Lori and I in Sacramento for California Advocacy Day with the National Psoriasis Foundation in 2017. The NPF produced this graphic for a tweet promoting the upcoming Capitol Hill day on March 20, 2018. 

Last year I very much looked forward to attending the National Psoriasis Foundation’s Capitol Hill Day in the nation’s capital. Alas, due to inclement weather and subsequent flight cancellations, I didn’t make it. I wrote Not Going to DC After All, But . . . to share my sadness. While I did conference call into a couple of congressional meetings, I missed meeting psoriasis patient and research advocates, as well as congressional staffers, in person.

This year I’m hoping the storms hold off long enough for my flight to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport on Sunday evening. If they do I’ll not only check off another item off of my psoriasis bucket list, but also join in a cause I’ve become increasingly passionate about.

Growing in Psoriasis Advocacy

For years I envisioned myself as a volunteer coordinator for building psoriasis community locally. I joined the NPFs Los Angeles community division a decade ago and started the San Gabriel Psoriasis Support Group meeting at a local Kaiser facility. Although that group did not continue after I moved back to Northern California, I felt the monthly gathering made an impact.

In Northern California the NPF Community Division Manager gave me the vision of establishing a group in the Sacramento area. We hosted More Than Skin Deep and Team NPF Walk events over the past few years. However, during this time I felt the tug to focus more time on writing blogs and on local advocacy.

I attended the first advocacy day in Sacramento a few years ago where the NPF teamed up with the Arthritis Foundation and other groups to support state legislation. Some bills we lobbied for included striking down step therapy, promoting continuation of care, and developing standards for biosimilars.

Before one of the California Advocacy days the NPF called to ask me to represent the organization in support of a bill. I took off a morning from work to sit in on a health committee meeting. I waited for my moment to stand in line and express support for the bill. That day the NPF staffer told me I became a lobbyist.

Recently I joined the NPF’s Western Advocacy Action Network representing California. Next week I’m taking my very amateur lobbyist skills to Washington D.C. for the first time. I didn’t expect to become involved to this level in legislative advocacy, but I see the power of influencing government for the greater good of the patient community.

Travel and Psocial Ambassador Training

Getting to D.C. is a daunting proposition, however. Living on the West Coast has a few disadvantages. One of them is traveling to the East Coast for meetings. Since my first meetings with the NPF Psocial Ambassador group starts at noon on Monday morning, I need to travel on Sunday afternoon.

With speaking at 9 a.m. and teaching a class at 10:30 a.m. at church, the best flight out of Sacramento for me is in the early afternoon. I already know I will be exhausted with the packing, preparation for the lessons, speaking/teaching, and travel through Chicago’s O’Hare airport. I don’t arrive in D.C. until around 11:45 p.m.

Sunday is my big work day that takes everything out of me. Traveling and two days of meetings will be challenging, especially with the time change.

But it’s worth it. I can’t think of a better way to spend those couple days giving myself to a cause I deeply believe in. I’m also looking forward to meeting the other two dozen plus patient advocates who will attend.

I plan to update how things are going during and after the trip. Definitely looking forward to all those couple days have in store for the Foundation and me.