Reflections and Musings

Snow and a suprise visit

2012-01-22T12:58:00.000-08:00

So the past week has been snowy here! The kids went to school for only a half day on Monday (sent home at noon) and then have had the rest of the week off. Sadly, I still had to work Mon-Thurs but I took Friday off since Colin was in the middle of night shifts and needed to sleep during the day. We had a ton of snow fall but by Friday it had changed to Freezing Rain and now, after "the Great Snowfall of 2012" we are experiencing "the Great Melt of 2012" :) The main roads are pretty clear but this morning I nearly got stuck in the ruts of our little culdesac that has now turned mostly to thick-packed slush both on the way to church and on the way home again! Yikes!

Yesterday the kids had a surprise visit from Grampa and Gramma who were visiting from Edmonton for the weekend! (Colin's parents) Kristina said she suspected something because she had heard me talking on the phone when we were trying to figure out the status of their flights on Thursday - their flight, which was supposed to arrive in Abbotsford at 9:30am was cancelled and they didn't get here until after midnight! They are staying with Colin's grandmother in Yarrow. Anyways, we had a fabulous visit with them - we enjoyed lunch out at Merle's Restaurant - I had heard they were very accommodating for people who eat gluten free diets and they were, plus the food tasted great too! Colin had to go to work at 5pm but they stayed and enjoyed dinner yet with the kids and me before heading back to Beppe's.

I am starting to get very excited about my upcoming trip this week Wednesday to Grand Rapids, Michigan for the Worship Symposium. I've been regularly checking out the website and reading about the different sessions we will be attending. The focus this year is on the Psalms and I'm also excited to see a performance by the Psalm Project which is a group that is giving new life to some of the genevan tunes and making them more appropriate for a contemporary worship service. Most people who know me will attest that I love to sing so this is right up my alley! I'm looking forward to learning lots and using what I learn in our worship services.

Anyways, I better run for now. I have a certain little 8 year old reading over my shoulder but he's getting impatient and would like my full attention :)

A little Blog redesign :)

2012-01-09T20:17:00.000-08:00

I need to get a good graphics program installed on my computer again. I used to use Paint Shop Pro but it was painfully slow and I haven't bothered to buy their latest version because it's pretty pricey. Photoshop is even more expensive but you can usually get Photoshop Elements for cheap or free (with the purchase of a printer or scanner or camera) - in fact I believe I have a copy of it somewhere with all my disks and what-not. In the meantime I've been using a digital scrapbooking software as well as picnik online. I used a header from shabby blogs that I customized and also a coordinating background. I think it turned out pretty cute :) Of course, I do need to get an updated family photo done one of these days - my hair isn't blonde anymore!

Not really ... well maybe a little ;)

2012-01-08T16:34:00.001-08:00

Cleaning & Organizing

2012-01-07T21:38:00.000-08:00

Keeping my home clean and organized has never been something I've excelled at. As a child I had a messy messy room. As an adult I do my best, but I find I have a hard time letting go of some things - I figure I may need them again someday! As a result I end up having clutter. Not to the point of those shows where there's so much crap in the house that you can't even walk through - but enough to make it look junky. I have a shelf in my kitchen that always has extra papers, pens, etc on it. I have limited storage space and the extra stuff just gets put somewhere but nowhere in particular. I need to learn this skill that some people seem to have been born with, this skill of being organized!

I have been slowly but surely trying to get the extras we don't need out of the house. Because money has been a bit tight lately, I divide the stuff I'm getting rid of into one of a few categories: garbage, give away, sell. K's been helping me organize the stuff we're selling. I've sold a few things on the local facebook sell/swap site and also listed it up on craigslist. The stuff I give away usually goes to my sister or the local Bibles For Mission store.

It's a slow go but hey, Rome wasn't built in a day!

I have found a few other sites that have helpful hints to keep me focused on the task at hand. One good one I just discovered today is: http://www.home-storage-solutions-101.com/kitchen-organization.html and another, with a calendar of daily cleaning activities is: http://www.mysimplerlife.com/2012.htm

Bring on the challenge! 2012 is the year I will finally conquer this Giant!

Volleyball

2012-01-05T21:37:00.002-08:00

As I mentioned, Kristina is playing on the grade 5/6 Girls Volleyball team - at their first game I snapped a bunch of photos and here is one of them. Kristina and I had fun "doctoring" the photo on picnik.com! To see it closer up you can click on the photo. The girls are all new to Volleyball this year and it's been super cool to see how their skills have improved so much even since they started! Way to go girls!

Getting back into the "groove"

2012-01-04T21:14:00.002-08:00

School and work (for me) began again this past Tuesday after our Christmas break. The kids were excited to return to school to see their friends again. Owen, however is a mess ... really it's almost as though we're starting from scratch all over again - he is tired and miserable at the end of the school day! Hopefully this will be short lived and he will adjust again quickly - the boys went to bed at 7pm tonight so I'm also hoping that will help! And in an effort to make things run more smoothly in the morning, Kristina and I made the lunches tonight and I laid out the boys' clothes for tomorrow already.

Kristina had her first volleyball game of the year after school today and for the first time, her team won! Congratulations girls! We can definitely see an improvement already as the girls continue to practice! Kristina also has a busy social calendar - she is going to her friend's house after school tomorrow and is hoping to invite another friend over to sleep over from Friday to Saturday.

Brant has adjusted well to being back. He loves school and is happy to have his regular aide back - she was sick this past fall and took a short leave of absence for a couple of months but it's great to have her back, even though he also adjusted very well to the fill-in aides that he had and they were also fabulous :) He is looking forward to riding starting up again and was a bit put out that they won't be starting up again until later this month! He's definitely a child who likes routine! Tuesdays is after school program, Wednesdays is riding, Thursdays is OT - every morning he asks me what day it is and then tells me what his plans are for that day! He's a pretty smart cookie!

You may have noticed that after a long absence from blogging I'm back to being a bit more regular again! It's not really a New Year's resolution (because saying it is would just jinx it ;) but I'm definitely going to make more of an effort to post regularly. Other things that I'm hoping to improve on for the year 2012 are Home organization, being more on top of the kids' homework and signing planners/etc, Spiritual Growth, and doing some work ahead on the night before (eg laying out clothes and making lunches) so our mornings can run more smoothly. Oh and I recently re-discovered knitting and crocheting and I'm hoping to do a few projects in the near future! Should be fun! But as always, I'm a girl that doesn't like to commit to too much because I know that life gets in the way and I am a busy mom who also works full time - so I'll do my best but I refuse to beat myself up if I slip for a few days ... and then hopefully I will just hop right back on and make the next day a better one!

Hope everyone is enjoying 2012 so far! Another thing we are looking forward to in the next bit is a new niece! We just saw a photo of her 3D ultrasound yesterday and she is precious - can't wait to meet her!

Reading the Bible online

2012-01-03T22:06:00.003-08:00

I recently learned that http://www.youversion.com has Daily Bible reading plans that you can access on their website or on your mobile device for free. I signed up for 2 plans - the Joyce Meyer daily devotional and the 345 plus plan. I plan to read the Joyce Meyer devotional in the morning and the 345 plan in the afternoon/evenings. I have long known that I don't spend enough time reading my Bible but often have a hard time making the time to do so. I'm hoping that this will be helpful to develop this new habit! I signed into the application using my Facebook account and it even allows you to connect with other Facebook friends who also use it. I also like that if you do miss a day it allows you to "catch up". I originally was looking at the read your Bible in 90 days but after realizing what a commitment that would be (I am a busy mom who works full time after all) I decided to start a little more slowly and maybe work up to that program :)

Last day of vacation ....

2012-01-02T16:45:00.003-08:00

Today is the last day of my 10 days off. I wish I could say that we were off doing all sorts of exciting things during this break, but due to sickness and limited finances we stuck pretty close to home. I got some cleaning done, decided to try my hand at knitting and crocheting, enjoyed time with family and friends. We did head out to Surrey earlier this week because I needed to bring in my passport application.

Over the past week I've had some time to reflect on the past year. Back in February I had that concussion which I'm nearly recovered from, finally. I do find that I'm still much more susceptible to headaches and it requires more effort to stay focused and concentrate but I'm thankful that the constant headaches have eased up. Colin is still taking courses at the university part time while working full time at Stream. I am working day shifts now, which is so much nicer than working until 11pm every night but in switching to days I did lose 10 hours per week (I used to work 40 hrs and now I'm at 30 per week). Working days has been nice, especially now that all three children are in school. Early last year we also made a big decision (for us) and started attending a different church - a decision that some of our family members and friends struggled with as we had been members of our previous church for all our lives and most of our family members still attend there. But it was the right decision for us and we have experienced a rich growth in our spiritual lives. We quickly became active in our new church: we joined a Small Group Bible study, I began attending the ladies Coffee Break on Wednesday mornings, I joined a Worship Team and the Worship Committee, Colin volunteers to help out with sound during Worship services, Kristina attends GEMS, I joined the choir, and all three kids joined the Children's Choir. The children continue to love their school and have excelled both socially and academically. Kristina continues to play violin in the fiddle club and has joined the Volleyball team. Brant is still our busiest child and goes to an after-school program for children with disabilities on Tuesdays, Horseback Riding (PRDA) on Wednesday after school, and he has Occupational Therapy on Thursday after school. Owen still loves playing video games and was thrilled that he received a DS for Christmas. Both Brant and Owen also love playing with their lego and beyblades. Brant is still doing well, health-wise, and is thriving on the gluten-free diet for which we are extremely grateful.

We look forward to 2012 and are thankful that we have made it safely into yet another year. Later this month I look forward to attending a 3 day Worship conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan with some members of our church (the reason I need my passport!). This summer we hope to get together with Colin's family to help his parents celebrate their 40th wedding Anniversary. Colin is hoping for a good employment opportunity this year in the IT field (currently he is working graveyard shifts at Stream which isn't great). I'm hoping to continue to work as a support worker with people who have disabilities and to secure a permanent day position (the position I am currently filling is a temporary position which might turn into a permanent but might not - it goes until June 2012). Again, we pray that everyone of our family and friends experiences a happy and healthy 2012 - may you find love, contentedness and blessings in all you have received!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T23:21:00.003-08:00

From our family to yours, our wish for you is that 2012 is filled with blessings! The past year has been full of challenges, joys, and so so much to be thankful for. At church this morning we reflected on Genesis 3 - the fall into sin ... and the great promise of the coming of Jesus. The fall reminds me that we have so much to be thankful for around us, just as Adam and Eve did in the garden, and yet we always want more, we are always not quite content with what we already have. I am not one to make "resolutions" per se, but I plan to make a conscious effort in the coming year to truly reflect on the blessings in our lives and not always on what we want or don't quite have.

I didn't have a chance this year to put together Christmas cards - I'm still toying with the idea of a New Year's greeting in the coming weeks but we'll see what happens. It might go out in the form of an email instead of traditional mail, if I can get to it at all :) Please know, though, that we hold all of our family and friends near to our hearts and wish everyone of you rich blessings throughout the coming year - 2012!

Quote to share :)

2011-12-31T11:44:00.000-08:00

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”

― Mother Teresa

Canucks Superheroes!

2011-09-26T21:54:00.003-07:00

For Kristina's GEMS girls club registration tonight we were told to dress up a superhero duo (moms and daughters). So we headed off to the thrift shop and found some blue, green, and white striped fabric that reminded us of our dear Canucks hockey team and set to work building our costumes over the next few days. With the help of a little ribbon, extra blue fabric (for the arms), some glitter glue, lots of hot glue (we glued it all, none of it is sewn) and a lot of creativity we came up with our costumes! And we even won a prize for them :) We had such a great time making these and a hoot at the GEMS tonight - we played a bunch of games including flying dutchmen and leap frog - too fun! Here we are sporting our costumes.

Scrapbook Software Giveaway Contest

2011-08-20T20:04:00.002-07:00

Be sure to check out this great contest to win Digital Scrapbook Software from My Memories: http://tinyurl.com/3db87ul

Happy 8th Birthday, Brant!

2011-08-20T14:48:00.001-07:00

Scrapbook personalized with Smilebox

Halfway through summer!

2011-07-29T13:12:00.002-07:00

Wow, can't believe it's nearly August already! So far it's been a pretty laid back summer. We've had a few nice days here and there and the kiddos have enjoyed playing outside. Colin has started his new job at Stream (he hopes to work full time while finishing his last three courses and getting his diploma in Computer Information Systems). Brant is enjoying 1-2 days per week at the Summer 'Scapes Day camp run through CSCL. I have today and tomorrow left to work before a week of vacation and then I start my new position - I'll be working Monday-Friday 9am-3pm in a day program until October 31 (it's a temporary position). I'm hoping the change in hours (my current position is Tues-Fri 3pm-11pm and Sat 7am-3pm) will help me finally get rid of these headaches for good. Unfortunately I'm still plagued by them daily and instead of getting better they seem to be worsening since I stopped going for massage therapy (WCB stopped the coverage of the massages several weeks back). But I'm trying my best to stay positive, do my neck stretches and exercises that were shown to me by the therapists, etc. I'm hoping that getting a good night's sleep will make a significant difference in relieving them!

Sorry for not posting sooner - my mom made the comment that I haven't posted anything current lately but I was hoping to be able to post a more positive post with regards to how I've been feeling. Hopefully soon! :)

Week 5 of my back to work plan

2011-06-02T13:29:00.002-07:00

So last week was week 4 and I was almost doing full tasks and working 3-10 from Tues-Fri and Saturday from 7-2. This week I am back to my normal shifts which are Tues-Fri from 3-11 and Saturday from 7-3.

I am finding these shifts are really hard for me now. The first 3 weeks of my GRTW were done during daytime hours and I found them manageable. These last two weeks have been pure torture for me. Ever since my concussion I have a much harder time falling to sleep and staying asleep. When I worked days I could go to bed earlier and still be asleep at a decent time. Now I don't get home until 11pm so I'm often not sleeping until 1 or 2am and then I have to be back up in the morning early to get the kiddos ready for school. I have tried taking naps but it just isn't the same as having a good solid block of sleep at night. As a result my headaches are back full force and my symptoms have spiked again. My doctor has recommended that I remain on my pain killers and sleeping pills and continue to have regular massage therapy for my neck and shoulder pain. I'm not sure how that works though with WCB if they will continue to cover this. My doctor would also like to see me working daytime hours but I'm not sure if that would be possible since daytime positions are really hard to come by where I work. I'm keeping my eye out for positions so hopefully one will come up or they can work something out for me.

