September is Dystonia Awareness Month. NSTA will contribute to the awareness month by hosting an in-person support group meeting in Orange County California. The meeting is scheduled for Saturday, September 14th from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. The location is Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center in Fountain Valley at 18035 Brookhurst Street, 1st floor conference rooms.

Coffee and tea will be available at 10 a.m. We will start the meeting with a presentation made by Han S. Lee, M.D. on Daxxify, the most recent FDA-approved botulinum toxin manufactured by Revance Therapeutics, followed by a question-and-answer session.

Dr. Lee, a board certified neurologist, completed his neurology residency at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and subsequently completed fellowships in Epilepsy (Intraoperative Monitoring) at UCLA, Neuromuscular Disorders at UCLA and Movement Disorders at University of Southern California (USC).

Dr. Lee is the regional movement disorder specialist for The Permanente Medical Group and has had over 15 years of experience treating patients with movement disorders, including Parkinson’s Disease, Atypical Parkinsonism, Drug Induced Parkinsonism, Essential Tremor, Dystonia, Huntington’s Disease, Ataxia, and other Neurodegenerative disorders. He has treated thousands of patients with every type of dystonia during his career and runs a regional electrodiagnostic lab and movement disorder hub with referrals coming from all over Northern California.

Dr. Lee has special clinical and research interest in Atypical Parkinsonism, Neuromodulation in Dystonia, Neurodegenerative Disorders, and clinical application of neurotoxins (botulinum toxins).

Dr. Lee’s treatment philosophy revolves around dignity in healthcare and focusing on empowering patients to be proactive stewards of their physical and mental health.

Katella Deli in Los Alamitos will provide lunch consisting of sandwich platters of turkey, roast beef, ham and swiss, and egg salad. We will also have coleslaw, macaroni salad, and fruit platters. We thank Alan Ratman, owner of Katella Deli for his unwavering support to NSTA. After lunch, we will start the group meeting.

RSVP is required for the event to have an accurate number for catering. Please register immediately as seating is limited for this event. Registration(s) must be submitted before September 10th. For those who are vegetarian or vegan, please let us know when registering for the event so we can make arrangements. Friends, family members, and caretakers are welcome to join the meeting. You can register by going to the following link:

https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/5rftfxe

The NSTA “Missing Pieces” brochure and NSTA “ST Card” defining cervical dystonia will be available at the meeting to anyone who would like to participate in Dystonia Awareness Month by handing out the information to the public.

For those who are too far away to attend the support group meeting but are interested in spreading awareness in September by promoting awareness of CD and the NSTA, please contact the NSTA office, and we will mail you the “Missing Pieces” and “ST Cards”. We appreciate you helping us educate others about this movement disorder.