Wil had abandoned his old blog, no updates since like 2006 but I stumbled upon his latest at http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/ and so I've added it to the blog list in the right column.
Wil is a fellow Linux geek so I've always found his articles rather interesting...
I encourage you to visit his site too...
http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Falling asleep at the wheel!
OK so I had a nap this afternoon, was totally exhausted. Now I feel better, still tired but had to have a nice hot bath before I can go back to bed. I just get too darn itchy if I don't bath before bed...
Today while on my way to the great TO I called the hospital to confirm my mother's location since they were quite sure they were going to move her to the 7th floor. 7th floor is a step down from ICU ... The levels are sort of like this... In MSICU which is short for MedSurg/ICU they literally have three nurses per two patients, very intense you are never left alone. This was immediately following the surgery. Then you go after a few days in my mom's case but not so fast in others case, to Step Down ICU where you have one or two nurses watching two rooms but not so intense, still a lot of vitals monitoring though... So now this is one and a half weeks and to the astonishment of all the doctors and nurses she is on the 7th floor. It's a very relaxed floor where they really rely on you to use your call button if you need anything since there are a few nurses, I counted three, looking after about 20 beds.
She's got a heart monitor connected to her which wirelessly transmits the data to a small server in turn that is connected to a hayes compatible modem which has a constant phone connection to the network and in turn the cardiac unit gets to monitor her 24/7 Well by now you may have figured out that one of the things they are concerned about is her pre existing Angina which may or may not be a problem but from what the doctors tell me. While doing the surgery to replace the lungs it is inevitable to disturb the heart quite a bit... In fact they actually kinda shove it out of the way while they are doing all the manipulating, putting things into place. This seems to have pissed off her heart and so now every once in a while she experiences a strange rythym for which they are monitoring closely. They keep telling me over and over not to be concerned about this and with any luck she will be home by Monday... OMG to me that just seems entirely too quick but whatever.
I attended "self med" class today, to learn about the three antirejection drugs that she will need to take for the rest of her life. I believe, but at this point i'm not really certain that my mom's age qualifies her for 100 percent coverage of these medications... And believe me this is a sigh of relief because we have a friend (anonymous) who when picking up their first batch of meds on the way home had to pay around 900 dollars out of pocket... OUCH! The whole process of getting her to transplant has been very expensive for us, I plan on breaking it all down and will display it if anything only so I will be prepared at tax time to try to reclaim some of it as a caregiver's expense... Wear and tear on our new car has been around 20 thousand kilometers, this is purely trips to and from the hospital for physio therapy and we still have three months post transplant that are required...
I am glad the transplant is over to say the least... To see her breath effortlessly is something of a mystery to me. Although one of the fascinating things for me to witness is how occasionally she will breath quick and shallow like she did before.. Not because she's in distress but because her mind still thinks she has to breath this way... When reminded that she has a new pair of lungs she takes a deeeeeeep clean breath of air and it is amazing each time...
I think about the donor family often, wonder what they are like, if they live in Toronto, or Ontario, or even Canada for that matter.... I wonder if their grieving is at all comforted knowing they have helped others to live... I wonder now that it's a week and a half if their funeral is over and their lives finding some normality again... I too have seen a lot of death, our family has in the past seen more deaths closely related to us than we would consider normal... I guess people are suppose to experience at least one death every 7 years, statistics that are biased when it comes to reality. We have seen 7 in 7 years, but not one per year so there is certainly no justice in it.
Please don't confuse my need to record it all as complaining... I am merely reflecting, making sense of it all so that I can continue on... I am not a miserable person as my texts may sometimes portrait... In fact, anyone who knows me knows that I am happy most of the time, or at least have the outward appearance that I am... I enjoy the company of family and friends, but have never really gotten over my awkward social ineptitude.
I have moved on, and so should you...
I am looking forward to the doctors promise of removing the last two chest tubes from my mother, and then as a result of that the cathader will also be removed giving her ultimate freedom. She will then be free to roam the hospital with me, possibly go get a timmies coffee with me for the first time in several weeks... Ohhhhh the timmies Coffee.. I plan on blogging all about that soon, just with the silly heart monitor tying up the phone line I was unable to dial out with my laptop... I guess I'll give priority to her heart monitor over my internet connection, but just for this one time... hahahaha
All in all, things are good... I see a glimmer of spring being just around the corner, and I look daily at the area beside my house where I hope to run a rototiller in preparation for the garden I so badly want to start this year...
That's all for now, I will blog soon about my Son's sucesses in the hospital day program he's been attending for the past three weeks... I think he has one more week of it, and Jody and I have another family meeting to learn how to deal with his conditions... Diagnosed finally after 11 years of seeking we finally have a base line to deal with the strange inner workings of his mind...
Whew, just in time as I am falling asleep at the wheel!
Today while on my way to the great TO I called the hospital to confirm my mother's location since they were quite sure they were going to move her to the 7th floor. 7th floor is a step down from ICU ... The levels are sort of like this... In MSICU which is short for MedSurg/ICU they literally have three nurses per two patients, very intense you are never left alone. This was immediately following the surgery. Then you go after a few days in my mom's case but not so fast in others case, to Step Down ICU where you have one or two nurses watching two rooms but not so intense, still a lot of vitals monitoring though... So now this is one and a half weeks and to the astonishment of all the doctors and nurses she is on the 7th floor. It's a very relaxed floor where they really rely on you to use your call button if you need anything since there are a few nurses, I counted three, looking after about 20 beds.
She's got a heart monitor connected to her which wirelessly transmits the data to a small server in turn that is connected to a hayes compatible modem which has a constant phone connection to the network and in turn the cardiac unit gets to monitor her 24/7 Well by now you may have figured out that one of the things they are concerned about is her pre existing Angina which may or may not be a problem but from what the doctors tell me. While doing the surgery to replace the lungs it is inevitable to disturb the heart quite a bit... In fact they actually kinda shove it out of the way while they are doing all the manipulating, putting things into place. This seems to have pissed off her heart and so now every once in a while she experiences a strange rythym for which they are monitoring closely. They keep telling me over and over not to be concerned about this and with any luck she will be home by Monday... OMG to me that just seems entirely too quick but whatever.
I attended "self med" class today, to learn about the three antirejection drugs that she will need to take for the rest of her life. I believe, but at this point i'm not really certain that my mom's age qualifies her for 100 percent coverage of these medications... And believe me this is a sigh of relief because we have a friend (anonymous) who when picking up their first batch of meds on the way home had to pay around 900 dollars out of pocket... OUCH! The whole process of getting her to transplant has been very expensive for us, I plan on breaking it all down and will display it if anything only so I will be prepared at tax time to try to reclaim some of it as a caregiver's expense... Wear and tear on our new car has been around 20 thousand kilometers, this is purely trips to and from the hospital for physio therapy and we still have three months post transplant that are required...
I am glad the transplant is over to say the least... To see her breath effortlessly is something of a mystery to me. Although one of the fascinating things for me to witness is how occasionally she will breath quick and shallow like she did before.. Not because she's in distress but because her mind still thinks she has to breath this way... When reminded that she has a new pair of lungs she takes a deeeeeeep clean breath of air and it is amazing each time...
I think about the donor family often, wonder what they are like, if they live in Toronto, or Ontario, or even Canada for that matter.... I wonder if their grieving is at all comforted knowing they have helped others to live... I wonder now that it's a week and a half if their funeral is over and their lives finding some normality again... I too have seen a lot of death, our family has in the past seen more deaths closely related to us than we would consider normal... I guess people are suppose to experience at least one death every 7 years, statistics that are biased when it comes to reality. We have seen 7 in 7 years, but not one per year so there is certainly no justice in it.