On the plus side, other things are going well :) The kiddos are in the final month of school before summer holidays and have had a great year. Both have really blossomed socially and academically. Brant has been to birthdays for 10 of his classmates so far this year and he has enjoyed every one of them :) The kids have a field trip to Cultus Lake waterslides tomorrow and I'm really hoping the sun will make an appearance! Owen is looking forward to starting kindergarten in the fall - can't believe my baby is old enough to go to school already! The garden is off to a slow start because of the cold and rainy spring we've had but we're hoping the weather will brighten up and that we'll have a long late summer and still enjoy fresh fruits and veggies from the yard.

Well that's about it for now. I am working at 3pm so I better start getting ready :) Also waiting to hear back from WCB and the Head Injury place where I left messages to find out what the procedure is now that I'll be finished my GRTW as of Saturday. I've never done the WCB thing before so all this is so foreign to me.

May 18, 2011 - week 3 of back to work

2011-05-18T23:00:00.003-07:00

So I'm in week 3 of my Graduated Return to Work plan. This week I'm up to 6.5 hours per day and I'm working from 9-3:30 Mon-Fri. I'm liking that they have me working days and I really hope that eventually I will be able to get a daytime position either at this job or in a similar field. The last couple of days have been really sunny here (finally) so 2 days ago we took the individuals to Cultus Lake for most of the day and today another staff and I walked to the mall with a couple of the individuals we work with. I'm getting back into the groove of things and the individuals seem to be happy I'm back.

I'm doing pretty good with the whole work thing but there are still a few things I am struggling with. The first thing I'm struggling with a lot is the memory bit. I'll start doing something and completely forget what it was I was doing. Or I'll remember something and then promptly forget again. This has been a challenge for me when dealing with appointments and a whole host of other things. I'm really concerned about missing a med time as part of our job is to administer medications to the individuals we work with - and if we miss meds we get written up and could potentially lose our jobs - it's pretty serious. The other major thing that has been a struggle for me is my vision - I have had on and off blurred vision since the concussion and I'm also getting it a lot where my vision seems "darkened" almost like there is a shade over the top half of my line of sight - like I'm wearing sunglasses when I'm not and only on half of my eyes. The blurred/darkened vision is something I have mentioned in the past to the professionals who have treated me but they always indicated that it was likely temporary and would resolve - but it's not so far and I'm wondering if we should be taking a closer look at it. The strange thing also with the blurred vision is that it's not constant the way it would be if I just needed a stronger prescription but it's only some of the time. So I will definitely have to talk about it again with my doctor when I go into see him again next week. And the last challenge is still a bit of pain from headaches and neck/shoulder strain - but I am happy to note that the headaches are finally seeming to become less frequent which is such a tremendous source of relief for me although my neck is still pretty stiff and sore - thankfully I am still going for massage appointments 3x per week.

Next week I am working my regular days again but 7 hours per day instead of 8. So I'll be doing Tues-Fri from 3pm-10pm and Saturday from 7am-2pm. It will be interesting to see if doing the afternoon/evenings will be more or less difficult than days. We usually do quite a bit of work in that shift and do a lot of running around, shopping, swimming, outings, etc so it will be a new set of challenges again for me. The week after next I will be back to my normal Tue-Fri 3-11, Sat 7-3 again.

So I'm making progress but it's still slow. I've always been challenged in the patience department though - so having this drag on so long is so not my cup of tea :) (it's been over 3 months!)

Busy, busy! - Tuesday May 10, 2011

2011-05-10T20:57:00.003-07:00

Lots going on here :) I just finished my 5th day of work today. This week I am working Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri from 8am-1:30pm with a few more duties on my list than last week. Today at work I did some work with counting money for a social event and entering it in the ledgers and on the computer so that was nice and challenging for my brain - I noticed my brain felt the strain but I did the task well and with no errors so that was good! Thankfully the whopper of a headache that I was experiencing the first couple of days has died down a ton and now it's more in the background and not dragging me down as much. I keep hoping that when I have a few days with less of a headache that it will stay that way but so far every time it comes back again ... but maybe this time!

Tomorrow I am off work which is great because we are having our Coffee Break social and doing up a salad planter with our ladies church group. I haven't been able to come to Coffee Break in quite a while because I was going to the Head Injury centre every day for so long so this will be a real treat to get together again. I've missed my friends at Coffee Break!

I also got an email today asking if I'm available to be on the worship team this Sunday again - since I love to sing I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm hoping to do a clean sweep of our stuff in the next bit. Colin set me up a facebook page to list a bunch of stuff that I want to sell over the next while and I also plan to list them on a few local groups. I'm hoping to get rid of a ton of kids stuff including clothes and toys, some household stuff, and I think Colin is hoping to clean out his garage and list some excess tools. I know we won't be getting rich but it will be nice to see if we can make a few extra dollars on some of the things we don't use or need anymore.

Oh and we also are planning to have a whole bunch of girls over on Saturday to help Kristina celebrate her 10th birthday! Her birthday was on March 22 but I was still in pretty rough shape back then so she graciously agreed to postpone her party until I was feeling a bit better. She has invited the girls from her class to come and is really looking forward to it. I'm hoping to do a bit of a "spa" theme - should be fun!

Also, Owen will be celebrating his 5th Birthday on Sunday - I can't believe my baby is growing up so fast! Sunday is shaping up to be a busy day - I'll be singing in the morning and we're also hosting our small group social that night as well. I wonder if there's any sunshine in the forecast for the weekend? Today was beautiful again and I'm just itching to get the rest of my garden planted!

Wow, I didn't think I had all that much to post today but I guess I was wrong after this long winded entry! Hopefully everyone is doing well! I'll be busy with party planning for the rest of this week but I'll be sure to post some photos after Kristina's party.

2nd Day

2011-05-05T16:24:00.003-07:00

Today was day 2 of back to work. Everything went well except for a pretty nasty headache the whole shift. The shift flew by though which was nice - first I did some cleaning, then we went out with a few of the guys for a bowling outing, and when we came home we had lunch, cleaned up and it was time for me to go already :)

When I got home I found out the the massage place had called and left a message for me to phone them back. So I phoned them and they told me that my massage benefits have been extended to the end of the month! Was SO happy to hear that! Plus when I was talking with the booking clerk I told her what had happened yesterday and asked if there was any way to squeeze me in yet this week and she said that they have an opening tomorrow at 2pm which is perfect. And she suggested that this time when I book all my appointments to ask next time for a printout so I have it in writing - I will ask for it tomorrow when I go in.

Tomorrow will be my last day of work this week and I will have to call the OT at the Head Injury place to give a report on how my first week went. Next week I will be working Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Fri from 8:30-1:30 each day. The third to fifth weeks I will be back on late afternoon/evening shifts again which is what I normally work, although eventually I would love to find a day job :) I've been keeping my eyes open for positions that might become available but I'm also toying with the idea of taking some college/university courses after Colin's done his schooling and has a job.

First Day Back to Work

2011-05-04T16:44:00.003-07:00

So today was my first day back at work. I am working 3 shifts this week - today, tomorrow and Friday from 9am-1pm. Work went really well. I'm on modified duties to start with so I was doing a lot of basic tasks like catching up on some forms that needed filling out, laundry, emptying and loading the dishwasher, helping with lunch prep, etc. The guys who I work with seemed really happy to see me again which was nice. The OT (from the clinic) warned that my symptoms would probably be more pronounced and she was right - by the time I was done today I had a raging headache, so much so that a few times while driving home I was wondering if I should be driving. Thankfully I made it home in one piece :)

I relaxed a bit after returning home and set out for my massage appointment only to get to the clinic and find out that whoever booked all my appointments with me forgot to enter the one today (we booked them all at the same time over the phone). I think I must have looked foolish just standing there at the counter but I just stood there looking at her in disbelief waiting for her to fix it but she just said sorry and that there weren't even any other appointments available this week so I was out of luck and when I didn't just leave she just kind of gave me this dirty look and said "I already said sorry, there's nothing else I can do". So I ended up leaving and I know I shouldn't let it get to me but I'm really upset about this. WCB is very strict about their rules: I am allowed 3 half hour massages per week for 5 weeks. That's 15 in total but they have to be all 3 in the same week and I am not allowed to have 2 appointment back to back, they have to be on separate days. I booked this appointment for today more than 3 weeks ago. So now because I can't fit a third one in this week I'm just out of luck and don't get to go for it. And the massages are the ONLY thing that help to ease my headaches from being raging to manageable. (I have tried medications and they don't help even a little bit). Ok, deep breath. It's not the end of the world. That's another problem, though, with a concussion: even little things can end up being HUGE deals and I find it hard to get past them sometimes.

I put a call in to my WCB contact person to see if there is anything that can be done to allow me to still make up the appointment. I also have some other questions about a few things too but I'm guessing that I won't hear back from her until tomorrow now since it's already 5pm.

My Last Day! ~ Tuesday May 3, 2011

2011-05-03T13:35:00.003-07:00

Today is my last day! Wow, I never thought that when I was hurt on February 12 that I would FINALLY be returning to work on May 4! This concussion has been a major setback for me and I hope I never have to go through this again. I'm on my way to being better but I'm not fully back to my pre-concussion self yet. I still have headaches and problems with concentrating and processing. But I am a lot better than I was when I was first injured and my Occupational Therapist said that even though I'm returning to work tomorrow it will be a gradual return to work so I will not be expected to do full hours and full tasks right away. She told me to think of it as "rehab on the job" since they can't recreate all of my work tasks in the clinic setting. So I'm doing my best to not be anxious and to trust the process.

So today started a bit differently than most days. I sat to do my cognitive work but couldn't concentrate which was ok because at 8:30 the physical therapist found me to go over the neck exercises he gave me to work on at home to help to continue to strengthen my neck. I received a questionnaire from the cognitive therapist shortly after that to fill in. And the OT gave me a couple of copies of my GRTW (graduated return to work plan) so I can keep one at home and take one with me that outlines my hours and responsibilities.

At 9:15 I spent 15 minutes on the treadmill and with the resistance bands in the gym. 9:30 was Tension Reduction. At 10am we had Education about what a Brain Injury is. I actually have been to that education class before so it was review for me. From 11-12 am I went over the exercise program that the Kinesiologist made for me to do at home. It consists of a dynamic warm up, core exercises, a circuit, and stretches. So nice of her to do that for me :)

After lunch I spent time in the gym for a bit and now I'm doing my computer work before stretch time. It's going to be so strange to not have to wake up early tomorrow and come out here but rather to sleep in a bit, see my kids off to school, and then go to work. I'm hoping it all goes well :) If I remember I will try to continue to write on the blog daily to continue to monitor my progress. Hopefully I will be announcing soon that I am symptom free :)

Monday May 2, 2011

2011-05-02T13:39:00.003-07:00

Happy Monday :) Hopefully everyone had a good weekend. I was watching the news last night and saw on the news that Osama Bin Laden has been shot and killed by the US government. Today is election day in Canada and I hope to vote later this afternoon or early evening.

Today started with the usual cognitive exercises at 8:30 and Gym/work sims from 9-9:30. At 9:30 we did Tension Reduction and at 10am we had Education.

Today's education was about Anxiety. We learned that the function of our emotions are 1) Communication (universal facial expressions), 2) Action (they motivate us into action), and 3) Self-validating. Anxiety requires a thought or belief to sustain it (ie fear). Strategies in dealing with anxiety are as follows: recognize it (don't avoid it), use relaxation (deep breathing, TRT), test your beliefs (evidence? am I overestimating consequences or my ability to deal with them?), face your fears, and cost-benefit analysis (advantages/disadvantages).

From 11-12 I met with the Physical Therapist where he did an assessment to see how I am doing now. We discussed my headaches and neck pain. Since I have full range of motion in my neck he feels that it is not as much of an injury now so much as a lack of strength and that as I do more in my job, etc, I will feel less pain. He also gave me some neck exercises to work on at home.

From 12:30-1:30 we did a group circuit in the gym and then at 1:30 I met with the counselor for a few minutes to follow up on our appointment from Friday - on Friday we spoke about Assertiveness and I had asked her for resources on that if she had any and today she said that she couldn't find any books on it but when she googled "assertiveness training" a bunch of good websites came up that might be helpful. Now I'm quickly doing my daily report on the computer before we will have our group stretch at 2pm.

It's hard to believe that tomorrow will be my last day here. I'm so glad for the great people here that have helped me on my road to recovery from this head injury and for the friends I've made - since all of the clients here have suffered a head injury we are all "in the same boat" and understand exactly what each other is going through. But I must say I will not miss the long drive here every morning! I'm looking forward to being completely recovered and hopefully that will happen soon. On Wednesday - Friday this week I will be working 4 hours per day. The therapists here have told me to expect and increase in my symptoms for the first bit of being back at work and then they should get better again. I talked to my manager on Friday and it sounds like they are looking forward to my return :)

Friday April 29, 2011

2011-04-29T13:21:00.002-07:00

Today I have another bad headache so it's been a challenge to complete all my exercises and concentrate today. But I've been doing my best.

The day started as usual with cognitive exercises, Tension Reduction and Education.

Today's education was about Mood Management. After a head injury our stress increases and our resources to deal with them decreases which often causes our emotions to take over. We were encouraged to figure out what our triggers are to a bad mood and to replace our emotions with realistic thoughts and not allow them to take over. Some Emotional Regulations Tools which were recommended (things to do when our emotions take over): squeeze an ice cube really tightly in our hand, go to the car and blast some music, relaxation techniques, self-talk/"rewinding", journaling or writing our thoughts on paper, and cardio exercise (ie go for a run/elliptical). We were also given worksheet called a "thought record" on which we could use specific situations to record the situation, our moods, our thoughts, supporting and non-supporting evidence, alternative thoughts, and then we are to rate our mood after completing the worksheet.

