Time goes quickly...

At the house I don't think I have ever had a shift drag...I am always surprised that the shift is over. This is not to say that we have endless amounts of fun and energy to do amazing things all of the time...but for me time at the house passes quickly.

Normally when the evening shift begins we go and round up the kids from the afternoon shift volunteers who are usually bringing them down to dinner or to the kids floor. I went upstairs to check in with the nurses on the kids floor and then up to the classroom where a I found Shannah and Corrine. It appeared that Corrine did not want to make her way down to dinner as she was fully involved in a computer game about Tigger finding hunney for Winnie the Pooh.
I ran down and picked up a plate of dinner and made my way uptairs.
The game is called Tigger's Hunny Hunt and was actually a fun game. I was needed to help Tigger fly by using the space bar. Corrine did all of the rest and we ended up being a pretty great team!

Also in the house tonight were Jaxson and Galen. Jaxson can be seen putting the boots to Roberto Luongo in this video:

Jaxson and Luongo

There were also a few siblings and parents in the house and everyone seemed pretty happy and calm. It has been a tough couple of weeks at the house with a couple kids passing on. The house is built for this and always looks after the things that need looking after.
Here is a bit of an email from our volunteer coordinator Leanne Freeman quoting Filomena:

On a final note, we have had another busy week here at Canuck Place. In
the words of the Canuck Place CEO Filomena Nalewajek - “ This week we
witnessed the "symphony" that silently embraces that care and resonates at
decibels beyond our ability to simply hear. Staff quietly lending a hand,
without being asked; instinctively knowing what is needed: volunteers
helping staff engaging children in play so they would not witness the raw
pain of parents saying goodbye to their lifeless child; staff there to
support and hold together parents in pain, whatever it took to
respond,give,care. The harmony was there, and in that very sad music was
a sense that the world goes on.”

This house is beautiful.

Looking forward to getting to the house Friday

It gives me something to write about! Time at the house is far more interesting than my less than stellar efforts at training. In my two week holiday from school I had great aspirations of doing more running. I have have done that a little, but only with thanks to my wife who has taken me to Kitsilano Community Centre Gym and I ran on the treadmill. I did manage to knock off 17 km in my four visits!
I attempted to blog my training last year for the Kelowna Apple Triathlon
as I had challenged a couple of friends to join me in the tri...they both bailed. Here is that blog.

I believe training has 2 simple components:

• It must become a habit forming practice
• Your point of reference for personal fitness is the point where you began (not what you used to weigh in college)

FITNESS IS DEPRESSING

I have been 96kg for the last 5 years, I think. Every time I workout at the gym I weigh myself and I am always 96 kg. I think I would like to be 90 kg, which may be a a bit of a pipe dream so maybe I can accept 92kg...but a man can dream.

Exercising is hard...ok the exercising habit is hard...and when you are not in the habit of exercising, exercising is hard. stay tuned.

Saturday Make-up

The girls were in for a treat on Saturday as they were given the spa treatment. They were also having their hair, makeup, and nails done. My wife Cindy did their makeup. Maggie, who is in grade five, was doing her own makeup for dinner when I came in on Friday. By Saturday she was in the doghouse with her mum and had had taken her makeup AWAY. Cindy came with goody bags of makeup for each of the girls...so Maggie was back in the game. The girls faces were painted and Cindy said they were all happy and pretty.

Oh...and the girls

Well...it was a Pyjama party and chick flick night. Neither of us (me, Tony, Kyle) brought our PJ's and it appeared that the girls had everything under control with other girl volunteers who were brought in as ringers for the night.
I guess it was a no boy zone for the night...girls...sigh.

Girls are not like boys

The teen girls at the house are very different from the boys. If there is anything that the girls are able to do...they will do it themselves. The boys will have you do it for them!
In the house this week are four girls for the girls teen weekend. There is Maggie, McKenna, Kirsten, and Juliana.

There is also Conner. Conner is a 3 year old boy from the Interior who is in the house (and Children's) as they try and figure what is happening with his tummy. He is having difficulty digesting any food he receives. Right now he gets ALL of his nourishment by way of intravenous lipids and proteins. I got to sit with Conner and we watched the hockey game. Some of the discomfort Conner is feeling is due to him swallowing a lot of air and his stomach is filling up with it. Every ten minutes or so he becomes really uncomfortable and the nurse will "depressurise" him by sucking out the air through his tummy tube with a syringe--anywhere between 100 to 200 cc of air each time. He also farts! When I sat down with him tucking his legs up with one hand and supporting him from underneath with the other he let one rip as a way of introduction.
Conner's mum, dad, and sister are all in the house and have been in town for a number of weeks. He also has a brother who is staying closer to home and being looked after by somebody else. His sister can do her school work while she is here. There is a full time teacher that looks after the kids and their siblings while they are away from home.
Conner's dad came by to sit with him. We all watched the hockey game and talked a little. Dad said some nice things about what we do as volunteers and how important we are...how important the house is...to everybody that needs the help. The house isn't just for the kids. It is for the kids and their whole families. Parents get a break from doing all the work that is needed to keep their children comfortable, or for that matter, alive. When they are at the house they can concentrate on simply loving their babies, or taking a break.

