More than 170 individuals with pulmonary hypertension (PH), family members and medical professionals from all over the Midwest registered for the PHA on the Road PH Patients and Families Education Forum held in Kansas City, Kan., on Saturday, Oct. 12. The event featured medical experts from several health systems across the region, including Omaha and Lincoln, Neb., Iowa City, and Oklahoma City. The medical professionals shared their expertise with attendees through a day of free educational sessions.

Amy Torgerson of Grain Valley, Mo., an adult with PH, attended a PHA on the Road for the first time. She also presented as part of a panel on “Coping with Chronic Illness” and participated in the “Lightning Round: Q&A” panel during the lunch session. She says, “The session that I really enjoyed was ‘Managing Side Effects of PH Medications.’  I got a lot of useful information about medications I never would have thought of possibly affecting my PH meds.”  She also notes that the forum had a positive effect on her family members during the support group sessions. Amy states, “My family got to hear the struggles of others and talk to people going through the same things. I was so happy to meet other women newly diagnosed like myself.“

For those who were not able to attend the event, PHA streamed two of its sessions live via its Facebook page. The first live session was “Managing Side Effects of PH Medications,” which featured an expert panel that discussed how PH therapies can be used to help alleviate the symptoms of the disease and the potential side effects of those therapies that one must learn to manage. The second session was the “Lightning Round Q&A and Keynote Presentation” that featured additional questions from participants and an inspiring keynote from Florine Tripp, an individual with PH. You can watch those sessions below.

Support group sessions wrapped up the day with discussions that focused on caregivers and patients. This included a support group for newly diagnosed patients that welcomed attendees who are at risk, recently diagnosed or still being diagnosed.