Please don't confuse my need to record it all as complaining... I am merely reflecting, making sense of it all so that I can continue on... I am not a miserable person as my texts may sometimes portrait... In fact, anyone who knows me knows that I am happy most of the time, or at least have the outward appearance that I am... I enjoy the company of family and friends, but have never really gotten over my awkward social ineptitude.
I have moved on, and so should you...
I am looking forward to the doctors promise of removing the last two chest tubes from my mother, and then as a result of that the cathader will also be removed giving her ultimate freedom. She will then be free to roam the hospital with me, possibly go get a timmies coffee with me for the first time in several weeks... Ohhhhh the timmies Coffee.. I plan on blogging all about that soon, just with the silly heart monitor tying up the phone line I was unable to dial out with my laptop... I guess I'll give priority to her heart monitor over my internet connection, but just for this one time... hahahaha
All in all, things are good... I see a glimmer of spring being just around the corner, and I look daily at the area beside my house where I hope to run a rototiller in preparation for the garden I so badly want to start this year...
That's all for now, I will blog soon about my Son's sucesses in the hospital day program he's been attending for the past three weeks... I think he has one more week of it, and Jody and I have another family meeting to learn how to deal with his conditions... Diagnosed finally after 11 years of seeking we finally have a base line to deal with the strange inner workings of his mind...
Whew, just in time as I am falling asleep at the wheel!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
A week later...
A quick post cause we are on our way out the door here but Mom's doing very well, after only a couple of days after surgery she was sitting in a chair and has been getting stronger every day. While listening in on the conversations of the doctors I learned that the donor lungs tested positive for influenza virus. Thankfully post transplant my mother's immune system had been somewhat prepared for the flu through immunization however with suppressed immune system she is now experiencing mild flu symptoms and has thrown up a little bit. With gravol and anti viral drugs she is expected to make her way through this. This is considered a minor set back.
There is also a pre existing heart issue called angina that she had dealt with for many years. After surgery they had stopped giving her the nitro patch that she had to control this and so her angina has returned. Yesterday the cardiologist prescribed the patch again and so things should return to normal that way.
I know this may all seem like serious things, they really are not in the grand scheme of things. Rejection is well controlled and she is much stronger than expected for the recovery time thus far so things are in good shape from doctors and nurses perspectives. Sadly though the lady who was in her room and who went through the same surgery only hours before her did not make it and passed away yesterday... It was emotionally difficult for me to see the family greiving and I was very happy that two days prior to that they had already moved my mom to the step down unit so she was not exposed to the news. We wanna keep everything positive.
Now a quick note about people who wish to visit my mother... In a couple of days she will be able to accept visitors and I know a few of you have asked about this. Please remember, no hugs or contact. This is simply a means of infection control as her immune system is suppressed and drugs are doing the job of fighting infections etc. No flowers either... Honestly don't bring gifts at all, if you want to give something, consider donation :) Blood donation, sign your donor card etc.. It really is the best thing you can do to show you care...
Have a great day, and once again thanks for reading the blog, it has been a source of emotional stability for my family and also a surprising source of income!
Cheers!
There is also a pre existing heart issue called angina that she had dealt with for many years. After surgery they had stopped giving her the nitro patch that she had to control this and so her angina has returned. Yesterday the cardiologist prescribed the patch again and so things should return to normal that way.
I know this may all seem like serious things, they really are not in the grand scheme of things. Rejection is well controlled and she is much stronger than expected for the recovery time thus far so things are in good shape from doctors and nurses perspectives. Sadly though the lady who was in her room and who went through the same surgery only hours before her did not make it and passed away yesterday... It was emotionally difficult for me to see the family greiving and I was very happy that two days prior to that they had already moved my mom to the step down unit so she was not exposed to the news. We wanna keep everything positive.
Now a quick note about people who wish to visit my mother... In a couple of days she will be able to accept visitors and I know a few of you have asked about this. Please remember, no hugs or contact. This is simply a means of infection control as her immune system is suppressed and drugs are doing the job of fighting infections etc. No flowers either... Honestly don't bring gifts at all, if you want to give something, consider donation :) Blood donation, sign your donor card etc.. It really is the best thing you can do to show you care...
Have a great day, and once again thanks for reading the blog, it has been a source of emotional stability for my family and also a surprising source of income!
Cheers!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Where do I go from here?
How does a guy thank someone he's never met for saving his mother's life... I have thought about this for the past two days and can not come up with a clear answer. Perhaps it will become clear in time but I am so utterly lost for words on this... And so for now, until something conjures up in my mind, I will stew in my own thoughs. It's not that I don't have anything to say about it, I am extremely grateful. Just don't know how to say it with as much power as it deserves.
Since that night, many images have conjured up in my mind about the donor family. Most of these images presented to me in the form of a group of close family, parents grieving, brothers and sisters asking why. It brings a tear to my eye when I think about how they had to hurt so that our family can rejoice. And when I put myself in that very same position I can only comfort myself knowing that I could do the same. Donation is so important and I have to believe that in some way it will help a grieving family to get some good out of something so bad... We all die, and some day I may be on the other end of that spectrum. Until then, I have become a blood donor as well as signed up with the onematch.ca network to be a bone marrow donor. These are things that I can do now to help give back at least some of what we received.
The gift of life, a gift like no other...
To end this simple blog I have much to say, but can only blog it out portion by portion because my thoughts have been overwhelmed. Even something as complex as "where do we go from here" has become topic in my mind. I mean, my entire daily routine was centered around her care and now as she recovers I will need to return to some sort of normal daily routine, whatever that may be. I will seek out some new employment since as a result of this my old employment has somewhat fallen away from me. New challenges, new experiences... I go now to begin shaping my future, my families future...
Thanks for reading, I know there have been many that have dropped by and also thank you for helping to support me financially through the visits to this page.
Cheers!
Since that night, many images have conjured up in my mind about the donor family. Most of these images presented to me in the form of a group of close family, parents grieving, brothers and sisters asking why. It brings a tear to my eye when I think about how they had to hurt so that our family can rejoice. And when I put myself in that very same position I can only comfort myself knowing that I could do the same. Donation is so important and I have to believe that in some way it will help a grieving family to get some good out of something so bad... We all die, and some day I may be on the other end of that spectrum. Until then, I have become a blood donor as well as signed up with the onematch.ca network to be a bone marrow donor. These are things that I can do now to help give back at least some of what we received.
The gift of life, a gift like no other...
To end this simple blog I have much to say, but can only blog it out portion by portion because my thoughts have been overwhelmed. Even something as complex as "where do we go from here" has become topic in my mind. I mean, my entire daily routine was centered around her care and now as she recovers I will need to return to some sort of normal daily routine, whatever that may be. I will seek out some new employment since as a result of this my old employment has somewhat fallen away from me. New challenges, new experiences... I go now to begin shaping my future, my families future...
Thanks for reading, I know there have been many that have dropped by and also thank you for helping to support me financially through the visits to this page.
Cheers!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
A mouth full of... Uh, Timmies?
On Wednesday I went to visit Dorothy in the hospital. I had hoped she would have her breathing tube out but was not prepared for what I walked in to. First off, I will explain a bit about how their ICU works there. You arrive at the correct floor and before ever getting to the ICU itself there is a room for visitors, all visitors report here where there are two telephones, a public access terminal via thin client and about 50 chairs. Not to mention a little tv/lounge area complete with a fish tank. Visitors are expected to dial a number on the phones and ask for permission to visit their relatives. This system is in place because there are two beds to a room and they are really strict on keeping dignity high. Meaning that you could walk into the room while someone is bleeding out through an artery or coding or even just having phisio therapy done, exposing them to the room they are in and it would make things very uncomfortable for both staff and visitors and possibly patient if they are conscious and awake.