Girls weekend out.

Every once in a while the house holds a teen weekend for the kids who are teens. They are all in the house for the weekend and spend a lot of time together doing activities...going out...group discussions...and playing. I think this is the first girls weekend out in a couple of years.

This weekend there are going to be five girls hanging out.
I am really happy that my wife and step daughter will be helping out on Saturday.
One of the activities is doing makeup. Cindy is a professional makeup artist and is taking her kits to the house and taking goody bags of makeup for the girls. She will doll up the girls for the night and teach those who can do their own makeup some tips on how to do a beautiful makeup and to take care of their skin.

I will be there on Friday night...I wonder what will be in store for us!

Friday at the House

Welcome to another riveting report from the lofty rooms of Canuck Place Hospice. Not a great night in terms of the namesake team...4-0 thrashing loss to Minni.....speaking of thrashings...Thrashers won and are now tied with the 'nucks for the LAST playoff spot...
I am growing a 'make the playoffs' beard and am desperate to shave it off...I guess I have one more week to determine my facial fate.

In the house this week...again with not so very original made up names...Krista, Jeffrey, Aldo, and Conrad.

Conrad is pretty much unable to communicate verbally...but he makes fantastic 'raspberry' noises with his tongue. He spent the night up in the school room making noises...taking off his socks and trying to take off his shirts. He also has an incredible reach with his arms. He managed to grab at Krista's arm pillow as we rolled past...and manages to grab almost anything within a 1m reach of his chair.

Krista is from Vancouver Island. Krista has Duchennes's muscular dystrophy which by all accounts only affects boys, but there is a very small percentage of girls with Duchenne's. I have not seen her for a year and she looks really good. She is going to be back in a couple of weeks for a 'girl's teen weekend' and I am really happy that my wife Cynthia will be taking a couple of hours to do the girls' makeup on the Saturday.

Aldo is a favorite of mine. I hold him responsible for a serious incident that took place at the house last year. Aldo has a serious love affair with Star Wars. I was armed with a hockey stick light sabre and a Darth Vader type sand bucket mask that enabled me to breathe with the patented Darth Vader heavy breathing sound. I was kicking Aldo's rear end with jabs and slashes and all sorts of fantastic moves. He is pretty aggressive in his chair so you have to watch your toes. I made a fantastic strike and moved to the left rapidly...not seeing the steel pole sticking out of the ground. My knee struck the pole with so much force that it made a resounding "GONG" and the echo reverberated for all to hear. The trouble is ...nobody heard it...all they could hear was my howling. My family counselor partner for the night was Martin....he has no sympathy whatsoever for me. He, for all intents and purposes, believed that I was faking it. This comes from a man who works in the post office and had to go on medical leave because he poked his eye with his thumb. Maybe it wasn't medical leave...but it was pretty serious!!
Aldo loves dinosaurs and Star Wars. He likes to play computer games and he is a really smart Grade Fiver.

Jeffrey made me laugh tonight. He is neat kid in Grade 9. He is in the house for respite care this week and has an appointment with a sleep specialist. I think they want to check that his 02 levels are ok while he sleeps. I told him that technology has advanced to such a point that during the test they can actually see the dreams he was having during the test. I had him hook, line , and sinker. He was really worried about it until I told him I was kidding.

I had had a really tiring week. I was really happy to end it with a night at the house.
malcolm

No House report--thank you to my brother!

No house report this week. I had to miss because I was in Whistler's Callaghan Valley for the Canadian Cross country Nationals.

Thank you to my brother Neil for donating $100. Each year Neil has donated and last year he donated more than he bargained for. It was his Brodie Enduro bike that was stolen off the back of my car. I still have not replaced it....sigh.

Thank you, Neil.
Malcolm

Success!

There is a veritable cornucopia of bike parts in my back yard. I deftly manoeuvred one rear wheel from a large framed bike to THE BIKE and now can go forward with reckless abandon. I can even stop now because I moved a couple of less worn brake pads.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...get?....re-cycle....sigh

The end is Nigh

A flat rear tire.
Now what will be next?
Oh Patron of Bikes...where are you?

Canuck Place video

Many cool things happen at Canuck Place. This video gives great insight to what happens at Canuck Place. Please watch!

http://www.canuckplace.org/video.php?id=64

Malcolm

Frozen testicular syndrome - FTS

Known more commonly as FTS in my training vernacular this syndrome is most common to the cyclist with poor riding posture, no cycling shorts, and perhaps a prostrate un-friendly cycling seat. I googled the term and, having found nothing on the web, would like to claim rights to the FTS-frozen testicular syndrome name.
The syndrome need not be explained in detail but suffice to say that a combination of a poor seat and ambient temperatures of 10 degrees celsius or less causes the rider grief.
malcolm

a most excellent win

The canucks had a tremendous win last night...thankfully. keep the faith...keep the faith

A bike patron

First off...Canucks for Kids raised a ton of money yesterday...and the 'nucks won a big game to boot. Thank you to everyone who participated and donated for the big night.

