CHERUBS AUSTRALIA FORUM
Brisbane 2006

The sun shone on Friday, the day before our Cherubs Forum. We arranged to meet anyone who would be in town, to gather up at South bank Parklands. South Bank is a public area that has food galore, great areas of grass, kids’ playgrounds and a wonderful free beachside pool, well protected by a lifeguard.

People started arriving around lunchtime. Before long we had several kids with several adults, eating a yummy lunch and looking forward to a swim in the pool. After lots of sunscreen and a few hours in the pool, it was decided we all meet for dinner in Browns Plains. In those few short hours we managed to gather a few more members, so dinner turned into a 20 person affair.

It was a perfect sunny Queensland day topped by a great dinner. Thanks to all those who came and made our Forum a very successful one.
Jo Kjaersgaard

Wow what a day, well done to all our Brisbane organizers. For those of you that were unable to attend the “Forum” in Brisbane this year it was at the Greenbank RSL on Saturday 19th October 2006. We all got to have a bit of a chat before our day got started. We met up with old friends and create new ones as well.

Once the kids went off to the Kids’ Room we got settled into the first half of our day. We started off with a Welcoming from Jo and then watching a CHERUB Dedication where we saw photos of our CHERUBS whilst listening to a beautiful piece of music. We also had our child’s name on a stick which we all stood in some sand

We had a guest speaker Dr Frank Carmody an Obstetrician / Gynecologist who had some very interesting information on Nuchal Translucency Testing. This test is done between 11 and 13 weeks of pregnancy. The aim of the test is to determine if you are at high risk of having a baby with a chromosomal abnormality. It does not diagnose an abnormality; it only finds those who are at high risk who may then opt for further testing. Dr Carmody also spoke of some of his other experiences within his practice. Dr Carmody stayed for morning tea and a chat.

Then we got the kids and had our group photo and scrapbooking time for those who needed to add their CHERUB to the Album.
Then we divided into our groups for discussion time (Surviving and Grieving).

After lunch we put the kids back into the Kids’ Room and we had a Surprise guest speaker to talk about their Journey. Much to our surprise it was Maryanne and Carl, they had just returned from the USA where they spent sometime in a Clinic with Rebecca and Damon and Sharon Knott and their son, Liam. The focus was to get their children to want and start to eat. They finally had success at the clinic and returned home to share this experience and to really put in place what they had learnt and accomplished.
By 4 pm the day was drawing to the end we had a quick afternoon tea with the kids then the cleaned up the wonderful room we were able to use.
Lynda Viset

I would just like to take this opportunity to thank our Queensland members for organising a wonderful member forum. I had a great time catching up with old friends and was delighted to meet a number of new families. For the first time I sat with the surviving families during the group split which allowed me to develop a greater insight into the struggles some of these families face on a daily basis. Thank you to all the members for sharing their stories with me and increasing my knowledge of CDH. Can't wait until next year’s forum rolls around!
Danielle Kessner, Victoria