So, I call as soon as I arrive and they tell me that she is not quite ready, they are working with her so I am to wait 5 minutes... 30 minutes pass I call back and they say yes she is ready now please come in. As I walk into the room "expecting to see her laying there all puffed up again from the trauma" I instead see her out of her bed and sitting in a lounge chair with no breating tube in, smiling ear to flippin' ear. She makes her attempt to say hello but it comes out sounding more like a hamster getting stepped on by a 240 pound man with a limp. Shaking my head in disbelief she offers her hand up in the air towards me and says "Timmies, need timmies!!!" hahahaha I burst out into laughter. Now I must remind you, we are talking about a lady who a little more than 48 hours prior had major life altering surgery. Double lung transplant that went extremely well but is still such severe trauma that most people endure complications beginning with the first 48 hours. For the next few minutes before the physio therapy people came in I talked with her and with the nurses permission promised I would return with a small timmies coffee. Still can't believe that she did that...
So off to the food court I go to give them a chance to do their physio, I talk to the chicken lady who is super excited about my mom's recovery. The chicken lady for those who do not know is the asian lady who works at the wing machine in Toronto General Hospital... I do not know her name, not because she hasn't told me but because of my sheer ignorance and lack of ability to pronounce her name. I wouldn't even attempt to reproduce it once I heard it the first time I had already given up. Anyhow, next step was to the coffee shop where I picked up the small timmies only this time. For the first time in our lives I had to ask for substitute sweetner because now my mom is a full blown diabetic and will be insulin dependant for the rest of her life. There are many miracle drugs that get people through this sort of thing but as part of the side effects, especially with the prednisone. You often become a diabetic.
I return to the room and witness the biggest smile I have ever seen, she is literally in withdrawl from the coffee she so much enjoyed daily in her pre transplant state. It was one of the things that started her engine every day and it has proved to be a the carrot in front of the cart post transplant. As I sit down and get ready to chat with my mom, the surgeon comes into the room and we have our emotional thank you etc with him humbly saying bah it was nothin'... just routine procedure... Then shortly after that a team of doctors, nurses and residents come in.. Apparently they were summoned by the nurse who was astounded at the leaps in recovery she has made. The nurse explains to the team while I'm in earshot that Dorothy has just gone for a walk. One of the obviously seasoned nurses there in her official sounding voice says "She was able to move around the room here? that's great for such a short time post" The nurse then exclaims in a high volume "NO! she walked through the entire ward, around the entire loop!" Assisted by two nurses who had an IV pole on each side and two blood drainage box, it would have looked more like a large tree that had been uprooted and placed on a truck bed now driving down the highway with all the roots and branches hitting things on the side of the road... WOW!
Subborn woman my mom is, and I know I can safely speak for my brother in saying that both of our families are so proud of her. And I am so very happy to have a brother to lean on in times like this. Life can be so stressful at times. This right now is an up time for my family and I, we are all on a natural high. And don't for one second think that we don't know something can go wrong... But as my brother and brother in law have always said, when it's there, take it!
You know, one of the greatest pieces of advice I have recieved in my life was from my older brother. My brother and I were as close as we could be being 4 years apart in age and burdened by ordinary family dysfunction. I think we have both come a long way from those days and we have been able to identify with each other on some level which has always been fantastic for me. I was applying for a job as a teenager and was so very frightened, I remember asking him how I was gonna get through it all and that I was scared. He said so simply to me and it just made no sense at all at first "Nothing is ever as difficult as it appears before you do it" After getting the job, and starting to work at it I realised what he meant by that... I wondered why I was so darn worried over nothing. Well the same has been true for every event in my life... Everything from becoming a father to walking beside my mother through her transplant journey. "Nothing is ever as difficult as it appears before you do it"
'nuff said!
Now I shall go take a hot bath and return to my comfortable pillows for a couple more hours of sleep...
Oh and I'm anxiously awaiting a call from a potential employer today! I could really use the work...
Cheers!
So, I call as soon as I arrive and they tell me that she is not quite ready, they are working with her so I am to wait 5 minutes... 30 minutes pass I call back and they say yes she is ready now please come in. As I walk into the room "expecting to see her laying there all puffed up again from the trauma" I instead see her out of her bed and sitting in a lounge chair with no breating tube in, smiling ear to flippin' ear. She makes her attempt to say hello but it comes out sounding more like a hamster getting stepped on by a 240 pound man with a limp. Shaking my head in disbelief she offers her hand up in the air towards me and says "Timmies, need timmies!!!" hahahaha I burst out into laughter. Now I must remind you, we are talking about a lady who a little more than 48 hours prior had major life altering surgery. Double lung transplant that went extremely well but is still such severe trauma that most people endure complications beginning with the first 48 hours. For the next few minutes before the physio therapy people came in I talked with her and with the nurses permission promised I would return with a small timmies coffee. Still can't believe that she did that...
So off to the food court I go to give them a chance to do their physio, I talk to the chicken lady who is super excited about my mom's recovery. The chicken lady for those who do not know is the asian lady who works at the wing machine in Toronto General Hospital... I do not know her name, not because she hasn't told me but because of my sheer ignorance and lack of ability to pronounce her name. I wouldn't even attempt to reproduce it once I heard it the first time I had already given up. Anyhow, next step was to the coffee shop where I picked up the small timmies only this time. For the first time in our lives I had to ask for substitute sweetner because now my mom is a full blown diabetic and will be insulin dependant for the rest of her life. There are many miracle drugs that get people through this sort of thing but as part of the side effects, especially with the prednisone. You often become a diabetic.
I return to the room and witness the biggest smile I have ever seen, she is literally in withdrawl from the coffee she so much enjoyed daily in her pre transplant state. It was one of the things that started her engine every day and it has proved to be a the carrot in front of the cart post transplant. As I sit down and get ready to chat with my mom, the surgeon comes into the room and we have our emotional thank you etc with him humbly saying bah it was nothin'... just routine procedure... Then shortly after that a team of doctors, nurses and residents come in.. Apparently they were summoned by the nurse who was astounded at the leaps in recovery she has made. The nurse explains to the team while I'm in earshot that Dorothy has just gone for a walk. One of the obviously seasoned nurses there in her official sounding voice says "She was able to move around the room here? that's great for such a short time post" The nurse then exclaims in a high volume "NO! she walked through the entire ward, around the entire loop!" Assisted by two nurses who had an IV pole on each side and two blood drainage box, it would have looked more like a large tree that had been uprooted and placed on a truck bed now driving down the highway with all the roots and branches hitting things on the side of the road... WOW!
Subborn woman my mom is, and I know I can safely speak for my brother in saying that both of our families are so proud of her. And I am so very happy to have a brother to lean on in times like this. Life can be so stressful at times. This right now is an up time for my family and I, we are all on a natural high. And don't for one second think that we don't know something can go wrong... But as my brother and brother in law have always said, when it's there, take it!
You know, one of the greatest pieces of advice I have recieved in my life was from my older brother. My brother and I were as close as we could be being 4 years apart in age and burdened by ordinary family dysfunction. I think we have both come a long way from those days and we have been able to identify with each other on some level which has always been fantastic for me. I was applying for a job as a teenager and was so very frightened, I remember asking him how I was gonna get through it all and that I was scared. He said so simply to me and it just made no sense at all at first "Nothing is ever as difficult as it appears before you do it" After getting the job, and starting to work at it I realised what he meant by that... I wondered why I was so darn worried over nothing. Well the same has been true for every event in my life... Everything from becoming a father to walking beside my mother through her transplant journey. "Nothing is ever as difficult as it appears before you do it"
'nuff said!
