MONTEGO BAY, St James — Time hasn’t begun to lessen the pain that Olive Creary and her husband, Horace, still feel over the death of their son Ricardo Lee. But today, almost two years after Lee died in the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), they are closer to peace.

That peace comes from a greater understanding of vasculitis, a disease considered rare, by local standards, that claimed Lee at the age of 32, on March 3, 2008, after a seven-year battle which was largely undermined by ignorance.

“If only I knew then what I know now… things could have gone so differently,” a tearful Olive told the Observer West at the second Nephrology and Hypertension conference at the Rose Hall resort and Spa on Tuesday.

The conference, which started on Monday and ended yesterday, saw several of the region’s doctors coming together to share information on the disease and associated complications such as hypertension and chronic kidney diseases.

One of the key addresses was given by Professor Gary Hoffman, the Harold C Schott chair of Rheumatic and Immunologic Diseases Centre for Vasculitis Care and Research in the US.

In a detailed presentation that drew on his personal experiences with the several cases of diseases that mimic vasculitis, Hoffman warned his audience about the dangers of misdiagnosis.

According to Hoffman, who was brought to the conference by the Ricardo Lee Vasculitis Foundation which was formed last year by the Crearys, the treatment of these cases for vasculitis constituted a fatal mistake.

The Crearys, who have committed themselves to empowering victims of the disease through the knowledge-gathering and networking that the foundation will facilitate, told the Observer West that they were appreciative of the doctors’ commitment to the conference.

“They are a critical factor in helping us to get the word out to the people who need it. Already the foundation is helping three individuals who have the disease, and with the appropriate sponsorship we look forward to doing so much more in terms of helping the victims and their families cope with the associated trauma,” said Olive.

Conference participants included conference Chair Professor Edward Barton, president of the Caribbean Institute of Nephrology, among other local and regional doctors.