From 11-12 we were back in the gym - I did my work on the treadmill and some other exercise and then we did a group activity where we worked on our core strength. After lunch I did some more work in the gym and work sims and at 1:20 I started working here on the computer. I have an appointment this afternoon yet with the counselor here (final review before being discharged on Tuesday) so I wanted to get the computer work done now in case the appointment runs long. I'm also hoping to see the Physical Therapist on Monday or Tuesday to discuss headache strategies and maybe to get a few more neck stretches to help with the neck pain I'm still having.

I'm super tired today even though I seemed to sleep well last night. I think it's the headache that is causing me to feel rundown. Hopefully tomorrow and Sunday will be nice and relaxing :)

Thursday April 28, 2011

2011-04-28T13:28:00.003-07:00

Today started with the usual cognitive exercises, Tension Reduction, and then Education.

Education today was about "Return to Work Planning" with the Occupational Therapist. We spoke of the different return to work options including the Graduated Return to Work (GRTW) which I will be starting next week Wednesday. Basically the GRTW is a gradual increase in hours and/or duties and the benefits included a reduced pace, not as stressful, less demands, better understanding of your limitations, more support, helps employers understand, socialization with coworkers and clients, building confidence and less chance of re-injuring. Basically it's "Rehabilitation on the job" so a person will probably still have some symptoms and challenges at first. It includes a calendar, goals, symptom management techniques (ie stretches, heat/cold packs, extra breaks), and responsibilities (must call the OT weekly to give a report). Generally they last 4-6 weeks. And if we have any challenges with the work duties or with the plan not being followed properly we are to call our OT immediately for a quick resolution. I expressed some concerns I have about returning to work but they assured me that they will be available to help if and when any challenges arise.

After lunch I worked on my cognitive exercises and then we did a group activity in a circle with tennis balls where we did a bunch of balancing, eye following, and dizziness exercises. (ie following the ball with our eyes as we threw it back and forth from one hand to the other, focusing on a spot on the wall while shaking our heads yes or no, standing on one foot with our eyes closed for 30 seconds, etc.) Now I'm slated for computer time til 2pm and at that time we'll do our group stretch.

I woke up with a bit of a nasty headache this morning and I've been trying to keep it at bay today but it keeps trying to creep back in. Thankfully it hasn't turned into a full-blown migraine and hopefully it will stay that way but I have found that because of it I've had a harder time with my cognitive exercises today.

Schedule Links

2011-04-28T09:20:00.003-07:00

Just googling some possible links for schedule templates that I can possibly use to help me with organizing my time better and listing the links here so I don't forget them :)

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/daily-hourly-schedule-TC030002486.aspx

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CL102248350.aspx?tl=2#pg:2|ai:TC030002886|

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CL102248350.aspx?tl=2#ai:TC030000896|

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CL102248350.aspx?tl=2#ai:TC030008095|

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CL102248350.aspx?tl=2#ai:TC030007942|

Wed April 27, 2011 - The end is near :)

2011-04-27T13:43:00.002-07:00

I got the news today that I will be returning to work on a GRTW plan (graduated return to work) starting next week Wednesday. If all goes as planned I will be starting with 4 hours per day and working my way up to 8 hours per day by the end of the fifth week. The first week will just be 3 days, second will be 4, and after that will be 5 per week. I just saw my GRTW plan and went over it with the OT today. So now returning to work is very real. I am nervous and happy - I would be even happier if my headaches would leave permanently but they have become slightly less frequent which is good. Thankfully I am sleeping better now too and only waking up about 1x per night.

I went to the doctor yesterday and got the results from my bloodwork and everything looks good so I guess my fatigue was just from the lack of sleep. It was good to rule out my thyroid or iron/b12 levels being low though.

This morning started with the regular routine of cognitive exercises, cognitive class, and tension reduction. Education today was on Sleep Management with the Physical Therapist where we discussed strategies to help improve our sleep (lack of restorative sleep is a common symptom that almost every concussion patient experiences). We were told to have patience and consistency when implementing the strategies. We spoke of how many of the symptoms of sleep deprivation are similar to head injury symptoms and that lack of sleep can aggravate those symptoms. Since sleep is so important for healing after a head injury they pay a lot of attention to this. So 4 strategies I plan to implement are 1) avoid stimulants (caffeine, alchohol, etc) after 3pm. 2) Don't stay in bed and lie awake for more than 20 minutes if you wake during the night (keep housecoat and slippers beside bed for cold nights). Leave the room and read a book or do something quietly before returning to bed. 3) Keep a journal beside the bed to jot thoughts down in if you find a thought keeping you awake (ie don't forget to call the doctor in the morning). 4) Exercise daily. 5) Establish a before-bed routine that involves relaxing, washing face, reading, etc and do it at the same time every night and go to bed/wake up at the same time every day.

Before lunch we did some more gym work - I went on the treadmill and did my exercise. After lunch I worked on more gym and work-sims and now I'm finishing up my work sims with computer work before we do our group stretch at 2pm. I will continue to be in this program until next week Tuesday.

Tuesday April 26, 2011

2011-04-26T13:35:00.002-07:00

I only have time for a quick report today. Today has flown by. I hope everyone had a great Easter Weekend. We enjoyed the beautiful weather, got some garden planning and planting done, and had dinner at my parent's house on Sunday evening. On Sunday morning the kids sang in church and did a great job - it was a beautiful service.

So here's my rundown of today:
The day started with cognitive exercises as usual. Then we had Tension reduction (head to toe) and Education. Today's education was on Anger Management where we learned to identify what makes us angry and to identify if it's really anger we are feeling or a different emotion such as guilt, sadness, or fear being expressed as anger. We were told that Anger should be expressed assertively but not aggressively (not by hitting or yelling). We were also warned against holding it in but dealing with it appropriately. Some tools that might help are relaxation, changing the way you think (ie maybe the person you are angry with has had a bad day or is going through hard times), Problem solving, effective communication (including thinking before blurting out what comes to mind, listen and take time to answer, be patient, and if you are in a bad headspace ask to discuss at a different time). We were also encouraged to make a "self care" list with a bunch of things on it that make us feel better (ie spa, coffee @ starbucks, etc). And they also mentioned using humour to help with anger. Very interesting lesson.

After the education class we headed back to the gym and did a group circuit until lunch time. After lunch I worked on my cognitive exercises for 1/2 hour and then headed to the gym for my work sims and gym work - went on the treadmill. I was just about to head to the computer when the OT brought me a sheet to fill out about things I do in my job and to rate the level of difficulty I feel they will be for me when I return. It looks as though my last day here will be next Tuesday - kind of nervous to head back to work but it will be nice to get back to normal again. Now if only these headaches and other symptoms would take a hike! It's about time I'm better by now. (but I won't get angry, I will be patient :) K it's stretch time so I'm off!

Yay for the weekend! Thursday April 21, 2011

2011-04-21T13:31:00.003-07:00

So excited for the weekend - 4 days off :) Today has been a weird day - everyone is I think feeling a bit unmotivated because of the upcoming long weekend. But I've tried to do as much as possible today and thankfully the kinesiologist has done some group exercises to keep us going :)

The morning was spent doing cognitive exercises, work sims, and gym time. From about 11:30-12:30 we played a game where we had 2 teams and each team had to take turns having a person to throw a ball in a bucket and whoever got the ball in first got to answer a trivia question. It was challenging and fun.

For lunch we had a real treat - one of the other clients brought rice and butter chicken and another of the clients' wives works at the Olive Garden and brought a variety of pasta and breadsticks for us to enjoy. It was delicious!

After lunch I spent some more time in the gym doing cognitive exercises, treadmill, and work sims. Looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow :) Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Wednesday April 20, 2011

2011-04-20T13:42:00.002-07:00

So last night I had another massage which helped again with the sore neck muscles and the related headaches. I believe I have another today but I will have to check the schedule when I get home (I'm supposed to be going 3x per week for 1/2 hour per time for 3 weeks). Last night I chatted with my mom on the phone and today is Grandparent's Day at the kids' school and my mom and grandmother will be attending - I hope they have fun :)

Today started with the cognitive exercises as per usual. I took a stab at a crossword puzzle this morning but only got about half of it done (I was never very good at those anyways :) At 9am we had one of our classmates (she works as a career counselor) do a Body Language workshop where she had us act out different types of body language to each other and we had to guess what they were. At 9:30 we had Tension Reduction (guided) - this time we went from foot to head and spent extra time at the end on our shoulders.

At 10am we had education about Balance and Dizziness where we heard from the PT the importance of making ourselves dizzy on purpose and challenging our balance (by doing things like standing on one foot with our eyes closed) - doing these will show the brain the deficit so it can fix the problem. If we don`t do the exercises it won`t cue the brain that something is wrong. So to encourage habituation we are supposed to do things we are not as good at more often being careful not to overdo it and cause too much of a headache. We also spoke a bit about Vertigo since a few of us were interested in what causes it and learned that sometimes it`s caused by BPPV which are crystals leaving the place they belong and going into the ear canal (can be corrected with a series of movements) or it could indicate something more serious such as miniere`s disease (not sure on the spelling of that one) which is a degenerative damage of the nerves in the ear.

At 11am I spent time in the gym on the treadmill doing my walk/jog and work sims/exercises. Just before noon I met with the doctor on staff to discuss the problems I'm having with sleeping at night and we tweaked the sleeping medication I am on - we'll try it for 5 days at the higher dose and see if that helps and if not we'll switch to something else. (I was assured these are not habit forming).

After lunch i did some more gym and work sims. At about quarter after 1 we did a group exercise on the mats doing some pilates style exercises which was good and challenging. (I've asked the kinesiologist to write them down so I can do them at home :)

I'm just doing a quick daily review on the computer now before we will do our group stretch at 2pm and then head home for the day. Tomorrow is our last day of the week since Friday is Good Friday. We will also be off next Monday for Easter - it will be strange having such a long weekend and not coming here. This place is almost like a second home for me now :)

Well that's it for today. Thanks for reading!

Tuesday April 19, 2011

2011-04-19T12:40:00.003-07:00

I'm doing my daily report a little early today because the computer is free now and who knows if it will be free later :) I left off yesterday's with a super headache and worried that I wouldn't be able to function for the Mother-Daughter event last night. Well, I went to the massage therapist after returning to Chilliwack and it made a HUGE difference with my headache. It was still there but it was way less intense and I had a great time sporting a tutu and tiara while doing a scavenger hunt through town (I actually didn't realize that we were going to be going out in public in these outfits!) It was super fun though - I stopped at the dollar store after going for the massage and picked up some tiaras and a few packages of the tissue paper (the kind you use for gift bags) in pink and purple and we made the tutus by tying a ribbon around our waists and tucking the tissue paper in to make a poofy skirt (if you are my friend on facebook you can see some pictures to see what I mean). We had to go through chilliwack and take photos of all sorts of things on a list - at mcdonald's, at the fire station, on a bridge, with ducks, etc.

Last night I had a better sleep thankfully and this morning I work up with a headache but it wasn't nearly as bad as yesterday's. The day started as per usual with some cognitive exercises and then I spent some extra time in the gym. It was great to feel well enough today to do my treadmill walk/jog again. I find it makes me a bit dizzy when I'm doing it (especially the jogging part) but afterward I feel so much better. At 9:30 we had tension reduction training again (guided) and then we had an education class on Tension Reduction where we learned some of the benefits of tension reduction such as giving the brain a rest, headache relief, and giving ourselves permission to relax. It was also mentioned that when your body is physically relaxed your thought often also become calmer as a result. At 10:30-11:30 I was called out of class by the Physical Therapist to do a progress report on my dizziness. We discussed my progress and tweaked a few of my gym exercises. After lunch I did some more work sims and then came to the computer to do my report.

So I'll probably spend the next hour doing the rest of my work sims and some gym work and maybe some cognitive exercises before we do our stretch and then head back home again. Once I'm back in Chilliwack I have another massage appointment which will hopefully help my neck again. I'm looking forward to a (hopefully) relaxing evening.

Monday April 18

2011-04-18T13:39:00.003-07:00

Well, it's Monday. The weekend was good. Saturday I practiced my driving and Sunday was a good day as we celebrated Palm Sunday at church and the boys sang "Shout Hosanna" with their whole hearts :)

Unfortunately I did not sleep well on Saturday or Sunday night. So today I woke up with a massive headache which has stayed with me all day. I have not had a headache of this magnitude in a while so it is really knocking me down today. I did as much as I could today but my participation was limited. The kinesiologist told me I should pace myself and take breaks when I need to.

So as usual the day started with cognitive exercises - they were particularly difficult for me to do today. Then we had Cognitive class where we talked about some attention strategies such as reducing distractions (doing tasks in a quiet place, turn off media), Managing fatigue (take breaks/nap if needed, and avoid interruptions (turn off ringer on phone, avoid busy/noisy places). At 9:30 we had tension reduction (from head to foot) and then for Education at 10am we had a class on Nutrition and the importance of eating a healthy diet and doing regular exercise. At 11 we were back in the gym - I wasn't feeling up to doing the treadmill today so I did the bike instead as a warmup. Then we did a Circuit with the kinesiologist where we each had a station with 3 tasks per station that we did for 30 seconds each and then switched to the next station (in the gym). We have lots of clients here now - not sure if the increased clientele is due to an increased number of head injuries or if they're just finally realizing how serious they can be and the need for proper rehabilitation (could have something to do with all the hockey concussions lately?) After lunch I worked on some more cognitive exercises (again difficult due to the headache) and then some work sims. I'm now doing my 20 minutes of computer time and then we will do our group stretch. I feel as though this has been a very unproductive day but I guess there will be days like this. I requested another consult with the doctor here on staff to see if there is something we can figure out to help me with getting a better night's sleep. I just heard from the girl booking appointments (as I am writing this) that I will see him again on Wednesday so hopefully we can figure something out.

Tonight is mother-daughter night for my daughter's Gems class. I'm hoping I can sneak a short nap in on the taxi ride home so I will be up for it. I also have a massage appointment this afternoon which will hopefully be relaxing.