Now I shall go take a hot bath and return to my comfortable pillows for a couple more hours of sleep...
Oh and I'm anxiously awaiting a call from a potential employer today! I could really use the work...
Cheers!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
A new week...
Woke up today feeling like a truck had run over me... I am still smiling though as I wipe away the piles of sand that have collected under my eyes. I am ready for the new week after such an exciting weekend and I have a lot to do.
Mail an eBay package, Deliver two of the three kids to their school, drop the wife off at work, bring the third child to clinical classes at the local hospital, then make my way to the hospital to visit my mother.
I don't speak enough about my wife for sure, she deserves much more than I could ever deliver to her. Through the many years we have been together she has been like a sister and friend to my mother. I have no idea how they get along so well but they do. Her strength is amazing and her tolerance towards my needs outstanding. I could not have picked a better person to spend the rest of my life with. She tells me every day that she loves me and more importantly she shows me through all the caring things that she does. She has picked up the slack while my employment has lacked and calms me down when the world makes me upset. I just don't know what I would do without her... Really I have no idea, I would be a lost little boy without her...
Anyhow, I can see that beautiful blue sky outside and the sun is calling me to go shower in It's rays so I'm not about to put off such an invitation...
Cheers!
Mail an eBay package, Deliver two of the three kids to their school, drop the wife off at work, bring the third child to clinical classes at the local hospital, then make my way to the hospital to visit my mother.
I don't speak enough about my wife for sure, she deserves much more than I could ever deliver to her. Through the many years we have been together she has been like a sister and friend to my mother. I have no idea how they get along so well but they do. Her strength is amazing and her tolerance towards my needs outstanding. I could not have picked a better person to spend the rest of my life with. She tells me every day that she loves me and more importantly she shows me through all the caring things that she does. She has picked up the slack while my employment has lacked and calms me down when the world makes me upset. I just don't know what I would do without her... Really I have no idea, I would be a lost little boy without her...
Anyhow, I can see that beautiful blue sky outside and the sun is calling me to go shower in It's rays so I'm not about to put off such an invitation...
Cheers!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Lets hope for smooth sailing...
I usually don't like to blog from the public access terminals but this time i think i will make an exception. In the three hours that i've been here today i have been able to see her three times... After the fourth visit I think I will go home and go be with the family as per today's theme holiday "Family Day!" Hooray, well what shall we do... We certainly have a lot to be happy about and I think a nice little dinner out of the house would be really nice.
I am fighting off the urge to cough while I am in the hospital because of course lung transplants and colds are not a good thing... I think though at this point in time that it's actually just the dry air that i've been subjected to for the past couple of days. Lots of crying and laughter all in the same day tends to help dry things out somewhat as well.
Seeing lots of familiar faces again today and it's such an amazing experience seeing the same people who we spent so many months in physio with. All but one so far has been done as well. Thanks to that Ex Vivo Lun Perfusion study they have really been able to step up the amount of transplants being done.
I am sitting in the waiting room clicking away at an old style AT keyboard. Well i'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
The phone just rang they said I can come back in and see my mom so away I go for now... :)
I am fighting off the urge to cough while I am in the hospital because of course lung transplants and colds are not a good thing... I think though at this point in time that it's actually just the dry air that i've been subjected to for the past couple of days. Lots of crying and laughter all in the same day tends to help dry things out somewhat as well.
Seeing lots of familiar faces again today and it's such an amazing experience seeing the same people who we spent so many months in physio with. All but one so far has been done as well. Thanks to that Ex Vivo Lun Perfusion study they have really been able to step up the amount of transplants being done.
I am sitting in the waiting room clicking away at an old style AT keyboard. Well i'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
The phone just rang they said I can come back in and see my mom so away I go for now... :)
So far So good...
Dorothy's transplant was free from complications. In fact the surgeon was quite pleased that it could be done in less time than usual, he said it went perfectly. There is very little bleeding and she is stable in every sense of the word. I will keep you all closely updated in the next few days as these are crucial as far as bleeding and infection go.
I did write an offline document that I had intentions of uploading and I still will but it may seem a bit out of order with this one and it will certainly be a day late. I just couldn't go to sleep without some sort of blog entry though so here it is.
Got the call @ 7:45am Sunday morning, waited and waited... She went into surgery at 8:00pm, pacing back and fourth etc had a bit of a journey in the hospital that I will elaborate on later... Her surgery finished at 3:10am and I spoke to the most amazing surgeon who completed this amazing task @ 3:15am. He had nothing but smiles on his face and good news about the surgery...
Now before I go to bed, I want to tell you the most important thing about this entire procedure... There are hundreds of people involved in the care of a transplant patient. We have seen amazing doctors/nurses/support staff etc Physio/Bloodwork etc countless tests to this point... But... There is a team of people who are more important than all of the hundreds of dedicated and believe me, appreciated professionals... And only ONE person who made this all possible... The Donor and his or her family...
Thanks to you our donor, my mother has a chance to see several more years with her grand children. Has the chance to live a quality of life that is not limited to her bedroom and the hallway to the bathroom. She can once again, go out and explore the world, free from the oxygen tubes, the gasping for breath and the low quality of life that was her world until today... In your great tragedy, we have found hope. In your sadness, we have found joy... We are forever in your debt.
Thank you...
I did write an offline document that I had intentions of uploading and I still will but it may seem a bit out of order with this one and it will certainly be a day late. I just couldn't go to sleep without some sort of blog entry though so here it is.
Got the call @ 7:45am Sunday morning, waited and waited... She went into surgery at 8:00pm, pacing back and fourth etc had a bit of a journey in the hospital that I will elaborate on later... Her surgery finished at 3:10am and I spoke to the most amazing surgeon who completed this amazing task @ 3:15am. He had nothing but smiles on his face and good news about the surgery...
Now before I go to bed, I want to tell you the most important thing about this entire procedure... There are hundreds of people involved in the care of a transplant patient. We have seen amazing doctors/nurses/support staff etc Physio/Bloodwork etc countless tests to this point... But... There is a team of people who are more important than all of the hundreds of dedicated and believe me, appreciated professionals... And only ONE person who made this all possible... The Donor and his or her family...
Thanks to you our donor, my mother has a chance to see several more years with her grand children. Has the chance to live a quality of life that is not limited to her bedroom and the hallway to the bathroom. She can once again, go out and explore the world, free from the oxygen tubes, the gasping for breath and the low quality of life that was her world until today... In your great tragedy, we have found hope. In your sadness, we have found joy... We are forever in your debt.
Thank you...
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Surgeon Came by to give us some good news.
The Thorasic surgeon came to speak to us and give us a promising update. They will perfuse the lungs for the next 3 hours (It is now 2:45pm) to see if they are suitable for transplant. The Lung Perfusion Study is something that we signed up for in hopes that it would provide some major improvements in the science of the future. We never dreamed that it would be so quick to begin helping people like us today. Toronto once again has pioneered the way through medical break through and we are so proud to be a part of that. Had we not been in the study group these lungs would not have been suitable and therefore would not have been presented to us as an option. As amazing as the donor and donor's family are to have given us this chance, to have given the gift of life, sometimes the organs just aren't suitable and we are prepared for that.
No matter what the outcome of the day, be it a sucessful transplant, a problematic one with good recovery overall, or even the possibility of death. Our family will move forward through all of it in the best way we know how... "Together!"