Now...to business. I need a bike patron. This realisation came to me yesterday as I tried to get my keys out of my back pack while approaching the garage door to the parking lot. With one hand on my front brake and keys in the other...I was not able to apply enough brake pressure to stop...and consequently used the slowly rising garage door to stop. Very embarrassing. On the way home I had to stop to fill my tires with air again...up from their present 30 psi to the prescribed 55psi. No wonder I was moving so slow!

Any body who is willing to sponsor me in the form of a bike...I am all ears..brake pads...and under inflated tires.

Malcolm

Canucks for Kids Telethon

A big day for The House. The Canuck's organisation is responsible for almost 1/3 of the operating cost of Canuck Place. That is a big chunk of change at over 1.3 million.

Support and GIVE! https://www.canuckplace.org/canuck/donate.php

Canucks for Kids Fund Telethon - Thursday, March 6th
March 06, 2008

Join in the 2008 Canucks for Kids Fund Telethon in support of Canuck Place Children's Hospice

The 2008 Telethon will be held during the Thursday, March 6th Vancouver Canucks hockey game versus the visiting Nashville Predators.

Receive your Exclusive Canucks Photos by donating today!
# Donate $100 to receive an 8x10 photograph of Trevor Linden entitled “Celebration”

# Donate $150 or more – you receive the Roberto Lunogo “Great Save” photograph and the “Celebration” photo.

Friday at the House

Another great night despite the Canucks losing.
Miracles of miracles Tony, Kyle, and I were at the house together for the first time in about 5 months. Kyle has been with the house as a peer volunteer for years...and he volunteers everywhere else, and is a full time time student working on I don't know how many degrees.
Our shift starts at 5 pm. This is what happens when you come to your shift; you sign in, go and find out what is happening from the 1-5 shift volunteers, and then go EAT.

Like every house the kitchen is the heart of the house and Shelley cooks some mighty fine cuisine. Everybody in the house comes down for supper...whether you can eat or not!

In the house this Friday are Brad, Saul, Kevin, Kent, Morgan, and Mikey (again...not real names...do you realise how difficult it is to come up with fake names that fit?)

Saul has been in the house for over three weeks. He lives in the Okanagan and has been getting stuff done at Children's Hospital I think. I would hazaard a guess that he is pretty tired of being here.He and Tony hung out in in the big TV room most of the night.
Brad is an 18 year old who is in for some respite care.
Kevin is a Grade 5 boy from the Okanagan and has been at the house for a week with his mum, dad, and "my boy" Justin his 2 year old brother.

Kent. Not sure how old Kent is. If you want to see his face you need to hold his head up for him. When you do that you are rewarded with a huge grin and these incredibly bright eyes. Kyle was hanging with Kent and Brad while I was playing blocks with Justin...Kevin's 'boy'. Kyle thinks that Kent is having a seizure of some sort. He goes down to get a nurse and I watch Kent. The seizure stops and I lift up Kent's head. He kind of stares blankly at me for about 30 seconds...and the BANG...his eyes turn on and he flashes a big grin!
Mikey has just hanging in his chair fading in and out of sleep the whole night!

A little later Kent lets loose some nasty smelling farts...we think it might be time for hime to go to the Kid's Floor and take care of something important.

Another neat night at the house.
Malcolm

Thank you

Thank you to Paul Robson of CIBC. He donated $100 to the cause!
Paul is involved with another association called Sing Around ( http://www.singaround.com/)

Check them out!
Malcolm

Why I am at Canuck Place

I don't know. I am happy I am there but I am not really sure why I am. I started back in 2004 (I think) when I contacted the House looking for somewhere to volunteer. Being a lifelong Canucks fan maybe I just gravitated to the House. I was in contact with Susan Dickson, the volunteer coordinator at the time. Susan retired 2 years ago after being with the house since it opened.
It was the only interview I have ever been in that I cried. She was very determined to make sure that the volunteers she got would work out. I saw her last year at the Gift of Time fundraiser and she said she was happily surprised to see me still around!

To be a family volunteer each person goes through a 30 hour orientation and education about the House, how the house is operated, bereavement education, music therapy, and a variety of other things to know when in the house.

If you are interested in becoming part of Canuck Place contact Leanne Freeman who is the Volunteer Services Coordinator.

Malcolm

bike to work

It counts. Riding to work counts as training. All 14km round trip. Although I have just started and have taken my bike less than 20 times I feel that my legs are stronger. This is good.

Ride to work if you can!: http://www.vacc.bc.ca/biketowork/