Hopefully this post all makes sense :) Have a great week everyone.

Friday April 15

2011-04-15T13:38:00.003-07:00

Yay! It's Friday :) I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.

Today started with cognitive exercises and then I met with my OT and chatted about the progress I've made. I have made progress in a bunch of areas but there are other areas that I still need to work on. Then we had TRT - this time we met the new girl and she did guided tension reduction where she told us to tense our muscles and then relax them going through the different muscle groups in the body. Then was Education where we discussed the relationship between thoughts, behaviours, and emotions. Then I met with the counselor and discussed some of the concerns I've been having about being re-injured at work after my return. We realized that the concerns are very real and also quite likely given the nature of where I work and who I work with. But considering our financial situation at the moment (hubby is still in school) I will have to stay in my current position until either our financial situation changes (when hubby finishes school or gets a job) or another position with the same number of hours presents itself for me to work in. We also discussed my desire to be more assertive when dealing with certain difficult people who tend to try to take advantage of other people or who don't pull their weight in the workplace. He gave me some strategies to work on and suggested a book to read.

After this I worked on my work sims and in the gym as well as some more cognitive work with lunch also thrown in the middle. I have been going non-stop today trying my hardest to complete all my tasks which has been no small feat! I did manage to get all but one of my work simulation jobs completed but fell short on the gym activities as I just ran out of time. I was stressing about it but my OT told me not to so I won`t. In total I have 12 work sim activities and 31 gym activities that I am supposed to do 2-3x each per day. Wow, when written like that I realize why they are not all getting done since we also have to do cognitive work and go to about 2 hours per day of education time.

My headache has been a bit of a monkey on my back today - there but not so terrible that it is too incredibly debilitating. Much better than yesterday! I`m still super tired but hopefully a relaxing weekend will help.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Snow in April?????

2011-04-14T19:38:00.002-07:00

INSTALLING SPRING...
███████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 44% DONE.
Install delayed....please wait.
Installation failed. Please try again. 404 error: Season not found. Season "Spring" cannot be located. The season you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable. Please try again...

Apparently the last time we had this much snow in April was in 1944. Hopefully that means it will be at least another 70 years before it happens again! the last pic is in Langley where there was no snow and the sun was out - it was truly weird!

Thursday April 14

2011-04-14T13:32:00.003-07:00

This morning started off very strangely - as we were driving from Chilliwack to Abbotsford it started SNOWING! And in Abby it was sticking to the ground even! So strange (I actually took photos of it because it was so unbelievable to have snow in April so I'll post them up later if I remember). By the time we got to Aldergrove the snow had turned to rain and by the time we got to Langley and then Surrey it was sunny. It was extremely strange - felt a bit like being in the twilight zone.

Even with the funny weather and extreme traffic delays (we ended up taking 232nd exit to 64th Ave to get here) we made it to the clinic with time to spare at 8:20am (our day starts at 8:30am). Our day started with the usual Cognitive exercises. Then we went to a Goal setting class presented to us by one of our fellow clients (her job is to help people with developing skills and career placement). The exercise was interesting and a bit hard for me as it required a great deal of personal reflection and thinking. It gave me a headache which I have unfortunately been battling all day now :(

After the class was TRT to music and then a class on Attention and Concentration presented by one of the OT's here. We learned that Attention is the ability to absorb information and filter out distractions and that the most common distractions for people recovering from a head injury are Symptoms (ie headache, dizziness, pain), Fatigue (not getting restorative sleep at night), and our Emotions (getting teary, irritability, anger, etc).

Then was break and more time in the gym - I worked on a bunch of my work sims and walked/ran on the treadmill. After lunch I did some more cognitive exercises (paperwork stuff) and now I'm doing my computer work sim (computer time is sometimes hard to get here as they only have one client computer). After this I will do some more gym time/work sims and then we will have our group stretch before heading home again.

Today has been a really rough day for me. I find myself super headachey and emotional but I also feel super fatigued. I will be heading to the lab to do some bloodwork when I get home to make sure that my iron, b-12, and thyroid levels are ok or if I am low on any of them. I saw the doctor yesterday for a refill on my sleeping prescription as well as for advice on pain meds - he prescribed me naproxen - we'll see if that works better for me than the tylenol does. It would be nice to have a pain med that works :)

Well that's it for today! It's cloudy here now so it will be interesting to see what the weather does for the drive home.

Wednesday April 13

2011-04-13T12:54:00.003-07:00

This morning I started with my cognitive exercises. I worked on the sheets that had words with multiple meanings and failed miserably, analogies which was easy, category breakdown which was too hard, and I had to complete words which I finished but found challenging. It's good to know which things are difficult so I know which areas I should spend more time working on.

At 9am we had Cognitive class and spoke of strategies again, this time on Information Processing. I specifically asked about driving since that is an area I am having a lot of difficulty with. I feel that my reaction time is slowed and driving gives me a headache (probably from all the visual stimuli in the environment, distractions in the car (kids, passenger, etc), and having to remember all the details of how to drive. It was suggested that I start by only drive in familiar environments with not as much traffic. I should also pace myself and slowly build up to driving for longer periods or increase distractions slowly. The reality is for my job I need to drive a large vehicle, often with a co-worker and the individuals who I work with also in the vehicle. I need to be alert to the road and the people in the van.

At 9:30am we had Tension Reduction Therapy - this time we listened to a tape where a person was giving us relaxation strategies such as imagining ourselves in a "safe" or "relaxing" place and then we did the one where we tense and then relax parts of our body (lower legs/feet, arms/hands, thighs/glutes, stomach, shoulders/neck, and face/head.)

At 10am we spoke about Headache Management. It was suggested that we keep a Headache Diary to help us recognize triggers and intensifiers. The acronym to remember is COLDER:

C: Character (what does it feel like?)
O: Onset (how it starts)
L: Location (where does it hurt?)
D: Duration (how long does it last?)
E: Exacerbation (what makes it worse?)
R: Relief (what makes it better?)

During the break I spent some time speaking with the Physical Therapist about the fact that I have no medication that is helping my headaches when they are bad (the tylenol 3`s aren`t really helping) and he offered to give me some info to take to my doctor this afternoon.

After break I returned to the gym where I worked on some work sims and did some physical exercise. The kinsesiologist showed me some stretches to help ease some pain I was feeling in my back (probably from lifting heavy things again).

Then was lunch break and more cognitive exercises. Now I am doing more work sims and exercise in the gym until 2pm when we will do our group stretch again.

Today doing this I am still having some difficulty with concentrating due to the noise in the room again and this exercise is again increasing my headache. Thankfully my arms are not as sore today. Tomorrow I think I will try to remember to do my computer work while sitting on an exercise ball.

Tuesday April 12, 2011

2011-04-12T13:44:00.002-07:00

As part of my work sim at the program that I am in for my head injury I am supposed to write a summary of my day and activities - similar to what we have to do at work at the end of a shift. I only have 15 minutes for this one so it'll be the condensed Reader's Digest version :)

This morning I took the taxi from Chilliwack to the program here. My driver today was talkative and friendly. Once we arrived at the program I did 1/2 hour of cognitive exercises. At 9am we went to Cognitive class where we learned more about the function of the brain and strategies to help us with our memory and processing challenges. Then was TRT (tension reduction) for 1/2 hour and then we had a class on Communication which was presented to us by one of my fellow head-injury patients as a part of his work simulation as he is a high school teacher - he did a great job. We discussed many of the challenges we can face with communication and how it is important to be assertive without being aggressive or passive aggressive in our workplace and relationships. Basically this means that we should not be afraid to say what we mean, especially when we are at work (which is a problem that I have because I am often afraid of "making waves" and will usually just do the work myself to avoid conflict with fellow employees - definitely something to work on!) After that we had a break, gym time and work sims, then lunch, then some more cognitive time, and now I'm working on the computer to finish up my work sim. I'm finding this work on the computer is quite difficult for me. It is challenging to type and think at the same time and as an added challenge, the noise of my fellow head injurees chatting and working behind me is distracting. So this will be also something to work on as I will often have distractions when doing computer time at work. I am also feeling a physical strain in the muscles of my upper arms - I wonder if that's from the extra weight I have been lifting in my work sims as preparation for returning to the physical demands of my job? I am also feeling my headache intensifying as well as experiencing some blurred vision which are also signs that this is quite challenging.

So this is my third week of the program here. My first two weeks were the assessment and now I'm into 3-4 more weeks of treatment. After that they are hoping that I can begin a gradual return-to-work program where I start with a few hours a day and work up to full time again in a 4 week period. These are estimates and I'm told they are only projected dates and could change to more or less depending on how I'm doing.

Well I will sign off now. We have to do our group stretch at around 2pm and at 2:30 our day is finished and we get to do the long drive home.

If you're wondering what I've been doing the last two weeks anyways ....

2011-03-30T16:34:00.003-07:00

So I'm into week 2 now of the HIAS program (Head Injury Assessment Services) and just had my team meeting today. They have recommended I continue to attend their program (called Ithy or something, I can't quite remember) for another 3-4 weeks and are hoping that I can start a gradual return-to-work program.

Lots of people have been wondering about the program so I'll do my best to explain it. The first couple of days were mostly assessments of my abilities by the Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Counsellor, Cognitive specialist, and some other person that did something called RBanz or something (sorry I can barely remember that assessment but apparently it did happen because there is a report). So they basically figured out where I am in my abilities with balance, dizziness, headaches, memory, etc and also asked for details about my job and gave me activities to do that can help me improve in the areas I am having problems.

So on a typical day I am picked up by the taxi at 7am and arrive at the program by 8:30am.

First half hour is usually gym time where we can choose from a variety of activities on our sheets to perform in the gym (anything from 10 min on the treadmill or stationary bike, neck stretches, lifting weights, "dizziness" exercises like walking and either moving my head from side to side, spinning in a circle every 3 steps or touching the floor every 3 steps, balance exercises like standing on one foot with my eyes closed, and vision exercises like reading an eye chart while shaking your head yes or no.

Then we have 1/2 hour of cognitive class where we learn strategies to help us with problems we are experiencing with regards to Attention, Memory, Information Processing, Visuo-spatial processing, and Executive Function. So for instance it is recommended that we not go to a busy coffee shop with a large group but rather only with one or two friends, to avoid loud places like concerts and sports games, to go to the grocery store prepared with a list that is in keeping with the layout of the store and ear plugs, etc. We are also encouraged to do word and number puzzles (ie soduko), reading, etc. starting with the easiest level or one paragraph in a quiet room with no distractions and working our way up to more difficult with some distractions (ie first instrumental music, then music with words, etc).

Then we have a 1/2 hour of Tension Reduction where we are encouraged to close our eyes and listen to peaceful music to help with headache and symptom management.

Then we have 45 minutes of education time on a wide range of topics including sleep management, anger management, tension reduction, nutrition, etc.

After education is a 15 min break and then we either spend until noon in the gym or with one of the specialists on staff (ie doing 1:1 cognitive exercises, counselling, OT, PT, etc)

12-12:30 is lunch time - usually a mad rush for the microwaves with last night's leftovers :)

12:30-2pm can include more time in the gym or with one of the specialists. If it's in the gym we usually do circuit training where we do 3 tasks for 30seconds each at one of 10 or so different stations. This could be anything - sometimes work sims, balancing, walking an obstacle course of sorts, doing "dizzy" tasks, etc.

2pm is the 20-30 min stretches where we all use mats or stand and stretch before the long car ride home.

The taxi is always there at 2:30 and brings me home - usually I'm home sometime between 3:45 -4:15 depending on traffic.

So as for the program helping me, I'm assured that it will still take time for all of my symptoms to go away and that by "concussion standards" I'm still very early in my injury (most of the people at the program were injured in January or fall of last year and are still experiencing symptoms). I still have almost constant headaches and experience a lot of difficulties with tasks such as driving, memory, and processing as well as not being able to do a task when there are other things going on around me. I also have a lot of difficulties with problem solving and find that my thinking is slowed down a great deal. This is of course very difficult for me as it feels as though I have lost my intelligence. However, I have been assured that my intelligence is still there, it's just that my brain is using up so much of it's energy in repairing itself that it is protesting any extra brain usage that is not necessary. That is also the reason I have trouble with memory and staying focused - my brain is already busy and doesn't have room for more "stuff".

So my head injury journey isn't over yet. I wish I could say that I feel like I'm doing much better but the progress is extremely slow and while there have been a couple of "good days" where I feel like things are looking up, there are also "bad days" that make me feel like I'm traveling backwards instead of in the right direction (example, Thursday and Friday last week were really good days but Monday and Tuesday of this week were really bad). Today is a teensy bit better but having a really awful cab driver today didn't help (he didn't understand that I have a headache and when I asked him to turn the radio softer he switched it to the boom boom station and turned it up instead - he didn't seem to understand a word I said and I couldn't understand him either, it was very frustrating. Thankfully bad cab drivers are not the norm and I've had some really great ones over the last two weeks too).

So anyways, that's my little update. Thanks for reading.

Head injury update

2011-03-08T18:59:00.003-08:00

Thought I'd post an update on how I'm doing and how things are progressing with this concussion business.

Sadly, yes, I still have headaches all day every day. Some days it's super frustrating. Most days I try to keep my mind on other things and rest. I rest a lot. And I'm trying to stay positive as much as possible. My prognosis is good - I have nothing permanently damaged from what they see and I keep getting assured that I will get better but it will just take some time. They compared it to a bad bruise - it sometimes can hurt for quite a while before it gets better. And the brain heals slowly so we need to just have patience.

So, last week I went to the Back in Motion Head Injury Assessment and Treatment Services centre (HIATS) on Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday I went for a medical exam and was diagnosed with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI), Cervical Strain Injury with mixed MTBI/cervicogenic headaches, and Non-restorative sleep pattern. His recommendations for me were to take a medication that can help me get into REM sleep which will help me heal faster, the 10 day HIAS Head Injury Assessment and Treatment program, and Massage Therapy. On Thursday I met with a Psychiatrist that specializes in Head Injuries for a Concussion screening. He confirmed that I have Mild to Moderate Brain Injury and partial Amnesia (blocks of information that are missing or damaged causing me to have troubles with memory and processing) and he also recommended that I come back for the 10 day HIAS program.