Now I need to find a way to kill off a few hours without stressing out over it all. Blogging does help but with the slow dial up connection it can be frustrating. I am unable to offer the same links to explainations about things such as the lung perfusion study itself so you'll have to do some googling. Just type in "Lung Perfusion Study Toronto General Hospital" should work just fine...
Cheers!
Next update will be when they take her into OR or if they come tell us it's not going to happen.
No matter what the outcome of the day, be it a sucessful transplant, a problematic one with good recovery overall, or even the possibility of death. Our family will move forward through all of it in the best way we know how... "Together!"
Now I need to find a way to kill off a few hours without stressing out over it all. Blogging does help but with the slow dial up connection it can be frustrating. I am unable to offer the same links to explainations about things such as the lung perfusion study itself so you'll have to do some googling. Just type in "Lung Perfusion Study Toronto General Hospital" should work just fine...
Cheers!
Next update will be when they take her into OR or if they come tell us it's not going to happen.
Don't count your chickens...
My mother always told me not to count my chickens before they are hatched. I guess I have always held back before giving out news... Always wanted to make sure that all my ducks were in a row... But we got yet another call to go to the TGO to have her lung transplant... And while I don't want to jinx the chances I wanted to let people know, my support group regularily comes to visit me here... Know that I may be calling you by telephone soon if my mom really does go into the OR...
That being said, they are a little behind schedule to go to the OR so like both times before the feeling is starting to set in that mabey this isn't the one again...
One can only sit and wait... It's up to the doctors now.
Ughhhh, I hate waiting!
I will keep you all posted each and every time something new comes up. But instead of calling everyone on the phone I will write it all here. With the exception of my brother who does not spend a lot of time reading blogs etc as he is busy with the business of running a farm and construction company. For him I will extend a phone call, for everyone else this will be the main source of Dorothy's progress...
Hopefully you'll hear that she's in the operating room in my next blog...
That being said, they are a little behind schedule to go to the OR so like both times before the feeling is starting to set in that mabey this isn't the one again...
One can only sit and wait... It's up to the doctors now.
Ughhhh, I hate waiting!
I will keep you all posted each and every time something new comes up. But instead of calling everyone on the phone I will write it all here. With the exception of my brother who does not spend a lot of time reading blogs etc as he is busy with the business of running a farm and construction company. For him I will extend a phone call, for everyone else this will be the main source of Dorothy's progress...
Hopefully you'll hear that she's in the operating room in my next blog...
Saturday, February 14, 2009
It's not that I don't have anything to blog about... I've just been so gall darn busy the past week so this place has only been in my thoughts a few times.
Lets recap a bit... The day I thought would be a nightmare logistically trying to get people to their appointments? Yup I was right, it was a complete and utter disaster... Dropped string bean off at his clinic appointment in the morning, scrambled to get my mother to her support group meeting but missed that entirely, traffic was horrendous. I did get her to her 1:30pm clinic appointment but the damn clinic was so behind she didn't get seen until 3pm, at which time I had to leave her to go pick my son up from the clinic in brampton for 4:00pm... So needless to say with the trips back and fourth to Toronto, between getting my kids and returning to pick up my abandoned mother in Toronto I did not get home until 8:00pm. As per usual my nerves were shot from the commute...
My daughter made me smile today though while we were out she had a fist full of fuzzy purple things, I think it was a scarf of something... She held up her fist and proclaimed... "I have A FIST OF FURRY" Oh boy I split a gut at her attempt at humor... :)
Hmmm, and then there was the day just after the nightmare logistics where I fell down the damn stairs... My daughter coming home from school and rushing down the stairs with me at the bottom I was so thankful she was there... So what does she do? She hops over me and says "I'm gonna use the computer ok daddy? Thanks!" I hobble my way over to my workstation where I sit and recover, unaided by my own family and to this day she still does not realize that she was so focused on the computer that she left me to die at the bottom of the stairs... All I could do was think "She's a chip off the old block"
The Physio room... Oh the glorious physio room... We are suppose to be there at 9:30am ish... Well we strolled in on Friday at more like 11:00am barely had an hour to finish her physio which was alright because my mom can only do around 10 minutes on the treadmill and the same on the bike... That last infection really cut her down...
To top the week off, I recieve a news letter with one of the kids school things that says that there is an outbreak of "Fifth Disease" at our kids school... OMG now the paranoia sets in as I worry that they will bring it home to the family... My mother, who is on immuno suppressants is particularily at risk...
Well, all in all the week went rather swell. :) Doesn't sound like it did to you? well that's cause you don't live my life... If you did you'd realize that days like these are fantastic and appreciated because they are somewhat uneventful.
A lot of stuff doesn't ever get to see the light of the computer monitor... Mostly because I do not want to offend people. One day however I plan to vent it all no matter who it offends. Today is just simply not the day...
Cheers!
Lets recap a bit... The day I thought would be a nightmare logistically trying to get people to their appointments? Yup I was right, it was a complete and utter disaster... Dropped string bean off at his clinic appointment in the morning, scrambled to get my mother to her support group meeting but missed that entirely, traffic was horrendous. I did get her to her 1:30pm clinic appointment but the damn clinic was so behind she didn't get seen until 3pm, at which time I had to leave her to go pick my son up from the clinic in brampton for 4:00pm... So needless to say with the trips back and fourth to Toronto, between getting my kids and returning to pick up my abandoned mother in Toronto I did not get home until 8:00pm. As per usual my nerves were shot from the commute...
My daughter made me smile today though while we were out she had a fist full of fuzzy purple things, I think it was a scarf of something... She held up her fist and proclaimed... "I have A FIST OF FURRY" Oh boy I split a gut at her attempt at humor... :)
Hmmm, and then there was the day just after the nightmare logistics where I fell down the damn stairs... My daughter coming home from school and rushing down the stairs with me at the bottom I was so thankful she was there... So what does she do? She hops over me and says "I'm gonna use the computer ok daddy? Thanks!" I hobble my way over to my workstation where I sit and recover, unaided by my own family and to this day she still does not realize that she was so focused on the computer that she left me to die at the bottom of the stairs... All I could do was think "She's a chip off the old block"
The Physio room... Oh the glorious physio room... We are suppose to be there at 9:30am ish... Well we strolled in on Friday at more like 11:00am barely had an hour to finish her physio which was alright because my mom can only do around 10 minutes on the treadmill and the same on the bike... That last infection really cut her down...
To top the week off, I recieve a news letter with one of the kids school things that says that there is an outbreak of "Fifth Disease" at our kids school... OMG now the paranoia sets in as I worry that they will bring it home to the family... My mother, who is on immuno suppressants is particularily at risk...
Well, all in all the week went rather swell. :) Doesn't sound like it did to you? well that's cause you don't live my life... If you did you'd realize that days like these are fantastic and appreciated because they are somewhat uneventful.
A lot of stuff doesn't ever get to see the light of the computer monitor... Mostly because I do not want to offend people. One day however I plan to vent it all no matter who it offends. Today is just simply not the day...
Cheers!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Not much in a blogger mood...
Yesterday I had an overwhelming urge to sleep. So much so in fact that I slept for most of the day, then slept for most of the night too. I had a crick in my neck from all the sleep and only now I'm feeling back to my old self...
Why is it sometimes ya just have to crash...
Tomorrow I'm in a bit of a pickle as far as scheduling and time goes... I have overbooked, shoved in appointments and otherwise badly organized the day and I am not quite sure how I'm going to get out of the mess...
I'll explain...
