My Trip To Capitol Hill As An Asthma Advocate

These are all the asthma/ allergy bloggers attending the Summit. 

The good folks at the Allergy & Asthma Network invited me to Washington D.C. They invited me to the 2nd Annual Allergy & Asthma Summit that took place in Washington D.C. on May 7, 2019. They also invited me to advocate for asthma-related bills pending before the 116th Congress during the 22nd annual Allergy & Asthma Day on Capitol Hill that took place the following day. This was all a new experience for this writer.

Getting to meet fellow bloggers

The day before the Summit involved flying. The moment I got off the plane I met up with fellow asthma blogger Kerri Mackay. We walked around town some. We visited the Smithsonian National Air And Space Museum. We visited the Canadian Embassy. Why not? Kerri is from Canada after all.

I started blogging 12 years ago. In the time since I've gotten to know quite a few other bloggers, including Kerri. So, when we're invited to these types of things it's an opportunity to meet up with some of the people you usually only talk to online. We spent most of the day sitting at a outdoor table, enjoying the 80 degree weather, bantering about asthma and other topics.

Interestingly, at one point we both bought 8 inch pizzas. We were sitting outside the restaurant bantering, eating, and a homeless guy came buy and asked for a piece of pizza. Kerri and I both offered our entire pizzas to one lucky guy. Funny thing is he opened the boxes one by one, looked at the pizzas, and said, "I don't eat vegetables." He turned and walked away. So, we both thought that was odd that a hungry homeless guy would be so picky.

But, anyway, it was a very nice day for just sitting around visiting. Plus it was neat that that either the Capitol or the Washington Monument were part of the view most of the places we walked.

The summit. 

The next day was the bloggers summit. Kerri and I were among, I think, five asthma bloggers. It was kind of neat in that we all knew each other. There were also several Allergy and Eczema Bloggers and Vloggers at the summit. It was neat to connect with many of them too. 

Despite having severe allergies myself, I have typically only followed a few allergy bloggers. So, I’m certain that’s about to change. Something I have written so little about is the allergy aspect of having allergic asthma. So, one of the things that came out of this summit for me is I ought to pay some attention to this part of asthma. 

We learned about what the Allergy & Asthma Network is all about. It was neat to learn that they have been advocating on our behalf since 1985. Interestingly, that was the same year I spent six months in an asthma hospital. Perhaps it was partly based on their efforts that asthma wisdom has taken a 5,000 year leap since that year.

Some of the top asthma and allergy experts in the world gave presentations to us. The asthma related topics were very science related. They delved deep into the complex nature of our disease. I’m talking biomarkers like IL4, IL5, and IL13. I'm talking how these biomarkers are responsible for the symptoms we feel. I’m talking asthma genes and other complex asthma related topics. This was right up my alley. 

Many of what was talked about are things I have already covered. Still, it was neat to see it all laid out in front of us. There were a few things mentioned that were new to me. So, this is all good in that it helps us asthma and allergy bloggers stay up on all that is being learned about our complex diseases. It gives us more to write about. 

Advocating for asthma on Capitol Hill

Not something I ever thought I would be doing. I have never considered myself an advocate. Still, I was invited to advocate for respiratory therapy-related bills pending before Congress. So, that's what I was going to do. It was definitely not my cup of tea. Still, it was kind of neat to see how these things are done. 

Since I am a Michigander, I was scheduled to meet up with both Michigan Senators and one representative. Kerri is from Canada, and she was put into my group. That was a great thing for me, because she is a great talker. She did most of the work that day. She was the advocate. I just sat there and watched her do a great job of advocating on our behalf. 

We met with the staff of Senators Gary Peters, Debbie Stabenow, and Representative Bill Huizenga. I was hoping to meet up with the actual Congress people. But, I understand they are busy. Each session lasted about 15 minutes. 

On a side note here, Kerri and I were impressed each Michigan Congress person had a shelf of Kellogg's cereals in their offices. I think Debbie Stabenow had the best cereal display, with several boxes of cereals from Kellogs and similar artifacts on display. This makes sense since Kellogg's has a plant in Battle Creek, Michigan.

It was a neat experience.  It's neat to be in this neat position that I am in. I never thought that blogging would some day get me invited to Washington D.C. to advocate before Congress. And I will definitely go again if invited.