Since then, I have started the sleeping pills which finally seemed to help last night when I took two instead of one (he said to start with 1 for the first 4 days and if that didn't help to take 2 before bed). I also went for massage therapy yesterday and today and go again on Thursday. So far I haven't noticed a huge improvement from the massage therapy in headache relief but it does seem to be helping my neck muscles.

I also found our that they want me to go for the HIAS program from March 21-April 1 from 8:30am-2:30pm Mon-Fri. This program is in Surrey which is about an hour and a half drive from where I live (give or take depending on traffic). Oh and did I mention that March 21-April 1 is the kids' Spring Break? So I told WCB this and they said no problem - they will pay for daycare for the kids so I can go. They will also pay for either a cab to take me there and back each day or put me up in a hotel in Surrey. The hotel is tempting but I can't leave Colin with the three kids like that, especially since he has been working 3 evenings a week and has homework for his classes (he is in university) plus it's Kristina's birthday on the 22nd. I said, wow, taking a cab will be expensive and told her I felt guilty about that but she said not to worry about it that I'm not allowed to stress out about it even because that can make my head worse. Too funny.

So that's about it for now. I will continue with the massage this week and next and then go for the big 10 day program which will hopefully get me on the road to recovery. I am so ready to be better again! I was getting a little upset about still having the headaches, er make that a lot upset (you know, irrational crying and being angry and such) but I am encouraged that we seem to be moving forward and hopeful that I will be better soon :) Thanks to everyone for your words of encouragement and prayers - they mean so much to me!

Spread the word to end the Word!

2011-03-02T09:30:00.005-08:00

Today is the Spread the Word to End the Word awareness day in which everyone is challenged to change their thinking and to remove hateful language from their vocabulary that denigrates people with disabilities (ie the R-word). Go to the website: www.r-word.org and make your pledge today! Our family thanks you!

And in relation to this, I am re-posting this blog post from before, as found in a previous post:

The world needs an A-HA moment

Quite a few years ago, my husband had an employee who used the "R" word. He would say things like, "This traffic is r*tarded" or "I'm such a r*tard." My husband repeatedly asked him not to use the word. He told him that word offended him because he has a son with a disability. "Oh but I don't mean it that way!" the employee would reply, "I don't think of Brant as being mentally retarded, he's a cute kid and I love him. I just don't think of him that way." And so it went on and on, he would say the word, Colin would correct him, but he just didn't get it.

Then one day the employee was at a friend's house. (the employee and the friend and his family all attend the same church as we do so we all know who each other is). He was telling the friend's grandmother that he was looking for a new job because our family was planning to move to BC. The grandmother asked, "Why are they moving to BC?" to which the employee responded, "Because the services there are better for their son." So of course, the grandmother asked what was wrong with our son, to which the friend's mother responded,

"Oh you know, they're the ones with the RETARDED boy."

WELL. Talk about an "A-HA" moment for the employee!

He was furious with his friend's mom and told her never to call Brant that again!

But you know what? He got it. Finally it sunk in. Even though he saw Brant as cute and intelligent and all sorts of nice stuff, other people still see him as "the retarded boy".

The next day at work he told Colin the story and he never said that word again.

Here's hoping everyone else has an A-ha moment and realizes just how hurtful that word is.

Concussion

2011-02-26T22:44:00.002-08:00

2 weeks ago I was at work and received a head injury that caused a concussion. I immediately applied a cold compress to my head and shortly afterward called my husband to pick me up and take me to the doctor. By this time I was nauseous, had blurred vision, and had searing pain in my head. The doctor did a check up and declared that my reflexes seemed ok (I had to do the touch my nose, then his finger thing), there was no bleeding behind my ear drums, and so he figured that I would probably have a headache for about 3 days and would be good to return to work the following Tuesday.

That was 2 weeks ago. I have since seen the doctor several more times, had a CT scan, and am now booked in for a Concussion Screening in Surrey next week Wednesday and Thursday. I have had 2 weeks of excruciating headaches, disorientation, inability to complete thoughts or say what I mean, sensitivity to noise (I now wear ear plugs a lot), impatience with my children for not just being quiet and sitting still for a spell. Oh and I don't feel safe driving so I avoid it as much as possible which makes for staying home. A lot. It's been a challenge.

The good news is my CT scan came back good - as far as the doctor could tell I have no bleeding on the brain, no broken bones in my skull, and no swelling. He assured me that I WILL get better. It could take days, weeks, or months (I refuse to believe it might be years!).

So I'm attempting to learn the skill of "patience in adversity". Not an easy skill to master to be sure!

3 Years ago today .....

2010-12-17T13:06:00.003-08:00

Exactly 3 years ago today, we handed Brant over to the surgeon for his scariest surgery yet - for 13 hours the surgeons carefully dismantled his spinal column from c-1 to c-4 (top 4 vertebrae) and reassembled it using existing and synthetic bone as well as bone from one of his ribs and secured it all with a rod and screws (you should see his xrays!). He then wore a halo traction device that was screwed to his head for the next 2 months. So thankful the surgery worked! Here are some photos from that trying time of our lives:

Keeping my Opa and Oma in prayer ...

2010-09-02T22:47:00.002-07:00

My Opa has had a rough year - they found out he had a tumour in his liver which was operated on successfully however they found out he now has more lesions in his liver and it appears that he is now living his final days on this earth. We were blessed to see him this past summer before he went back to the hospital and I will cherish our visits with him forever. Here is a photo we took when we visited. Love you Opa and Oma.

A few snaps of the kids from Minter Gardens from a few weeks ago

2010-06-09T11:48:00.002-07:00

Great Contest Alert :)

2010-05-07T09:23:00.001-07:00

Super cute shirts, glasses, napkin rings, garden sign, and lip gloss ... be sure to enter!

http://cinnamonpost.blogspot.com/2010/05/little-things-giveaway.html

Happy World Down Syndrome Day - 3/21

2010-03-21T09:24:00.004-07:00

3/21 signifies 3 copies of the 21st chromosome found in individuals with Down syndrome :)

My 10 seconds of fame :)

2010-03-17T11:42:00.003-07:00

The local TV station did a piece on Down syndrome featuring my friend Lisa and her family and they had me, as the representative in our city for the local Down syndrome group, answer a bunch of questions about what Down syndrome is, what causes it, etc. Here's a clip I taped from the TV since not everyone gets the station.

The world needs an A-HA moment!

2010-02-11T13:03:00.003-08:00

The "R" word has had a lot of press lately. First Democrat Rahm Emanuel used the word and after public outrage (seemingly led by Sarah Palin, former vice presidential political candidate and mother of a son who has Down syndrome) he apologized and agreed to join the campaign to "Spread the Word to End the Word" which is a campaign to remove the word r*tard from our daily language. Then Republican Rush Limbaugh did a satirical piece on Emanuel repeatedly using the "R" word and Sarah Palin laughed saying it was funny. Um - either you're with us or your against us, Sarah. Make a decision - which is more important, your son or your career???? But the fact is, that word is still being said - on talk shows, on comedy shows, in movies, by kids in high school, by people my age ... believe me, if you ever say that word in my presence it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up and I noticed - whether I confront you about it or not (in most cases I will talk to you about it either now or later).

That said, I have a little story to share that might help you understand what the big deal is about all of this "R" word stuff anyways ...

Quite a few years ago, my husband had an employee who used the "R" word. He would say things like, "This traffic is r*tarded" or "I'm such a r*tard." My husband repeatedly asked him not to use the word. He told him that word offended him because he has a son with a disability. "Oh but I don't mean it that way!" the employee would reply, "I don't think of Brant as being mentally retarded, he's a cute kid and I love him. I just don't think of him that way." And so it went on and on, he would say the word, Colin would correct him, but he just didn't get it.

Then one day the employee was at a friend's house. (the employee and the friend and his family all attend the same church as we do so we all know who each other is). He was telling the friend's grandmother that he was looking for a new job because our family was planning to move to BC. The grandmother asked, "Why are they moving to BC?" to which the employee responded, "Because the services there are better for their son." So of course, the grandmother asked what was wrong with our son, to which the friend's mother responded,

"Oh you know, they're the ones with the RETARDED boy."

WELL. Talk about an "A-HA" moment for the employee!

He was furious with his friend's mom and told her never to call Brant that again!

But you know what? He got it. Finally it sunk in. Even though he saw Brant as cute and intelligent and all sorts of nice stuff, other people still see him as "the retarded boy".

The next day at work he told Colin the story and he never said that word again.

Here's hoping everyone else has an A-ha moment and realizes just how hurtful that word is.

OK - so I cheated!

2010-02-11T10:15:00.003-08:00

Usually I like to play with graphics and designs and do my own stuff but this time I totally cheated and used one of the cute backgrounds they have at the cutest blog on the block website.(I did add my own photos and text to the header :) Hopefully I will have time again soon to do my own but for now this will at least get me into the right decade :)

Happy New Year!

2010-02-09T09:08:00.002-08:00

OK - I know it's February and I haven't posted in FOREVER! I need to make a point of updating sometimes but I often find it's just easier to post those one line status updates on Facebook these days with our busy lives! I was very happy to see that my grandparents finally opened a facebook account - that helped to ease my guilt a bit since I know my Oma is one of my most diligent followers :)

So what's new? WELL. Lots is! :)

Since our last post, Brant has lost his second tooth and the first adult tooth is fully grown in already. Brant was accepted into the ASAP/SAP (after school activity program/ Saturday activity program) and started at the beginning of January. He attends every Friday after school (they pick him up and we get him at 5pm) as well as every second Saturday. He had been going to Occupational and Physical therapy in Abbotsford on Saturdays but we have now reduced those therapies to every second Saturday and we have been having Colin's sister take him for respite on Friday evenings to Saturdays and she is taking him to therapy (she lives in Abbotsford) and then they do fun things afterwards (eg swimming, go to the park, etc). He really enjoys the ASAP/SAP and they go all kinds of places - like a big indoor play park in Langley one Saturday, Ice Skating (yes he actually wore skates and ice-skated!), bowling, to the park, etc. He also loves his sleepovers at Aunty Paulette's house! :) His last visit to the Orthopedic Surgeon and GI Specialist was on Jan 21 (at BC Children's Hospital) and the Xrays of his neck showed that it is healing wonderfully and the Othopedic Surgeon is even going to use Brant's before/after pictures in a medical journal as a "success story". We don't have to see him again for a year. The GI specialist was pleased with how well Brant is doing on the Gluten free diet (he has gained 12lbs since last February and is 2 inches taller since last June!) He would like to see us again in 6 months. It's so nice not to have to be trucking off to Vancouver so often now!

Kristina and Owen are doing well - not too much new to report on them. Kristina is enjoying third grade but is a little overwhelmed by the amount of homework she sometimes comes home with (mostly math). She is doing well though in her grades which is good :) Owen is our busy 3 1/2 year old who is the size of most 6 year olds (he is bigger and outweighs Brant). He is my big helper at home and often misses Brant. I'm going to see if I can get him into preschool in the fall to prepare him for Kindergarten (our province has passed a ruling that by 2011 it will be mandatory that all schools have full day every day kindergarten).

Colin is still in school. He finally had his WCB claim approved in October and they rehabilitated him until early January with daily physiotherapy. He now has back his full range of motion in his shoulder but is still in a fair bit of pain (which the physiotherapist said they can't so anything about). Colin is taking more computer courses this semester and hopes to soon get accepted into a co-op work term (hopefully summer or fall semester).

My big news is that I got a job! I wasn't really expecting to return to the work force until after Owen was in school full time but given the circumstances of Colin being in University I decided to start looking around and if the right job opportunity presented itself then I would pursue it (I decided against continuing doing daycare in our home since that backfired on me last year with the one daycare parent I did care for still owing me $600 from last June!) So I decided, with my experience volunteering and managing the local Down syndrome society as well as the many workshops I've attended and of course my experience of being Brant's mom to apply for a job as a Community Living Support Worker to work with adults with disabilities. Well, I got hired! :) So at the beginning of October I started working relief (basically filling in for people on vacation or where they are short staffed) and after applying internally for several jobs I was hired for a full time position in a group home that is only a 2 minute drive from our house! My schedule has me working Saturday from 7am-3pm, Sat-Sun sleepover (I come to work in my pajamas and sleep on the sofa bed) from 11pm-7am, Sunday and Monday from 3pm-11pm and Tuesday from 3pm-10pm. What I love about my schedule is that I have Wednesday Thursday and Friday OFF plus I still have Saturday evening off and I can attend church with my family on Sunday morning. Plus I'm home until 3pm on Monday and Tuesday - which will be so great when the kids are off school for Spring Break and Summer holidays as I will be home all day and we won't need to get daycare for 3 kids (which could get pricey!)

As for the rest, I did FINALLY got new photos taken of the kids and I will post them up soon (I should really change that header, doncha think?) I hope this finds you all having a great 2010 so far! (and I promise I will try to update more often!)

Brant's new look!

2009-09-09T14:23:00.002-07:00

Notice anything missing???

Brant's Kindergarten Graduation

2009-06-19T20:32:00.003-07:00

Actually it wasn't really a graduation, but it was a celebration :) Each of the kids went up on stage and had something to say about their letter. Brant's was the letter T and his "line" was "We liked to play with the Sand Table" Brant had an amazing year that had both it's ups and downs. Of course, a big "down" was when he was so sick from his Celiac Disease from November-January. He missed a lot of school during that time and was so sick that he couldn't even hold his head up. But once we figured out the problem and got him on the gluten free diet, he excelled! His energy was back, he gained back the weight he lost and then some, he gained muscle, his speech, gross motor, and fine motor skills all improved, and best of all he started walking! If you would have told me before how much diet can affect a person, I probably wouldn't have believed you - but Brant is living proof!

