dance Class – great fun! As far as music, I am a volunteer with Therapy Choirs of Michigan, http://www.therapychoirs.org, which helps people heal from traumatic brain injuries and neurological problems through music. Maybe at our next May meet-up meeting in Rochester a few of us can get together and sing at a Karaoke place! Wouldn’t that be fun?

As far as “creating the kitchen table talk” I try to maintain a list of the folks in my 2 groups (keep them in a word document) and when we have a new member, I post all of their user names (with the @ sign) and invite them to welcome the new member or perhaps share some of their experiences. Some members will do it, and some won’t, but I keep trying (persistence is the name of the game). I also look for articles from websites that I feel might be educational and helpful and I’ll post it as a “new discussion” and invite everyone to read and comment. That has worked beautifully in many cases.

I hope