7:00am my "baby gurl" needs to be dropped off to the ski shuttle because she's going skiing with her ski team.
9:00am Drop wife off at work.
9:30am - 10:30am Need to drop "string bean" off at his hospital classes. Right here in the city where we live.
11:00am Had plans to be at the support meeting at the Toronto General (that leaves 30 minutes to drive a 1 hour route.
1:00pm Clinic appointment in Toronto which follows the support meeting. Trouble with this is the damn clinic always makes us severely late for picking up the kids.
3:30pm pick up "String Bean" from the Hospital, then "Baby Gurl" from Ski team bus, then Wife, and finally "Dozer" from his friends house. (a neighbor)
Ughhhhhhh, And you just know if anything more than a cat crossing the road occurs it will all be messed up and I'll be on the phone apologizing etc to this person and that person...
Oh well, we will just have to see how things go!
Physio went well today in Toronto... Asside from the expected but severe oxygen saturation drops when mildly exercizing, she did rather well. It was really erie to not see the regular people in the room. And one of the ones who had their transplant done and who has returned to the room looked exhausted and unwell. Despite that he pushed himself to finish his exercize circuit and still found a way to be funny in between...
Oh, what a tangled web we weave...
Why is it sometimes ya just have to crash...
Tomorrow I'm in a bit of a pickle as far as scheduling and time goes... I have overbooked, shoved in appointments and otherwise badly organized the day and I am not quite sure how I'm going to get out of the mess...
I'll explain...
7:00am my "baby gurl" needs to be dropped off to the ski shuttle because she's going skiing with her ski team.
9:00am Drop wife off at work.
9:30am - 10:30am Need to drop "string bean" off at his hospital classes. Right here in the city where we live.
11:00am Had plans to be at the support meeting at the Toronto General (that leaves 30 minutes to drive a 1 hour route.
1:00pm Clinic appointment in Toronto which follows the support meeting. Trouble with this is the damn clinic always makes us severely late for picking up the kids.
3:30pm pick up "String Bean" from the Hospital, then "Baby Gurl" from Ski team bus, then Wife, and finally "Dozer" from his friends house. (a neighbor)
Ughhhhhhh, And you just know if anything more than a cat crossing the road occurs it will all be messed up and I'll be on the phone apologizing etc to this person and that person...
Oh well, we will just have to see how things go!
Physio went well today in Toronto... Asside from the expected but severe oxygen saturation drops when mildly exercizing, she did rather well. It was really erie to not see the regular people in the room. And one of the ones who had their transplant done and who has returned to the room looked exhausted and unwell. Despite that he pushed himself to finish his exercize circuit and still found a way to be funny in between...
Oh, what a tangled web we weave...
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Office Snapshot
Took a picture of my home office after cleaning it up for the tax man, thought it would be a good time to share it with you before it gets messy... So now you see where I sit and do my ebaying and other geek related work.. Including all my blogging...This is my Oasis!
This is a story about the day before today.
Abbreviated version:
My family lead by my wife had a HUGE feast planned out for me, they fed me (gluten free) pizza & chicken wings, had chips, ice cream etc... Bought me presents and surprised me with a gluten free cake that my daughter made for me. OH MY GOD, do you have any idea how friggin' amazing my family is? I love them so much and would not even get out of bed if it wasn't for them. I was so exhausted from having done 12 hours physical labour after not being in a real physical job since working for my brother like 5 years ago. And I felt so ashamed that I was beat down to the last ounce of strength. I could barely blow out the... 36 candles, they couldn't fit 37 of them on the cake.. hahahah but still, there was a good flame, literally... I could feel the intense heat from it and I really paniced when I saw my daughter carrying the cake past my mother's face... everyone smiling I reached out and gently guided her to a safe distance away from the oxygen tubing that my mom wears 24/7
Probably the best possible topper to the day was how my daughter, sweet wonderful girl that she is put cream on my sore achy feet... I fell asleep before she had finished but I remember her hugging me and saying "Good night daddy, I love you..." Ah damn it now I need to wipe the keyboard...
There were other good things too though, like througout the day I recieved facebook and twitter messages over and over again "Happy birthday Don..." It put a smile on my face each time my phone beeped with a new greeting from an online friend or relative.
Fantabulous Eh?....
- Woke up 5am, puttered around on the puter, checked my ebay etc...
- Showered then found that my kids woke up just cause they knew I'd be working early, I got the birthday hug from them I didn't think I'd get.
- Went to the job aforementioned in previous post and worked a 12 hour day.
- The nice boss bought me breakfast and lunch... From a place called Orsella's. Philippino food, it's friggin' delicious stuf I tell ya.
My family lead by my wife had a HUGE feast planned out for me, they fed me (gluten free) pizza & chicken wings, had chips, ice cream etc... Bought me presents and surprised me with a gluten free cake that my daughter made for me. OH MY GOD, do you have any idea how friggin' amazing my family is? I love them so much and would not even get out of bed if it wasn't for them. I was so exhausted from having done 12 hours physical labour after not being in a real physical job since working for my brother like 5 years ago. And I felt so ashamed that I was beat down to the last ounce of strength. I could barely blow out the... 36 candles, they couldn't fit 37 of them on the cake.. hahahah but still, there was a good flame, literally... I could feel the intense heat from it and I really paniced when I saw my daughter carrying the cake past my mother's face... everyone smiling I reached out and gently guided her to a safe distance away from the oxygen tubing that my mom wears 24/7
Probably the best possible topper to the day was how my daughter, sweet wonderful girl that she is put cream on my sore achy feet... I fell asleep before she had finished but I remember her hugging me and saying "Good night daddy, I love you..." Ah damn it now I need to wipe the keyboard...
There were other good things too though, like througout the day I recieved facebook and twitter messages over and over again "Happy birthday Don..." It put a smile on my face each time my phone beeped with a new greeting from an online friend or relative.
Fantabulous Eh?....
_______________________________________________________________
Is it any wonder why I am Addicted to King Geek himself?
Chris Pirillo! http://chris.pirillo.com/how-to-piss-off-a-nerd/
_______________________________________________________________
Is it any wonder why I am Addicted to King Geek himself?
Chris Pirillo! http://chris.pirillo.com/how-to-piss-off-a-nerd/
_______________________________________________________________
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Maligayang Kaarawan
A little known fact about me is that I worked in a college and was surrounded by co workers who were predominantly from the philippines. During the 7 years that I worked there I picked up some Tagalog dialect. Kumusta (How are you?), things like that. Little short sayings that made lunch time with my fellow workers fun and new. But the one that always stuck in my head was "Maligayang Kaarawan" which simply means "Happy Birthday!". The philippino's always fascinated me because everytime they had a birthday they were always so happy and enthusiastic, but it wasn't always the people around them who would bring gifts and start the celebration. Often it was the birthday person themselves... She/He would actually bring gifts for other people and food... OMG you wanna talk about a feast? I never ate so much delicious but strange food as I did when I was with the philippinos. Anyhow, the idea of presenting gifts and food to the people around them shows me that they love life. They recognize that celebrating a birthday is not just about them, it's about the people in their life who love and adore them...
So now that just brings me to a simple fact about today, It's My Birthday!!!
So lets se... Ummmm 2009 - 1972... Ummm that would be... 9 -2 = 7 blah blah blah... I"m 37! WOO HOO! Ughhh my back is sore... and what's that funny taste in my mouth... Cough Cough... Why am I up at 5:28AM? what the heck is going on with me, this isn't me!
