Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a conference for work, dedicated to the data collectors working hard on the SCI Model Systems Grant. The Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Model Systems Grant is a federally funded grant awarded to only 14 sites around the United States. MetroHealth is one of these currently funded sites. I have spent the last 5 (almost) years working on this grant, as a data collector.
I am now our Program Manager for the newest (current) funding cycle that will end in 2026.
Not sure if it’s my new title, or where my mindset/perspective is these days with where I am on my healing journey, but I was set on absorbing all the information I could. Prepared with my iPad, I was going to take notes on everything. And the conference did not disappoint.
On the first day, the conference commenced with an afternoon session for new data collectors only. I had the day to myself and it was glorious. Our hotel was on the University of Alabama: Birmingham (UAB) campus and the weather was a gorgeous 70-something degrees.
The day before (the day of travel) it snowed in Ohio!
I took advantage of this day off and took a nice stroll around part of the campus. I found the Student Center and just hung out in this nice area they had outside – where I suspect college students pass time between classes or get some studying done. The landscape was pretty hilly in the area, and I couldn’t have done this stroll and had energy left over without the help of my Permobil SmartDrive power assist device. What a lifesaver!
After I spent the morning strolling around outside, enjoying the weather and all the sites, I made my way back to the hotel for lunch. For the rest of the afternoon, I spent my time outside on the hotel bar patio reading. It was the most relaxing day I’ve had in a while. It felt great.
That evening, a group of us from the conference met at a Buffalo Wild Wings and had a wonderful dinner. We would be spending the next 2 days together learning, and getting to know a little bit about each other on a personal level made the conference so much more enjoyable.
It’s like I was hanging out with friends.
On the first full day of the conference, we all gathered for different presentations and break-out sessions. We started the morning, of course, with an ice breaker Bingo game. We go around with a bingo card full of “things” we are looking for: did you read more than 10 books last year? Have you ever milked a cow? Do you drive a hybrid car? Are you a grandparent? “Things” like that.
After a welcome and introduction from our Director and Project Officer, we moved into our first presentation on identifying the cause and date of death. Sounds morbid, right? In reality, this is part of our job. We will come across research participants who have passed away since our last follow-up interview with them. But then we moved into our interview variables and we had a lecture on four different variables before we took a break for lunch.
We reviewed more variables from our interviews and addressed a section that many data collectors were having “issues” with after lunch. This helped to know how to respond to participants that do struggle with this section of the interview.
After reviewing a few more variables, we had our first breakout session. This breakout session provided an opportunity to ask specific questions related to predetermined topics to better understand. This session was hosted by experienced data collectors from different sites and is a great way to also bounce ideas off each other.
Done with day 1, and I was exhausted
Before meeting my colleague for dinner in the hotel (a storm had rolled in and the weather didn’t allow for outside adventures), I made sure to take some time for self-care. I could feel that I was overstimulated and needed a break from everything. During this time I did some breathwork, some stretching, and just sat in quiet – something I’m learning to love.
Day two started off with an “open mic session” where we had the opportunity to ask anything related to improving our follow-up rates. How do we best get in contact with our participants? Stories and case reports were shared and much was learned. I’m eager to implement a couple of new strategies I learned.
We then moved into a presentation from a psychologist sharing tips, tricks, and best practices for interviewing someone in distress. This was followed by a wonderful presentation on diversity, equity, and inclusion. It’s not the first time I’ve seen this presentation from the same speaker, but it’s always great to hear it again and uncover one more hidden layer for me.
Right before lunch and the first presentation after were covering more variables, the last few variables to cover that make up our interviews. The rest of the afternoon was different breakout sessions, and I was honored to lead one of those discussions. I lead the breakout session for new data collectors. There we spent time talking about what difficulties they were having, ran through some scenarios, and answered any questions they had.
By the end of day 2, I was way more energized (but also in considerable pain) than I was by the end of day 1. I had the energy to move and do more, but my body was screaming at me. I was staying hydrated and eating really well, but I wasn’t moving throughout the day like I usually do and my body was letting me know that.
So now what?
Well, I laid in bed for a little bit and cried. Then I decided I needed to move around, and the weather was still rainy, so off I went through the hotel. But the hotel was cold and it made me hurt even worse, so back to bed, I went. And I cried more. And I maybe was able to get 4 hours of sleep – which was an improvement from the previous 2 nights.
And then I woke up, packed up the rest of my things, and headed to the airport to start my 12-hour day of traveling home. I was ready to be home. To be back in my normal environment.
The conference was fantastic, but my body was having a rough time being there. I know what I need to do better in order to avoid this pain – what a learning experience. That last night was hard. I knew it wouldn’t last forever though. While I was in it, I reflected on what I did well to take care of my body as well as what I could have done differently.
What was I doing differently that led to different results?
Now I’ll be better prepared for my next trip and my next conference. I wrote about it during my journaling sessions and made some changes to my packing list. Nothing is ever permanent. It’s all changing – ebbing and flowing. Some moments I feel on top of the world, ready to take on anything, and in the very next moment, I could be stopped by the pain. It all belongs.
If you would like more information on anything I spoke about here, leave me some feedback either here – below this post, e-mail me (thewheellifeblog@gmail.com), or on any of my social media platforms! (IG/TW/TT @megs_hammond). And again, if you sign up for my email list, you can download my Packing List Template for free! Or, you can head to my shop and download a 2-week journal prompt freebie. I would love to hear from you and what I can do to help. If there is ANYTHING that you want to hear about – please let me know! I can’t do any of this without YOU, so I would love to connect with you!
Let’s keep those happy thoughts, productivity, and self-care going! Until next time, live honestly, passionately, and with kindness! Take care!
