17th March was a great day for the Friends of Max…. Indore Meet was another Page for FOM city chapters.
Everyone who was present there ie CML and GIST patients, their caregivers, and Indiabulls were made aware of many facts / information and were guided on many aspects concerning disease and glivec.
The first meet of this month in Indore was a part of country wide initiative where families from different parts of Madhya Pradesh were invited to attend this meet.
Viji and Ayeshah showed great energy and made a successful event along with volunteers.
Day started with the registration of people, where they were made to fill compliance form for survey.
Along with registration awesome Indori breakfast was served, especially poha jalebi.
Kit bags were prepared which included FAQ’s on CML, Book of Stories, note pad and a pill box in a jute bag. The packing of these bags was quickly done by Prashant and Piyush.
After breakfast people settled down in “Jal auditorium Indore” which was in the heart of the city.
Followed by National Anthem, an important session was taken by Viji where a lot of information was shared on Friends of Max group, The Max Foundation and how it started, who are the people under benefit and some statistical facts. Viji also acknowledged Novartis and mentioned to everyone that they were the donors of Glivec. After which the compliance survey was discussed and the main points were – the importance on why people should take their medicine regularly and why do they forget to take it and how that can be avoided. The survey form was filled by all the patients at the time of registration with the help of Dr Ritesh who tirelessly spoke to every patient and explained the questionnaire.
To continue the compliance workshop a few patients, their caregivers ie a patients son, brother and mother were asked to step on stage and to discuss understand and answer people’s queries. They were made to share their experiences as caregivers and how they crossed every hurdle and are living their life to the best,at each and every point was discussed, people asked questions which were answered in very explanative and informative manner….the session was of real benefit to each and every person out there.
We had Dr Neema came to the meeting at this point. He was so glad to be part of the meeting and decided to stay on through the rest of the programme.
After this informative session, everyone had their lunch.
Post lunch Dr Neema took a very important session, answered each and every doubt that the people present there had, very small but informative points were also discussed in this session. Some random facts related to CML, queries related to glivec like its side effects the correct dose, pros and cons, each and every thing was made clear.
After this session small activity was carried out under volunteer training session. The group was divided in 4 sections with volunteers as their leaders, Viji gave 4 topics (question) ex- What was your reaction when you came to know about diagnosis, what should be the ways to carry out effective communication with patients or their family members, etc. People answered these questions and their points were noted down and were finally discussed….by volunteers, this session was a kind of fun activity as well as very informative session.
After this, event was near to its end. People shared their experiences with CML and glivec, how they feel, how are they taking it in a positive way. Testimonials session made people more positive towards disease by listening other people’s experiences this was a very important part of the event…. Finally Event came to an end with a wonderful song ‘Hum ko man ki shakti dena…’
This was the first event in Indore, and with such an overwhelming response of crowd, each year there will be a meet in Indore. Waiting for next year Indore..!!!!