I got a call yesterday evening from the fella who deliver's oxygen to my mom. He was offering some work to me so of course I said yes, I'm ready to work... Coincidentally he is philippino. "So can you be at my house at 6:30am?", "yeah tomorrow morning?" I asked him... "yes!". Hmmmm "Sure!, No problem" I replied. So here I sit blogging at now 5:30am on my birthday, just about to step into the shower so I don't smell like old cheese.
My only regret is I can't hug my kids first thing in the morning like every other birthday I've had with them... But I will make up for it with lots of hugs when I get home tonight!
Hang in there friend, I can't wait to see you again but I understand you need time to get proper and strong!
So now that just brings me to a simple fact about today, It's My Birthday!!!
So lets se... Ummmm 2009 - 1972... Ummm that would be... 9 -2 = 7 blah blah blah... I"m 37! WOO HOO! Ughhh my back is sore... and what's that funny taste in my mouth... Cough Cough... Why am I up at 5:28AM? what the heck is going on with me, this isn't me!
I got a call yesterday evening from the fella who deliver's oxygen to my mom. He was offering some work to me so of course I said yes, I'm ready to work... Coincidentally he is philippino. "So can you be at my house at 6:30am?", "yeah tomorrow morning?" I asked him... "yes!". Hmmmm "Sure!, No problem" I replied. So here I sit blogging at now 5:30am on my birthday, just about to step into the shower so I don't smell like old cheese.
My only regret is I can't hug my kids first thing in the morning like every other birthday I've had with them... But I will make up for it with lots of hugs when I get home tonight!
Hang in there friend, I can't wait to see you again but I understand you need time to get proper and strong!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Thanks friend...
For the past 18 years, my mother has been living the life of a person diagnosed with a genetic illness called "Alpha1 Anti trypsin Deficiency". For the most part she has been able to have a decent quality of life. Doggedly determined to not give up when times are tough has carried my mother through the first stages of her disease. This disease, passed from parents to children inevitably causes serious lung and or liver disease at various ages of life. Now, she exists in what the hospital has phrased "End Stage Disease" Barely a day goes by when we do not hear this term, the words slap us in the face like branches as we go full speed ahead through the forest on the all terrain vehicle called transplant. In my mother's case, because she only inherited one of the two defective genes related to Alpha1, her disease has progressed rather slowly. For the past 6 months however, my mother's condition has been deteriorating rapidly. Her journey, and my part as primary caregiver may soon come to an end. I am praying with all my heart that this ultimate end to a phase in our lives comes after she receives her gift of life and not because her gift never arrived. To see her living with some sort of quality of life again would be not only a gift to her, but to her many grand children who love her dearly. We understand that this gift comes at a price, someone has to die for her to receive the gift. But consider something before you shrug it off as a selfish request. I know I have rationalized my own death, knowing that some day my misfortune may benefit someone who is in a similar situation to my own. I have sat in the lobby at a hospital wondering what the name of the donor will be. Or what their lives were like before they met their demise. I have broken down in tears not because I know my mother will die, but because her quality of life in the last few years of her life has been so poor. I want nothing more than to just see that quality of life improve for the remainder of her life. I began this blog process in response to a dear friend that I lost to Cancer, her husband blogged to get through the process. With God at his side he has triumphed over his tragedy and found a way to move on. And as such, my journey as a caregiver has been documented in this blog for several months. I am hoping to receive a similar gift of comfort through my writing. Now, open for anyone to read but most certainly not written solely for the public, my blog goes on. I write for several reasons, one such reason being to let my frustrations out. If I have a bad day then I literally transfer the pain, anguish, fear, and worry to words on a computer screen. The real emotions literally melt away as I write. I have met first hand hundreds of people at the hospital, online, and on the street who are fighting for stability, hoping to live long enough to receive their gift. Through determination and difficult course of treatment, the hospitals and organizations involved in multi-organ transplant give well over 100% effort in saving lives like my mother's. Ultimately though, the research programs, surgeons, doctors, nurses and every other support group involved are simply not enough. Without you! and what we have now coined as "The Gift Of Life" people like my mother do not stand a chance. It has been amazing, up to this point the support and love that I have received through the blog and especially through the people we have met at the hospital. Our home away from home...
Thanks childhood friend, you put a smile on my face tonight...
Sincerely,
Don Millette.
Thanks childhood friend, you put a smile on my face tonight...
Sincerely,
Don Millette.
A reason for everything in life...
Whether you believe in God or not, it's really hard to deny certain circumstances that bring us together as people, or tear us apart for that matter. It all seems so planned, or at least organized in some way that is massively out of reach for our limited brain... Today I had a childhood friend reflect on a recent post of mine and it inspired her to blog about it at her own website, I would encourage you to read it and consider following her simple request to consider organ and bone marrow donation which I can assure you touches so many lives.
Step 1: Click on the tree image above,
Step 2: Enjoy her awesome website,
Step 3: Repeat steps 1 & 2 until it sinks in.
Cheers!
Step 1: Click on the tree image above,
Step 2: Enjoy her awesome website,
Step 3: Repeat steps 1 & 2 until it sinks in.
Cheers!
Clarification and HOLY CRAP!
First off I must clarify something, after receiving a message from a friend about them having A blood type I thought, Hrmmmm if my friend has the same blood type as me then why is mine supposedly so rare... Turns out that it's not the A part that is rare, it's the RH- part. Most people on the earth have RH+ which is also true in primates. RH- people don't seem to share the same blood grouping as primates... What it means? probably not a whole heck of a lot but I still find it cool that I'm somewhat unique or in a minority group. YAY! There is a really interesting but somewhat errrrr.. strange article about my odd blood type. Read about it HERE!
Now on to the HOLY CRAP!
Over the past 6 months we have forged a friendship with two really great people, they have shared our frustrations in the world of organ transplantation as they were also on the list... This morning as I prepared myself for the meeting I will have here in my home office with a very important person (unidentified at this time). I got a text message indicating a new email...
Subject:(friend) being transplanted right now!
I began to tremble with a wave of PURE excitement.... WOW! and ummm... "HOLY CRAP!" ahahahahahaa You have no idea how amazing it feels to know that your newly found friend will now have a chance to once again live a semi normal existance.
Now to further explain why I'm so thrilled, out of all the people in the transplant group and I do dearly love them all. This person I felt simply "MUST" get his transplant done. And although I had not said anything I could visibly see that he wasn't doing as well as he pretended. He and his "new wife" yeah that's right, he's recently married like just before going on the transplant list. That says something for the power of love eh? They are two nice people who deserve this oppourtunity.
Now at this time I can see some light at the end of our transplant tunnel, my mother is starting to feel better and was able to make the climb down, then up the stairs in our home for the first time in over two weeks. This means that she will be strong enough to be a viable transplant patient once again. We will undoubtedly be in the physio room once again on Tuesday come hell or high water!
My thoughts and prayers go out to you friend and your wife :)
Cheers!
Now on to the HOLY CRAP!
Over the past 6 months we have forged a friendship with two really great people, they have shared our frustrations in the world of organ transplantation as they were also on the list... This morning as I prepared myself for the meeting I will have here in my home office with a very important person (unidentified at this time). I got a text message indicating a new email...
Subject:
I began to tremble with a wave of PURE excitement.... WOW! and ummm... "HOLY CRAP!" ahahahahahaa You have no idea how amazing it feels to know that your newly found friend will now have a chance to once again live a semi normal existance.
Now to further explain why I'm so thrilled, out of all the people in the transplant group and I do dearly love them all. This person I felt simply "MUST" get his transplant done. And although I had not said anything I could visibly see that he wasn't doing as well as he pretended. He and his "new wife" yeah that's right, he's recently married like just before going on the transplant list. That says something for the power of love eh? They are two nice people who deserve this oppourtunity.