As a thank you to his teacher (Mrs. V), his aides (Mrs. "Falen" and Miss Bouwman), and the Spec Ed. Coordinator (Miss V.O), I took a photo of Brant that was taken by my sister Andrea at the Tulip Fields and added to it the "Welcome to Holland" story/poem by Emily Perl Kingsley. I also made a necklace for each of them and thanked them in the card for being such great "tour guides" in Holland :)

Here are some pics from Brant's last day as a Kindergartener!

Both Kindergarten Classes

Brant with his current TA, Miss Bouwman

Brant with his teacher, Mrs. V

Teacher Gift

Close up of the necklaces I made

Owen's Eye

2009-06-19T19:56:00.004-07:00

Owen had a reaction last weekend. We think he might have been stung by a bee. In any case, Benadryl wasn't helping so we took him in and got Prednisone (I think that's what it was called) which seemed to clear it up nicely. Here are some snaps of his nasty looking eye

Hippotherapy!

2009-06-19T19:46:00.003-07:00

Brant was recently given the opportunity (and the doctor's OK) to participate in Hippotherapy again! (aka Therapeutic Horseback Riding). Hippotherapy is wonderful for developing trunk and core strength which is an area that Brant needs to get stronger. You might recall that Brant tried Hippotherapy a long time ago and never enjoyed it (this was before we knew about his neck anomaly so we think it might have been painful for him but unfortunately the x-rays never showed his neck anomaly and he had been ok'd to ride that time too ... little did we know!) Anyways, this time around he is really enjoying it! He loves "his" horse, Jelly, and is big smiles the whole time! Unfortunately they close for the summer but we are looking forward to starting up again in September! These photos were taken on his last session before summer break and he even got a ribbon :) Oh and Jelly is wearing a funky hairdo with spikeys because it was the last day - that actually freaked Brant out a little at first!

We had a very exciting Buddy Walk this year!

2009-06-08T10:16:00.003-07:00

Brant WALKED!!!!!

(that's my Mom and Colin's sister Paulette holding his hands)

He got tired and rode in the "chariot" with his cousin, Elayna, the rest of the way (she is the same age as he is and they are in kindergarten together and she is terrified of dogs so this worked well )

This was before the walk at the pancake breakfast (I made a gluten free pancake for Brant and brought it along):

And I just love this picture of my niece's on the slide of the bouncy castle:

It was a beautiful warm sunny day and we all had a great time. The pancake breakfast was 100% donated by BluStone Restaurant, we had free coffee and timbits donated by the Tim Hortons Community Cruiser, Lunch was donated by PriceSmart Foods (a local grocer) and Costco (hot dogs, chips, pop), and we had about 350 people there! More info is on our website: www.fvdss.org

Here are more pics from the day:

Welcome to Holland

2009-05-03T08:31:00.005-07:00

Yesterday we went to the Tulip Fields in Aggasiz so that my sister Andrea could take pictures of the kids as well as a family photo. I took my camera and snapped some pics too!

April already!

2009-04-05T21:18:00.004-07:00

Wow, I can't believe it is April already! We had a beautiful sunny Sunday here today and we enjoyed it by heading to Vedder River after church for a walk. Then we enjoyed dinner at Brad and Rebecca's place :)

March was a busy month. I realize I haven't posted since Brant took his first steps! Oops! I should try to post more often but I find myself mostly posting to Facebook these days.

Kristina celebrated her 8th Birthday on March 22nd and I celebrated my birthday on the 17th so we had a combined party with my niece Elayna (her birthday is on the 18th) at our house on Friday the 20th to celebrate with my side of the family. Then Kristina had a friends birthday party on her birthday after church with a few of her friends from school.

Birthday Girls Elayna and Kristina

Kristina at her friend's Birthday Party
Blowing out the candles

With her friends
Showing off the beautiful photo frames they decorated

Brant continues to do well as he learns to walk independently. He now can walk very well holding just one hand, in fact he almost walks better that way now than he does with his walker! He can walk across a room by himself but is still a bit wobbly ... but with Brant we have learned over and over and over again that he does things in his own time and we may as well sit back and wait patiently! But certainly we are encouraged that he is getting stronger every day and we hope to be able to have a "walker burning party" (only symbolically, we do have to give the walker back! LOL) soon! Maybe by the end of summer for his 6th Birthday, just before he heads into first grade? A good date to aim for I think. Oh and as far as his celiac goes, he is doing extremely well on the gluten free diet and has so much more energy now! Along with all that energy we are also hearing a bit of back talk! Not our sweet little Brant! Oh well, kids are kids! Now he will just have to learn what a time out is if he doesn't want to listen ^-^

Anyhow, that's enough of an update for now I think. I will do my best to take another video of Brant walking in the next few days so you can see how much he is improving already.

Happy Spring!

Something Amazing Happened Today!!!!!

2009-02-24T20:35:00.005-08:00

I'll let you see for yourself :)

PS - Sorry it's so wide. If you'd like to see the full screen click HERE

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Valentine's Day from Brant!

2009-02-12T19:41:00.001-08:00

Our appointment yesterday ...

2009-01-23T13:31:00.003-08:00

We took Brant to the GI specialist in Vancouver yesterday. The traffic was pretty good but it's a long trip no matter which way you look at it and I always am so exhausted afterwards and the next day. The doctor said that looking at Brant he is certain Brant has celiac based on the symptoms and physical characteristics Brant has as well as the high blood test results (over 200). So he is not ordering a biopsy and told us to continue to keep Brant on the Gluten Free diet and to come back in 2 months for a followup (he wants Brant to get his blood checked at the lab 10 days before the appointment). While we were there he listened to Brant's chest and looked in his ears and discovered he has an ear infection in his left ear so he prescribed some antibiotics. I had no idea since Brant hadn't complained about it.

So that's about it. Brant has celiac and will be on a GF diet for his whole life. I guess we'd better get used to it!

Brant has been Gluten free for a week tomorrow!

2009-01-20T19:59:00.003-08:00

We went to the doctor last Tuesday morning and I asked the dr. what we should do since Brant was just SO SICK. The doctor agreed that Brant looked terrible and recommended we start the Gluten Free diet immediately. He said that the blood test is 90% accurate (Brant's levels were through the roof at over 200 or something) and that we will know for sure that he has Celiac Disease if he gets healthy on the GF diet even if the biopsy results show a false negative because there is no gluten in his system.

Switching to the GF diet has been a challenge. Dinners aren't too bad as he can have potatoes/meat/vegetables or GF pasta with sauce (most sauces are GF) and of course rice is ok too. Breakfast though is tough as he always had porridge for breakfast (quaker instant oatmeal) and he doesn't like the rice cereal I bought, even when I sweeten it and add chocolate chips. He also doesn't care for the GF waffles I bought. He does however like the GF yogurt. He also didn't care for the GF bread but it seems to pass the taste test when I toast it and melt some cheddar cheese on it. (we had to buy him his own toaster to prevent cross-contamination). He also enjoys bananas and I'm trying to also get him to eat some other fruits and veggies as well. I also made some GF cupcakes (or as Brant calls them "cuppee cakes") and they were a huge hit with all the kids and even my daycare girl, so I will be making those again for sure!

Despite the challenges, the good news is he seems to be getting healthier. He hasn't thrown up at all since starting the GF diet and his stools are finally forming up a bit again (sorry - too much information!) Hopefully he will continue to get healthier and gain some weight back again soon. I hear that kids usually heal pretty quickly once they are on the GF diet so we are hopeful.

We'll be heading up to Children's on Thursday to see the GI specialist and I'm guessing they will book a biopsy within the next month or so. Hopefully they give us enough notice that I can rearrange my daycare kids again.

Brant has an appointment with the GI!

2009-01-12T16:23:00.003-08:00

After lots of calling my doctor's office as well as the GI's office we finally have an appointment for Jan 22 at 2:30pm with the GI specialist at Children's. Unfortunately they do not do the scope/biopsy on the first visit so we will still have to return a second time for that. In the meantime I don't dare take Brant off gluten yet because if I do before the biopsy it could skew the results. So poor guy has to stay sick until our system gets him taken care of properly. I tell you, it has crossed my mind more than once to just drive myself and Brant down to Vancouver and park ourselves in the ER til they do the scope ... but I know me and I won't do that unless it gets really bad. So far we have managed to keep Brant hydrated, so even though he is malnourished (everything comes back up or goes right through him) he will survive. How horrible to think that way though! As a mother it just breaks my heart to see him so sick.

Here's a couple of photos I took of him a few days ago. You can count his ribs and see his bulging belly :( I still managed to get him to smile though :)

Back from the doctor - now we know why Brant has been sick for over a month!

2009-01-07T12:59:00.002-08:00

He has celiac disease. Or at least it's very likely that he has celiac. His levels are VERY high. When the doctor showed me the results on the screen I think it said <200 or something to that effect but I'm not sure. He printed me a copy of the results but I don't think the celiac results are on it but I'm not sure, I could be way off. He is also showing low iron (probably because his intestine is not absorbing due to the celiac) and I think he said low B5? Something about the red cells being higher or bigger than expected for someone with low ferritin. The doctor was going to order another test on the blood to check something else to do with that.

ANYWAYS, so our next course of action is a referral to the GI specialist at Children's (UGH - I think I jinxed myself by being so elated that we don't have to go back there til next Nov for his next appt with the Orthopedic Surgeon!) We will hopefully hear back and get in quickly but if we have to wait more than a month we are supposed to take him off gluten until a month before the biopsy. So hopefully they can get him in quick!

So of course I would appreciate ANY info on Celiac. I know that gluten is in bread and pasta and is used as a filler in a lot of things but will labels always list gluten as an ingredient? Or if gluten/wheat is not listed as an ingredient does that mean that it is for sure gluten free? For instance, the pasta sauce I just bought, the salad dressings, the juice? I am SO GLAD I sell Epicure and that 99% of their products are gluten free! They sell spices and dip mixes and mixes to make sauces and dressings and stuff. That will be a huge help!

Update on Brant ...

2008-12-14T16:28:00.003-08:00

Well we took Brant to the doc on Friday and he figures it's just a stubborn virus. He suggested we not give him dairy which is proving to be a little tricky but not too bad. I'm not sure how long it will take before we get the results of him bloodwork. Surprisingly Brant seems to finally be feeling a bit better while the rest of us are still coughing and hacking. Hopefully we'll all be better again by Christmas, especially since we have a program that I'm singing in next Sunday!

My poor baby is still sick :(

2008-12-11T09:24:00.003-08:00

OK before you read this I will issue a warning: if you don't like to hear about being sick from both ends you probably will want to stop reading now. You have been successfully warned. Read at your own risk.

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Brant has always struggled with constipation issues and has had reflux in the past. We have treated him with prevacid (for reflux) and lactulose (to prevent constipation) in the past and he was just recommended recently to go on prevacid again. He did have low thyroid (hypo) once on a blood test but the next test showed his levels back within "normal" range. He is currently NOT on lactulose.

About a month ago we had a nasty stomach flu rage through our house. We all got it and recovered in about 24 hours including Brant. However shortly after that Brant started having soft stools. About a week later he threw up again once but then seemed ok. He got diarrhea shortly after that and has had it off and on since then (mostly on). He has thrown up about once or twice every 5 days. He caught a bad cold (I have it too) and is coughing a lot for the last couple of weeks. He has been to school only a few times this month as I don't want him to have a blowout at school (his diarrhea often spills out of his pullup and is messy and gross). He is home again today and I just called the doctor and he will be going in a 3:45 this afternoon. His appetite varies and he usually eats porridge for breakfast (quaker maple and brown sugar with a prevacid capsule broken and mixed in), a bun with cheez whiz for lunch (the only thing he likes), and whatever we eat for dinner he usually has some (usually I get meat and veggies into him during dinner). I also try to get him to eat fruit during the day but often he only eats a small amount. He prefers milk as his beverage of choice and won't drink much else. Occasionally I can get him to drink a bit of juice but he usually turns his nose to juice, water, or any milk substitute (soy milk, almond milk, rice milk, etc). I'd like to reduce his dairy but struggle with this as he doesn't eat/drink much else.

I'm guessing he has a virus (or combination of several viruses) going through his system that he can't seem to shake. I am going to try to get him into the doctor today and I'm tempted to ask for a strong antibiotic (ceftin or something) to get him healthy again. I know viruses can't be treated with antibiotics but I suspect he also has an infection of sorts (he does have a history of sinus infections and his nose has been running a little green again). I'd love to get him on any sort of immune boosting vitamins or something however with limited income we can't afford much. I'd love to get him back on Juice Plus but it isn't in the budget at the moment. I was thinking of at least getting him back on a child's multivitamin (ie flintstones) that will hopefully help a bit.

But would a virus cause repeated throwing up and long term diarrhea? I have a form to take Brant to the lab for bloodwork (CBC to check iron, thryoid, etc) but haven't brought him to the lab yet since he hasn't been well. Yesterday he threw up breakfast because he was coughing too much and it didn't stay down. He pooped 4 or 5 times (diarrhea) yesterday evening. He slept most of the afternoon and didn't want dinner. Today he is coughing but kept breakfast (porridge) down. I'm not sure what to do - I hate that he's been sick so long! Oh and Owen had a diarrhea poop this morning too (but seems fine otherwise) so that's why I think it's a virus.

WCB again ...

2008-12-03T15:26:00.003-08:00

So we received the official denial of Colin's claim in the mail today. We are still waiting for the detailed report showing all of the doctors' reports and everything else. Colin has tried since I last wrote on this blog many times to contact his adjuster and the adjuster's supervisor but they are not answering their phones and not returning Colin's calls (he has left messages). We are in the process of appealing.

We do have some other things going on right now with regards to plans until Colin can have surgery but I hesitate to post too much on a public blog in case it might hurt our appeal if WCB looks us up on the internet. So for now I'm going to not post a whole lot on this subject here and if you really want to know you are welcome to email us or phone us and ask :)

In the meantime, we appreciate everyone's prayers and encouragement. This has been a stressful time for our family but we are comforted in our faith and in God's promises to provide for His children.

