The National Patient Conference is the Sjögren’s Foundation’s largest educational event, bringing together patients and talented medical experts to provide the latest information on Sjögren's disease. This is a virtual event, participate from the comfort of your home while still benefiting from live expert sessions, Q&As, and patient community connections. This year’s event will cover: -Our foundational program, An Overview of Sjögren’s -Oral and ocular management -Management of overlapping autoimmune diseases -How Sjögren’s disease affects your ears, nose & throat and nervous system -What’s happening in childhood Sjögren’s -Latest Sjögren’s research and what we are learning about different patient profiles and genetics A popular cornerstone of the Sjögren’s Foundation conference experience is the chance to have your questions answered by experts. At the end of our clinical sessions, you will have the opportunity to ask our speakers questions about their presentation topics. We are also excited to announce that we will be bringing back the popular “Chat with a Doc” session with Dr. Donald Thomas for one hour on both Friday and Saturday! To learn more about our conference speakers and agenda, click on the tabs above this section. We look forward to you joining us where you can connect with other Sjögren’s patients, learn from experts and gain the knowledge to thrive with your Sjögren’s disease! Registration cost is $80 for members (please be sure to use discount code emailed to all members) and $100 for non-members. Non-members also have the ability to purchase a membership at the time of registration for $116 (which automatically includes the $20 member discount). Note: For those unable to attend the virtual event live, in real time, or would like to re-watch presenters from the event, the conference will be recorded and you will have access to view the presentations at your convenience for 6 months after the live event has concluded.

Just when I thought I knew exactly why my thumb had swollen after my port removal, I discovered that living with polyautoimmunity is rarely that simple. After twenty years of living with Crohn's disease, I learned about a condition I had never heard of—one that may explain why my symptoms weren't what I initially thought. In this entry, I share the detective work that comes with managing multiple autoimmune diseases, the importance of questioning the first answer, and why Crohn's is so much more than a digestive disease.

💚 A Random Conversation and a New Word The other evening, I was texting my friend Steph. We had started out talking about dating, relationships, and all the other random topics that somehow find their way into our conversations. If you’ve ever had one of those friendships where a conversation can start in one place and end somewhere completely different, then you understand. One minute we’re talking about dating. The next minute we’re discussing autoimmune diseases. Per usual, something completely random came up. As many of you know, before I publish most posts for…