Now at this time I can see some light at the end of our transplant tunnel, my mother is starting to feel better and was able to make the climb down, then up the stairs in our home for the first time in over two weeks. This means that she will be strong enough to be a viable transplant patient once again. We will undoubtedly be in the physio room once again on Tuesday come hell or high water!
My thoughts and prayers go out to you friend and your wife
Cheers!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
What a great day!
Ok I'll start by reminding everyone about the fact that I gave blood to the blood bank for the very first time in my life a few weeks ago. I figured heck I spend three days a week at the hospital waiting for my mom to finish her physio therapy so why not do something while I wait. I know what a strange thing to do... Well I've had so many frappachino's at the coffee shop there that I kinda lost interest in them. Whip cream and all...
So the jist of it is this... I GOT MY CBS CARD i'm so happy... and the letter they sent with it explained that I have some super rare blood type which I will share with you now just in case you need blood or something. Seriously I mean it... :) anyhow my blood type is "A RH NEG" and apparently most people are RH POS. I share my blood type with only 6% of humans on the planet, that's pretty cool in my books!
Cool event number two... I've been selling a lot of stuff on EBay and using my business's shipping discounts to squeeze every last dime out of my sales. Today the venture one program sent me a prepaid envelope that I can use to send anything I like anywhere in Canada free of charge. As long as it fits in that envelope. And it's overnight expresspost shipping so that's pretty damn cool!
Cool event number three... I have the tax guy coming tomorrow to help me sort out my retail sales tax nightmare, try to make heads or tails of it all. But that's not the cool part... The cool part is I spent several hours cleaning the shipping area and office area in the basement of my house so it not only looks somewhat like a work area, it's clean!
I'm gonna be posting a few new adverts on ebay in the next day or two so if your interested in any of them let me know so I can make sure to give you a great price just cause your my blogger friend :)
HP scanner, Wireless router (linux firmware), and possibly an Intel print server. Oh and a set of four cctv camera brackets... All will be auctioned starting at one penny so get in on the great savings while ya can.... hahahaha
I'm such a sales guy... Just need the Herb Tarlic from WKRP in Cincinatti eh?
Cheers!
So the jist of it is this... I GOT MY CBS CARD i'm so happy... and the letter they sent with it explained that I have some super rare blood type which I will share with you now just in case you need blood or something. Seriously I mean it... :) anyhow my blood type is "A RH NEG" and apparently most people are RH POS. I share my blood type with only 6% of humans on the planet, that's pretty cool in my books!
Cool event number two... I've been selling a lot of stuff on EBay and using my business's shipping discounts to squeeze every last dime out of my sales. Today the venture one program sent me a prepaid envelope that I can use to send anything I like anywhere in Canada free of charge. As long as it fits in that envelope. And it's overnight expresspost shipping so that's pretty damn cool!
Cool event number three... I have the tax guy coming tomorrow to help me sort out my retail sales tax nightmare, try to make heads or tails of it all. But that's not the cool part... The cool part is I spent several hours cleaning the shipping area and office area in the basement of my house so it not only looks somewhat like a work area, it's clean!
I'm gonna be posting a few new adverts on ebay in the next day or two so if your interested in any of them let me know so I can make sure to give you a great price just cause your my blogger friend :)
HP scanner, Wireless router (linux firmware), and possibly an Intel print server. Oh and a set of four cctv camera brackets... All will be auctioned starting at one penny so get in on the great savings while ya can.... hahahaha
I'm such a sales guy... Just need the Herb Tarlic from WKRP in Cincinatti eh?
Cheers!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
It's always nice to unwind...
Well for me unwinding means sitting in front of my 37" LCD monitor and firing up the ol' html editor to waste some time designing this and that in cyberspace. I spent some time unwinding at Chris Pirillo's chat room while he recorded three of his videos. It's a strange phenomenon, Chris has at any given time 300 plus people in his chat room. Needless to say it gets rather confusing sometimes.
I've officially recieved permission from EBay in the form of an email to include a link to my mousecrash.com page. For me this will serve a few purposes... One is that the buyers will see that I am a person like anyone else who is willing to expose my personal blog pages to them. Could bring a level of trust to them as buyers. Also it will increase the traffic to my pages which in turn generates income for me. No, I don't think I'm some fantastic web designer, in fact I use a wysiwyg editor to make most of the pages because I hate fumbling through CSS and notepad type web design. I am quite familiar with a few dozen html tags, I just think it's dumb not to use an object oriented design that will place all the CSS in the proper places for you. Dynamically you can set things where you like them.
Now, about today... My personal dealings...
I thought my mother was ready to return to the physio room however shortly after entering the building she began to fall apart physically. Straining for breath and starting to panic. So I took her to the emergency where they swiftly began to treat her as if she was having an athsma attack. For now it has settled her down but I think we are now going to take the entire week off of the hospital thing and I will keep a close eye on her to make sure she can breath.
Life sure is a delicate balance of insanity and chance eh?
Until next time...
Cheers!
I've officially recieved permission from EBay in the form of an email to include a link to my mousecrash.com page. For me this will serve a few purposes... One is that the buyers will see that I am a person like anyone else who is willing to expose my personal blog pages to them. Could bring a level of trust to them as buyers. Also it will increase the traffic to my pages which in turn generates income for me. No, I don't think I'm some fantastic web designer, in fact I use a wysiwyg editor to make most of the pages because I hate fumbling through CSS and notepad type web design. I am quite familiar with a few dozen html tags, I just think it's dumb not to use an object oriented design that will place all the CSS in the proper places for you. Dynamically you can set things where you like them.
Now, about today... My personal dealings...
I thought my mother was ready to return to the physio room however shortly after entering the building she began to fall apart physically. Straining for breath and starting to panic. So I took her to the emergency where they swiftly began to treat her as if she was having an athsma attack. For now it has settled her down but I think we are now going to take the entire week off of the hospital thing and I will keep a close eye on her to make sure she can breath.
Life sure is a delicate balance of insanity and chance eh?
Until next time...
Cheers!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Superbowl Sunday
Now I simply can not speak for other geeks but am I the only one that doesn't give a rats ass about the Super Bowl? I'm not a sports fan by any means, I'd much prefer to watch a person try to wiggle their way in through an open port on my router. I've got far better things to blog about than sports... What does interest me about the Super Bowl is the advertising, all that money. Whoa, all that money! We as a family spent the better part of the evening... well actually from 5pm - 9pm watching movies and such together, it was nice and we had a good giggle or two at what we were watching it. It was a great way to avoid all the Super Bowl fuss.
In my mother's world, the Meropenum seems to be working, my mother's breathing is beginning to stabilize and she is able to walk about the house with a bit more ease. Looks like we may be taking her to Physio tomorrow although I'm sure it's going to take a bit of motivation to get her out the door. I am up to the challenge.
And last but not least help me out and go bid on some of the items in my ebay list, just click on "Don's Ebay" located on the red menu bar at the top. Come on guys, I need some cash to buy a micro spirometer for my mother and you need a 1918 penny don't you?
Cheers!
In my mother's world, the Meropenum seems to be working, my mother's breathing is beginning to stabilize and she is able to walk about the house with a bit more ease. Looks like we may be taking her to Physio tomorrow although I'm sure it's going to take a bit of motivation to get her out the door. I am up to the challenge.
And last but not least help me out and go bid on some of the items in my ebay list, just click on "Don's Ebay" located on the red menu bar at the top. Come on guys, I need some cash to buy a micro spirometer for my mother and you need a 1918 penny don't you?
Cheers!
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