Team PH Crosses Finish Line a Day Earlier Than Expected!

Team PHenomenal Hope crossed the finish line on their 3,000 mile Race Across America last night a good day earlier than expected. PH community members gathered at the finish line in Annapolis, Md., and via Skype from PHA's Conference in Indianapolis, Ind., to cheer them on and congratulate them on such an amazing feat. You women are truly amazing!

Post by Team PHenomenal Hope.

Conference Attendees Meet Up with Team PHenomenal Hope

As of 10 p.m. on Friday night, Team PHenomenal Hope is cycling through the mountains of West Virginia, closing in on their final destination of Annapolis, Md. Continue to track their progress on our tracking page.

Late Thursday evening, community members from PHA’s International PH Conference traveled to Bloomington, Ind., to cheer the team on as they cycled through (see the photo right).

As PHA President Rino Aldrighetti says, “Team Phenomenal Hope is inspiring the PH community. ... We talk about medicine as science and, sometimes, art. What Dr. Patty George and her team are doing takes us to a new level – inspiration. The PH community is with them every turn of the pedal, every mile of this race for our lives.”

Going All Out in the Race Toward a Cure

Jeannette Morrill

A few International PH Conferences ago Carl Hicks, who is now PHA’s Executive Vice President, gave a speech about “Hope is a Verb.” He articulated our community’s tradition of fighting back against this devastating disease in the best way we know how – each of us doing our part in big and small ways. We are a small disease state, but through the combined efforts of individuals, each racing toward a cure in their own way, we can - and have - accomplished a lot. At today’s Conference opening we saw just how powerful our collective spirit can be.

First, we saw a video from Team PHenomenal Hope, a team of four women and their crew, including Dr. Patty George from UPMC, who are on a literal race for a cure. While we enjoy Conference, they are competing in the world’s toughest cycling race, the Race Across America (RAAM), across 3,000 miles and 170,000 vertical feet of elevation from one end of the country to the other. For the past two years they have been training and raising awareness and funds for the cause. Throughout Conference we will be making announcements to Conference attendees with updates on the team and where they are in their cross-country trek. You can follow Team PH at www.PHAssociation.org/TrackTeamPH.

Next, PH patient Jeannette Morrill (pictured right) gave the Conference opening keynote about her journey, or “road trip,” with PH, which began 38 years ago when she was diagnosed in 1976. She talked about the pit stops and challenges she has had to overcome, who her pit crew is and what her hopes are for the future. In the race for a cure, Jeannette fights back as a support group leader, event organizer, advocate, speaker and Conference committee member. She also published a book about her life with PH called Living with Pulmonary Hypertension: 34 Years and Counting.

Then as a special treat, PHer Chloe Temtchine sang her PH anthem “Be Brave.” You can purchase her song on iTunes, and half the proceeds will be donated to PHA.

What a way to get this PHamily reunion officially kick started!