10/10/2025
💜🎨VBF National Conference and Super Clinic🎨💜
I attended this year’s VBF Annual Conference & Super Clinic with a perspective unlike any other. Not only as a patient living with a vascular birthmark, but also as a Global Ambassador for the Vascular Birthmarks Foundation (VBF), a Physician Assistant student, and a proud local titleholder within the Miss America organization whose platform celebrates differences, especially those we wear visibly.
This clinic wasn’t just about appointments; it was about access, education, and empowerment. VBF’s Super Clinic is the only one of its kind in the world, offering patients multidisciplinary care from top experts across specialties. Services included FREE laser treatments, ultrasound exams, dental/ortho evaluations, Sturge-Weber Syndrome assessments, glaucoma screenings, psychotherapy sessions, Birthmark Bedazzling, a children’s library, and more (including one-on-one clinic appointments, hotel accommodations, and the beloved in person Speakers Forum).
This life changing event supports individuals with any type of vascular birthmark, anomaly, or related syndrome (VBARS) from hemangiomas and port-wine stains to KTS, PHACES, CLOVES, Sturge-Weber Syndrome and beyond.
One of the most unforgettable moments of the day was meeting Dr. Linda Rozell-Shannon, founder of VBF, whose advocacy has touched so many lives, including mine. I also connected with fellow global ambassadors and staff (pictured: Kiana!) and met the sweetest soul, Lily. She and I discovered we share nearly identical birthmark placements (including purple lesions inside our cheeks) She called us “twins”—a moment that reminded me of my why.
Today was about more than medicine. It was about seeing, being seen, and lifting each other up. As patients, providers, and proud advocates. 💜
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