Our WCB Nightmare

2008-11-26T12:24:00.005-08:00

I haven't posted about this yet but I guess I better. Back on July 29 Colin injured his shoulder at work. Our dr. couldn't see him right away so he went to the walk-in clinic and was prescribed painkillers. A week later he went to our family dr. and has been seeing him regularly ever since. At first the dr. thought it was a temporary injury but it turned out that it's much much worse. And through it all the only constant has been a nightmare of a battle with WCB that has ended badly much to our disappointment. Because honest people get covered, right? It's only those who are lying about an injury that don't get covered, right? We blindly pay WCB thinking that when we are injured at work that they will step up to the plate and take care of us.

Two days ago we were so hopeful. They had the results from the MRI and our doctor's report that shows that Colin has tears in the tendons of his shoulder including in his rotator cuff "consistent with the motion of the action Colin was doing at the time of the injury". The MRI also states that another MRI will have to be performed with dye which has a 6-7 month wait list but the WCB adjustor said they could expedite that. He said he would call back yesterday after talking to the medical adviser at WCB.

Well yesterday Colin talked to his case manager again at WCB and he says that they've officially denied his claim based on the fact that the first dr. Colin saw wrote on his report that the injury was the result of a car accident. Colin specifically told the dr. (at the walk in clinic) that he was injured at work but the dr. also asked Colin if he had ever been in a car accident and Colin said that yes he had - in 1998!!!!!! That's OVER TEN YEARS AGO!!!!!!! So the Dr. must have forgotten the work part when he was asked for a report and wrote that he was in a car accident and that is the basis of WCB denying the claim!

And of course the walk in clinic doesn't even take phone calls. I told Colin he needs to go back to the clinic, find out when that dr. is working and get him to send in a revised report but it might be too late.

I seriously cannot believe they have denied a legitimate claim. I PRAYED and PRAYED and PRAYED and I just feel so defeated right now. Colin has called the adjuster's supervisor but he's out of the office until Friday. And apparently it's near impossible to "un-deny" a claim without going through the whole appeals process (we have 90 days to appeal and have already started the process and they have up to 5 MONTHS to respond to our appeal).

Colin is in SO MUCH PAIN. He is unable to work. He can't drive a vehicle for any length of time because the seat belt hurts his shoulder. He can't sleep at night. He can't pick up his boys. He can't even open a new jar of Cheez Whiz. He's been told that he is at extremely high risk to rip the tendons and rotator cuff permanently if he is not careful which could cause irreparable damage. I don't know how he is to be expected to provide income for us until he can finally have his MRI and surgery in 6-8 months!!!!

I just don't know what to do. I am praying for a miracle - that this supervisor has a way to approve the claim.

Our day at Children's ...

2008-11-12T19:14:00.003-08:00

Brant had a checkup today to follow up with the Orthopedic Surgeon that did his Spinal Surgery last December as well as the Cardiologist who has been following him since we moved here (Brant had Open Heart Surgery when he was 8 months old). I always get nervous about these visits as my worst fear is him having to have one of his surgeries "re-done". Having a child in major surgery is NO FUN!

Everything went great save for the fact that the x-ray tech didn't get a good angle on the first x-ray so we had to redo it. Brant was not impressed!

The Orthopedic Surgeon said he is healing wonderfully. He is extremely happy with how Brant's rib bone is filling in nicely and the hardware looks great, etc. He even cleared him to do hippotherapy again as long as it's in a controlled environment and the horses only walk! We have to go back in a year unless any concerns arise in the meantime.

The Cardiologist also said Brant is doing wonderful and is "fixed" as far as he is concerned. We don't have to do anymore followup visits at all unless we have any concerns.

Oh and Brant had his weight and height checked. He is now 94.9 cm tall and weighs 14.2 kg. (37.5 inches and 31 lbs) Pretty good considering he weighed 26 lbs forever! It's nice to see he is finally gaining weight - probably because his PT has him lifting weights and working hard every week! LOL

So YAY! A good visit! :)

Crescent Beach

2008-10-11T20:42:00.001-07:00

First Day of School!

2008-09-04T09:26:00.002-07:00

I can't believe it's September and Summer is over already! The kids were back to school this week - Kristina's first day of Grade 2 was on Tuesday and Brant's first day of Kindergarten was today. I must admit that sending Kristina to Kindergarten was a lot easier than sending Brant - it's going to be such a long day for him! He gets on the bus at 7:10am and gets home at 4:10pm. He will be attending on Tuesdays and Thursdays and every second Friday. This morning I put him on the bus and he waved with a big smile on his face from his prime window seat! He was very excited to learn that cousin Elayna would be sharing a seat with him on the bus.

Here are some photos of my kiddos on their first days of school for 2008-09!

Some people DO "get it"

2008-08-11T10:49:00.003-07:00

Coca Cola "gets it". Just watch this commercial they have out for the olympics. Just beautiful!

*unfortunately YouTube removed the video due to cracking down on copyrights but you can still view the commercial by visiting the Special Olympics site at this link: http://www.specialolympics.org/Special+Olympics+Public+Website/English/Press_Room/Global_news/2008+Olympics/New+Olympics+Coke+Commercial.htm

Some people just don't "get it"

2008-08-11T10:22:00.005-07:00

You might have been hearing the chatter about the new movie by Dreamworks coming out called "Tropic Thunder" starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., and Matthew McConaughey in which they make fun of a developmentally challenged character named "Simple Jack". The promotional poster they put out originally is enough to make a person sick. They did pull the "Simple Jack" promotional materials and website due to the huge outcry by disability rights activist groups. However they still don't see anything wrong with the movie. They say it's just a comedy; that we should "lighten up". They see nothing wrong with making fun of developmentally challenged people and calling them "retards". (of course you all KNOW how that word makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention!)

Anyways, I'm not going to say much more on the subject other than encouraging everyone NOT to watch this movie. If you feel strongly about the subject and would like to take it a step forward, I would encourage you to write a letter to Dreamworks as well as your local newspaper. Let them know your disapproval for their hateful language and blatant ridicule of persons with disabilities. There are some petitions and facebook groups you can join. And I will include links to this post as I find them for any further information. The first link includes a copy of the original poster depicting "Simple Jack" with the tagline, "Once upon a time ... there was a retard".

I personally think the whole lot of actors and execs at Dreamworks should be charged with hate crimes. At the very least they should be forced to volunteer with persons with disabilities to enlighten and educate them about the value of every human being!

Links:
Media and Mayhem

Petition to Stop Tropic Thunder

Tropic Thunder, Stop the Blunder - Facebook Group

5 Minutes for Mom-Once upon a time there was a Retard

“Tropic Thunder” Boycott Expected

What “Tropic Thunder” Thinks Is Funny

Nationwide Thunder Boycott in the Works

Advocates for disabled to boycott “Tropic Thunder”

The Arc: Action Alert

Insensitive Hollywood People Thought It Felt Right to Use Hate Words Against People Living with Disabilities

Addresses to write to:

DreamWorks
100 Universal City Plaza, Bldg. 5121, Universal City, CA 91608
818-733-7000

Paramount/Vantage
5555 Melrose Ave., Ball/Lasky Bldgs., Los Angeles, CA 90038
323-956-2000

Ben Stiller, Writer/Director/Producer
Read Hour Films, 629 N. La Brea, Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-602-5000

Apples!

2008-08-05T11:29:00.002-07:00

Yesterday we picked over 10 gallons of apples from our transparent apple tree! And there's still more up there! We made a whole bunch of applesauce, 6 pies, and I'm straining juice to make apple jelly. It has been a family affair with Colin and Kristina peeling, and I have been cutting and preparing. Owen helped pick the apples and Brant is always ready with the next apple to pass to the peeling squad :)

Summer fun :)

2008-08-01T17:41:00.003-07:00

I know I know, I haven't posted much lately (sorry Mom and Oma! :) Summer has been busy and fun with not much computer time for me. We've been enjoying the outdoors. We went to Dinotown the other week and I was interviewed and we were on TV :) (Shaw channel 4 for those in Chilliwack). We spend a beautiful afternoon at Cultus Lake with Beppe and Gramma B (Colin's Mom). Gramma andGrampa B came for a visit last weekend and stayed at our house for a few days and we had a great time with them. We've also been enjoying our backyard pool on nice days and the kids love going outside every chance they get! I've been trying to be a bit of a homemaker, baking bread when I can. I'm hoping also to make a bunch of jam with raspberries and blackberries when they are ready. Starting next week Friday I will be doing daycare on Monday and Friday afternoons for the neighbours (their girls are the same age as Brant and just a bit younger than Owen). We are looking forward to Brant's birthday on August 17 and then my brother Greg is getting married on August 29 and I have to still figure out what song I'm going to sing (they asked me to sing during the signing :)

Well I'm posting while dinner's on the stove so I'd better get back to it! Hope everyone's having a great summer!

Busy Summer!

2008-07-09T11:59:00.002-07:00

The cherries are ready and we picked a whole lot of cherries yesterday! I'm currently in the process of canning 24 cups of Cherry Pie Filling and I have 3 large containers of cherries that are perfect for eating in the fridge! Plus both of our neighbours took ladders up the tree and picked a bunch too!

Brant has an opportunity to attend a special phsyical therapy summer day camp in August at Cultus Lake (unfortunately it is the same week as the Devries reunion :( ) and has been given a scholarship to attend since it wasn't funded by our At Home Funding. He will also be starting private Occupational, Physical, and Speech Therapy once a week in August that is fully funded through the At Home Program which I am very excited about! Hopefully the extra therapies will give him that edge he needs to be successful in Kindergarten next year!

We are having a nice lazy summer. Thankfully Brant's pneumonia and strep throat are gone now. Kristina is driving me a little crazy but that's ok :) She is one of those kids that doesn't stop making noise all day - whether singing or humming or talking or tapping. She has been having fun playing "teacher" at "school" with the boys and doing lots of crafts. And Owen is into everything like a typical 2 year old boy. He still loves hockey but has found a new summer love - FOOTBALL!! You should hear how he says it, kind of in a low growly "Tim the toolman Taylor" kind of voice - very funny!

Well I better get back to my canning and bowmaking! I have a bow order that has to be ready today (I've been making bows to sell, you can see them here: www.dipsydaisy.blogspot.com)

Hope everyone is having a great summer!!!

Brant has pneumonia :(

2008-06-25T10:37:00.004-07:00

Yes that's right, Brant has pneumonia. I took him to the dr. yesterday thinking he had strep throat (which he does also). The dr. figures we caught it early enough and that it should go away with a good round of strong antibiotics which he started yesterday and already seems to be getting better after one dose! He had a second dose this morning and is having a nap. We are trying to keep him hydrated but that's been a bit of a challenge since his throat hurts. The dr. figures he also might have an ear infection but couldn't tell for sure since his ear canals are so tiny. This is the first time Brant has ever had pneumonia so I'm not entirely sure what to expect. Hopefully he gets better quickly! We are going to the dr. again on Monday for a follow up appointment.

We have all actually had a bit of the sickies here. Colin and I were also sick on Sunday/Monday and Kristina started puking on Monday night and all day Tuesday. Some start to the summer!

Last week was busy busy with Brant's graduation and all the end of school stuff. We had a good week though and I snapped a few pictures. (I'll share a few here but you can see the rest of them if you are a friend of mine on facebook since it's so much easier to upload more pics there!)

Oh and I want to get back into the cleaning the house thingy. I think today I will blitz the house and get a ton of laundry done and sheets cleaned and tomorrow I will go back on track with the day to day stuff again.

Brant's graduation photos:

End of the year party for the CDC at Dinotown :)

Cheez Whiz

2008-06-20T21:53:00.003-07:00

Cheez Whiz adds
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Personality!Yes this is Owen. Seems he can get into my fridge. Seems he can open a jar of Cheez Whiz. Seems he likes to wear Cheez Whiz more than he likes to eat it.

Busy Busy Busy!!!

2008-06-20T10:19:00.003-07:00

This week has been SO BUSY!

Monday was Brant's year end preschool party at Funland

Tuesday I did an Epicure Party

Wednesday I recovered from Monday and Tuesday and tried to get some cleaning and stuff done.

Thursday we went to the year end party for CDC Playgroup at Dinotown in the morning and then went to the pool for Physical Therapy for Brant in the afternoon.

and Today is the last day of school for both Brant and Kristina. Brant had his preschool grad rehearsal this morning and has his graduation tonight at 6:30. I have to be at Kristina's school at 11:30 for her year end assembly and they get out at noon. This afternoon we have playgroup in Abbotsford for the Fraser Valley Down Syndrome Society.

Tomorrow I will be sleeping in. And I expect the kids to sleep in too. Think it'll happen???

Clean House - Day 8

2008-06-13T12:33:00.004-07:00

I haven't forgotten about this! Yesterday I did a second day in the basement and made good progress but today we are back upstairs and in the Living Room! A big relief for me since I don't think I could take another day with allergies running rampant :) On the weekend we will do the attic so that's why we are skipping a couple of days in the order (technically the weekend is days 6 & 7)

8. Living Room

Make a sweep of the living room with a bag or basket to hold items that go elsewhere.
Straighten items on mantel, coffee and end tables.
Vacuum, dry-mop or sweep floor.
Spot-clean dirty surfaces and dust the rest.
Wipe mirrors and TV screen with damp paper towel.
Straighten or flip cushions and fluff pillows.
Trouble spot:
Use a dry sponge or vacuum on low suction with dust-brush attachment to clean lampshades.

and our every day stuff:

Make beds.
Sweep floors.
Clean kitchen tables and countertops.
Load/unload dishwasher.
Tidy up living areas.
Sort mail; toss junk.

Clean House - Day 5

2008-06-11T14:35:00.002-07:00

I'm a little late posting today but I have been working on my day 5 tasks! Today we are in the Basement and I've been down in the dungeon sorting boxes, getting rid of garbage, and getting things organized. It is certainly not a 1 day project though! I think I might have to carry the basement over to tomorrow and make it a two day thing. Only problem I have with doing dusty basement work is my allergies - I am extremely allergic to dust and right about now my eyes are nearly swollen shut and my nose is raw from blowing it. I'll be sure to stop though when I start having troubles breathing which will inevitably happen if I keep this up. My mom always joked I was allergic to work! HAHA, I guess she was right :)

Anyways, here is today's (and tomorrow's) list:

5. Basement

Neaten basement storage area.
Move items off the floor to pallets or shelves.
Sweep or mop floor.
Label boxed items.
Check for water damage or pest infestation.

and of course our every day stuff:

Make beds.
Sweep floors.
Clean kitchen tables and countertops.
Load/unload dishwasher.
Tidy up living areas.
Sort mail; toss junk.

