A Word From The Gluten Summit's Dr. O'Bryan: Thank You and Keep December 12th for a Follow Up Webinar

Dr. O'Bryan stated: My Godmother’s death certificate said “Hepatocellular Carcinoma” (liver cancer), but it should have said “Hepatocellular Carcinoma secondary to Celiac Disease.” Year after year, her doctor never considered that celiac disease could have been the cause of her mildly elevated liver enzymes. He didn’t know to do so. What might a gluten-free diet have done for her? How much more time might we have had together?

Before she passed she said to me, “Tommy, You tell ‘em,” And I replied, “I will, Aunt Emily. I will.”

I’m on a mandate from my Godmother to prove to the world that we must ask the question, “Could gluten be the cause?” Just ask. That’s all.

115,000 people attended “A Grain of Truth: The Gluten Summit”--the world’s first Gluten Summit. 115,000 now understand the importance of considering gluten as the cause of symptoms early in the evaluation of one’s health. But…

The Gluten Summit is only the beginning of the conversation.

I know this to be true. Know it. Because we cannot simply stop here, satisfied that we’ve done enough. I know that you've watched the interviews and read the transcripts, and that you will take what you’ve learned to your families, patients, friends, doctors, and you will turn that 115,000 into one million, and then one hundred million. Why? Because it is imperative that more people know that a gluten-related disorder could be the cause of their ailments.

I know that you will tell the world your stories because so many of you are already doing just that--from your heartfelt thank you letters, we see that you are the ones changing the world NOW.

We will reduce the 17 years that it typically takes for groundbreaking research to reach patients and practitioners, but it will not be an easy act, and resistance can come from many places:

As frustrating as it may be to deal with those who have placed their fingers in their ears to silence the sound of this important conversation, I know we will persevere. \

“Congratulations, Dr. O’Bryan. In a matter of a few days, the Gluten Summit moved the conversation forward by 5 years.” -The president of a major medical university

We never imagined that in 10 days we’d get the attention of over 100,000 people; it still wonderfully boggles my mind how an important message can leverage technology to quickly reach so many.

I cannot thank my team enough. They, literally, worked around the clock with very little sleep for an entire month. They had Skype open 24/7, text messages blazing back and forth, kick-off calls each morning and spoke on the phone with each other 5-6 times each day to ensure that you got as seamless an experience as they could provide. Thank you. 

To our Sponsors, who accepted the risk of associating themselves with an event that had no precedent: not only were they there at the beginning, but offered even more items for our drawings than we initially anticipated when they recognized that we were moving the needle so tremendously. I know hundreds, if not thousands, of you have personally reached out to thank them. I thank them, too.

And finally, to you, the attendees of the world’s first Gluten Summit--you are pioneers forging a path for the world to understand gluten-related disorders! Your stories shared via comments, emails, Facebook and Twitter kept us all buoyed with energy. You proved to us that we were changing the conversation about health for you, for your parents, for your friends and for your children. So, I cannot thank you enough! 

And, I want you to know…

Our time together has not ended. The conversation has only just begun.

I invite you to continue the conversation on our Facebook page, where you can:
Post the questions on our wall that you’d like to have me address at the “Now That You Know, Where Do You Go?” webinar scheduled for December 12-15, 2013;
Share your stories with others who have been through or who are going through exactly what you are experiencing; 

Stay tuned for information about future summits and follow-up events!

SAVE THE DATE! December 12-15, 2013!
“Now That You Know, Where Do You Go?” Webinar

Now that you have the information from the summit, are you wondering what to do next? My coming webinar from December 12-15, 2013, will address that very question--stay tuned for your free invitation to attend! 

I appreciate each and every one of you.

Sincerely,
Dr. Tom O’Bryan
Founder, The Gluten Summit and theDr.com