Clean House - Day 4.1 :)

2008-06-10T12:45:00.001-07:00

I didn't get all my paperwork done yesterday and I think it's really important that I get it done, especially since our personal taxes need to be done by mid June and the accountant called this morning looking for some missing papers. So that is my big project today! Hopefully we can move on to day 5 tomorrow :D

Clean House - Day 4

2008-06-09T12:31:00.002-07:00

Some of you might have noticed that I took the weekend off. I was planning to for sure take Sunday off but Saturday snuck in there too :)

But here we go, back at it!

Today is going to be a tough one for me since I don't really have a clearly defined "Home Office". I have a computer in the basement with lots of papers and junk in lots of different boxes and a very disorganized file cabinet. YIPES. I may have to revisit this one ... hmm maybe Saturday should be a finishing day for anything that didn't quite get done on another day of the week :)

4. Home Office

Straighten up your bill-paying center; group things by category.
Cull old papers from files and countertops.
File bills, user manuals, warranties and receipts.
Replenish supplies, such as stamps, envelopes, staples and pens, and store in one drawer or container.
Timesaver:
When you open bills, immediately toss outer envelopes and inserts.

and our every day stuff:

Make beds.
Sweep floors.
Clean kitchen tables and countertops.
Load/unload dishwasher.
Tidy up living areas.
Sort mail; toss junk.

Clean House - Day 3

2008-06-06T07:48:00.001-07:00

OK here we go on day 3!

3. Conquer Junk!

Clean catchall drawers and shelves by culling junk from usable items.
Group like items, such as pens, tape, stamps and coupons.
Use small baskets or folders to hold pens, coupons, etc.
Give kids 5 minutes to get all their stuff to their rooms—or else!

and don't forget to repeat day 1

Make beds.
Sweep floors.
Clean kitchen tables and countertops.
Load/unload dishwasher.
Tidy up living areas.
Sort mail; toss junk.

Clean House - Day 2

2008-06-05T08:51:00.002-07:00

Here's the list for day 2:

2. Family Room

Return videos and CDs to storage area.
Spot-clean sofas and carpeting as needed.
Flip and rotate cushions; fold throws.
Straighten magazines and newspapers.
Spot-clean and dust surfaces.
Vacuum/sweep family room floor.
Timesaver:
Clean rooms in a clockwise pattern, starting at the door.

and don't forget to repeat day 1

Day 1 (and every day)

Make beds.
Sweep floors.
Clean kitchen tables and countertops.
Load/unload dishwasher.
Tidy up living areas.
Sort mail; toss junk.

Clean House - Day 1

2008-06-04T08:39:00.001-07:00

Day 1 (and every day)

Make beds.
Sweep floors.
Clean kitchen tables and countertops.
Load/unload dishwasher.
Tidy up living areas.
Sort mail; toss junk.
Timesaver:
Keep a basket near the stairs to hold things that need to go to another floor.

30 Days to a Clean House!

2008-06-03T20:04:00.002-07:00

OK - so some of you might be aware of the fact that I am a teensy weensy bit of a clutterbug ....... ok maybe a BIG GIGANTIC clutterbug ....... I'm working on getting better and I have improved some - honest!. But when I saw this article in Woman's Day Magazine called 30 Days to a Clean House I figured it was about time I got the WHOLE job done once and for all! So I fear I will have to bore you with the details here on my blog as I journey through this challenge! I will be starting tomorrow with Day 1 and continuing from there. Hopefully I won't miss any days and by blogging about it I will stay on track - you all can keep me in line!

Oh and if anyone would like to join me in this challenge I'm happy for the company! Here's to a clean house in 30 days!

So you think you can dance? Link Fixed*

2008-06-02T16:36:00.003-07:00

Just wanted to post this cool video clip of a young man with Down syndrome who did a great job auditioning for the show, "So you think you can dance". He dances better than I do for sure :) (this is for you Teresa!!!)

Wordless Wednesday

2008-05-14T18:14:00.003-07:00

Long day ...

2008-04-29T17:31:00.002-07:00

Going to Children's always makes for a long day. Especially when there's an accident on the freeway on the way home

But the good news is that Brant is doing well and it appears that his fusion is holding - although I have to say that seeing that xray was a little freaky - I could see the big rod next to his spine and the screws that were holding it in place -

The doctor did say that we still need to be taking it easy with Brant and probably will for at least a year. I told him that Brant seems to have limited range of motion from side to side and he said that's good and if he suddenly seems to be able to move his head way more that's a bad sign that the fusion has let go! Yikes! We go back in another 3 months for more xrays to make sure it's all still holding.

After we saw the orthopaedic surgeon we went to the respiratory clinic to discuss the possibility of sleep apnea. We felt that Brant was having sleeping problems before the surgery but they have seemed to improved immensely since the surgery. But the respiratory doc thinks we should do a sleep study to be sure so we're on the wait list for that in the next 6 months or so. Thankfully it's not a huge concern at this point so I don't mind waiting and I actually hope it will happen sometime this summer so he doesn't have to miss any school.

So that was our day. We left the house before 8am and were home again at around 4:30pm. LONG day but happy to be home ... I think I'll take a bath tonight :)

The Wiggles!

2008-04-19T20:19:00.006-07:00

Today we went to see the Wiggles Live in concert thanks to some friends of ours who paid for our tickets when Brant had his surgery (thanks March Mommies!!!!). We were even invited to a special meet and greet before the show and got to meet the Wiggles and Captain Feathersword in person. Brant just LOVED meeting them all but his favourite is still Jeff - Jeff was great with Brant and even "fell asleep" so Brant could say "1-2-3 Wake up Jeff!!" Owen was in awe the whole time. He couldn't believe that there they were in person! During the concert he just sat and stared the whole time and didn't start dancing along til the last song. It was pretty funny. Kristina also had a great time singing and dancing along. I have to say though I am glad to have them all in bed now. I put together a little slide show of all the photos from today for your viewing pleasure. We were sitting on the ground level in row 2 right by the aisle so we had an awesome view!

The Wiggles!

Happy Heart Day Brant!!!

2008-04-12T15:47:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it's been FOUR YEARS since you had your heart fixed! I always like to remember your heart journey on this day by reading the words I wrote before, during, and after your surgery. If you'd like to peek you can read it too on our family website: http://katrinasdesigns.tripod.com/Brants_Heart_Page.htm

Pictured above is the digital scrapbook page I made showing him before his surgery and then right after the surgery and then every day til he went home (you can click on the photo to see it larger). I love how he is smiling again so soon! He bounced back so quickly and I couldn't believe that he rolled again only 2 weeks after surgery! AMAZING!

Vote for Rachel!

2008-04-12T11:31:00.003-07:00

~~~VOTE HERE ~~~

Rachel Coleman is the creator of Signing Time - the wonderful series that taught Brant sign language! I can't say enough about Signing Time and Rachel - the DVD's teach ASL in a fun and easy way and Brant knowing Sign Language eliminated so many communication barriers early on. The one story I remember clearly was 2 summers ago when we went to Harrison Lake on a beautiful day. They had the Sand Sculpture Display on and we were admiring all the amazing (to us) works of art. Well Brant started getting grumpy and we figured it was almost nap time. He started getting louder with his complaining so Colin picked him up and asked him "Brant, what's wrong? What do you want?" WELL - Brant signed "SWIM"! I guess he saw all that beautiful water and figured, "forget these dumb sand castles, let me in!!!" So on went the trunks and we had a lovely time for at least another hour playing and splashing and having a great time. On the way home I was pondering what might have happened had he not been able to sign "swim" to us. My guess is we probably would have brought him to the van, he would have gotten more grumpy and would have complained all the way home. By the time we got home we would have all been miserable and he, protesting, would have been plunked in bed for a nap. Instead we had a glorious afternoon as you can see by the photos below :)

So thank you Signing Time for making our lives so much easier! Rachel, you so deserve to win!

Quote

2008-04-12T09:56:00.000-07:00

"Use what talents you have; the woods would have little music if no birds sang their song except those who sang best."

~Reverend Oliver G. Wilson

Oh Crap

2008-04-10T09:06:00.002-07:00

I put Owen in his crib for a timeout because he was stealing Brant's food. It's the only place I can put him where he can't get out - er WAS. Yep you guessed it - he got out. Hopefully it will be harder for him to get out when he has a sleep sack on because if he's able to get out I guess I'll be making some room changes. It's too dangerous for him to be able to access Brant without supervision. He tends to be a little rough with Brant. SIGH.

Note to self ...

2008-04-09T15:16:00.003-07:00

Never leave one of these laying around.

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Another bow I made :)

2008-03-27T12:18:00.002-07:00

Making Hair Bows

2008-03-26T14:36:00.004-07:00

In the last little while I've been trying my hand at making some hair bows. I'm still learning but thought I'd share my first tries here on our blog. I did make one more bow but Kristina has misplaced it so I'll post a pic when I find it again. Let me know what you think :)

I made one for Kristina to match the new dress Oma bought her for her birthday and I also made one for my neice for her birthday (I didn't get a good one of her wearing it though). The one I made for my neice turned out a little bigger than I had hoped but she seemed to like it :) I also got a lot of compliments on how the bow matches Kristina's new dress perfectly (you can see in the photo of her clowning around with the badminton rackets!)

The Birthday Princess

2008-03-23T15:43:00.003-07:00

Seven years ago I was in the hospital ...

2008-03-21T23:09:00.002-07:00

in pretty painful labour awaiting the birth of our beautiful baby girl, Kristina Alicia.

She was born by emergency c-section a few hours later at 2:10 am after the dr. broke my water and her heart rate plummeted. Thankfully she was born healthy - 21 1/2 inches long, 8lbs 10oz.

I can't believe she will be 7 years old already tomorrow! Where have those years gone?

We went to my parents house today to celebrate hers, mine (March 17th), and my neice's birthday (March 18th) as well as Easter and she got lots of new stuff - a Bratz doll, a Barbie, a Polly Pocket, and a Webkinz. Plus she went out for lunch and shopping with Oma (my mom) the other day and was SPOILED with TWO new dresses, a pair of shoes, two pairs of pantyhose, and a new purse! I was also spoiled tonight with the new Celine Dion CD, a pair of pj's, a book, and a gift card to a ladies clothing store.

I just wrapped all Kristina's gifts and I am thankful I bought it ages ago - a whole bunch of princess decor for her room to match her bedroom set (a new lamp, Sing-a-long DVD, picture frame, piggy bank, a pillow, a garbage can, a storage container, a "snow/glitter" globe, and a birthday girl crown) - I got it for a great deal - only $60 at the swap meet (and it's all in brand new shape), as well as 10 new Amelia Bedelia books that I picked up for 50c each at the same swap meet.

Hoping to post up some pics tomorrow of my SEVEN YEAR OLD!

Happy Birthday Princess :)

Cool site to teach kids about nutrition

2008-03-14T22:14:00.002-07:00

I came across this cool site called Nourish Interactive which is a site for kids to learn about nutrion and health in a fun way! It's free to join and has games and other fun learning tools. I'm looking forward to trying it out as a cool March Break activity with the kids :)

Last day of school before March Break

2008-03-14T10:41:00.002-07:00

Well I'm enjoying the quietness today ... Kristina is in school and so is Brant ... the last day before Spring Break. The dynamic at home changes so much when all three kids are home (especially Kristina for some reason) and the house just gets noisy. I know a big part of the problem is that the boys are not at Kristina's "level" and she has no playmate. She tries her best to play with the boys but they frustrate her when they don't play "her" way. Hopefully we'll have the opportunity to do a couple of playdates during the break. Also it will be Kristina's birthday on the 22nd - I still haven't decided 100% what we'll be doing for her big day since she has 8 girls in her class this year plus there are a couple more that she also wants to invite. If they all come it will be a zoo! So we'll see what ends up happening :) I am looking forward to sleeping in and no running to the bus in the morning! Now hopefully it won't be too hard to convince Krsitina (my early riser) that it's ok to stay in bed after 6am!!!

Big Brother's Adam has been FIRED after calling children with autism "Retards" on the show

2008-02-27T09:15:00.003-08:00

On the show, a contestant named Adam, who said he works for an autism foundation, said he would spend his winnings on a hair salon for people with developmental disabilities "so retards can get it together and get their hair done." The Web site for the show describes him as a 29-year-old public relations manager from Del Ray Beach, Fla.His remark shocked his partner, Sheila, who replied, "Don't call them that."Adam responded by saying, "Disabled kids. I can call them whatever I want. I work with them all day, OK?"

Here is the youtube video showing the episode:

Of course this comment had disability advocates across North America outraged and even caused at least one advertiser to pull their support. It has been a hot topic on the Down syndrome message boards and in the autism communities.

As you can see in the following article from today Adam has been fired. Funny thing is he doesn't even know it yet!

Here is the LINK to the article and the article contents follow:

'BIG BROTHER' STAR FIRED FOR 'RETARD' COMMENT
February 27, 2008 -- THE "Big Brother" contestant who stirred up a controversy when he called autistic children "retards," has been fired from his job.

But Adam Jasinski, who worked for the United Autism Foundation, doesn't know he's been canned.

He is sequestered in the "Big Brother" house in LA, cut off from contact with the outside world, in keeping with the show's rules.

The foundation announced his firing on its Web site yesterday.

At least one advertiser pulled out of the show following the public outcry over the crude remark and several autism groups even called for CBS to cancel the reality series because producers chose to air the remark in an edited version of the program.

Jasinski was heard on the program saying that he could call children with autism whatever he liked because he worked with them.

"Mr. Jasinski will no longer work for or represent the United Autism Foundation since he caused tremendous damage to UNIAF," the announcement read.