First off, some of the kids I'm talking about in this post have been previously mentioned by Malcolm, except do not recall what names Malcolm assigned them, so I guess I will make up my own. =D
So today I got to Canuck Place a bit late because of my Chemistry lab at UBC, and as I walked through the door, I just couldn't wait to see who was in the house today. The other volunteer there tonight was Martin, who turned out to be subbing for both Tony and Lindsay. At first I thought Tony was just being a wuss again, but he was actually unable to come because his daughter, FINALLY, voluntarily asked to go to a hockey game with him! How wonderful - that is a valid excuse. Lindsay, who was supposed to sub for Jen, couldn't make it because she is sick. Get well soon!
Kids and siblings in the house that I saw: Robin, Janine, Peter, Kay, Sofee...
Teenagers Robin and Janine, who are siblings a few years apart, soon left after dinner to watch a hockey game (i'm guessing the Canucks?) So I went into the sun room and played some Rockband with Peter, who is their younger brother. I have become quite proficient in playing Medium Guitar for Blitzkrieg Bop, Say it Ain't So, Creep, Learning to Fly...Martin watched for awhile but finally gave into playing a few songs on the guitar.
Then Kay, who was listening to us on rockband kind of fell asleep, so I ran upstairs to get his nurse and he was taken upstairs to get ready for bed. I went upstairs as well, and hung out with Kay a bit longer before bedtime, and I read a few Dr. Seuss books to him - Horton Hears a Who, Mr. Brown can go moo moo, Green Eggs and Ham, ABC something...He really liked the Mr. Brown book when I made all the animal and miscellaneous sounds from it. Then Kay started making funny noises,and I had a funny noise competition with him. It is so wonderful to see him smile.
Then Margaret, one of the nurses, said that Martin and I could leave early tonight since it was pretty quiet around the house. We left at around 8:30, and Martin kindly gave me a ride home.
So yeah! That's what happened tonight. Fun and quite relaxing, to say the least. =)
Friday, 27 February 2009
Thursday, 26 February 2009
Sunday, 22 February 2009
steve broke it
it wasn't me. steve did it. i think it was foreshadowed at dinner when steve said: " i have been waiting all day for this..." steve was, of course, making reference to Rockband.
i got in first. Little Normie was back in the house. Normie greets us in classic rocker fashion by sticking out his tongue and raising his right arm. Steve and I taught it to him. After dinner we played a little air hockey but his eyes quickly rested on the X-box. He was heading home soon so we played for about 5 minutes. He is such a happy little boy!
The 'incident' occurred much later.
I wasn't there when it took place but I know that Steve was drumming and Lucas was singing. Before Jackie and I went upstairs the four of us were doing our darnedest to nail Weezer's song 'Say it ain't so'. Jackie and I were on guitar. He strummed and I did the fingers, Lucas sang, and Steve drummed. First we got 25%, than 27%...32%. We hit a magic 49%. Even though Lucas was the singer Steve and I both enjoy singing more so we were all singing at the top of our voices and when the program ended the song...it was all about the high fives. We were yelling and cheering and than we did it again. We did it about 7 or 8 times! Classic boy behaviour.
Jackie wanted to go upstairs. His gum was hurting him. We got upstairs and hung out on the kids floor. One of the doc's was around and he peeked in his mouth. There was not much to be seen. I think he had maybe a little sore on his gum and those really hurt. They sting. This was stinging him and he was getting really frustrated. Jackie kept saying how frustrated he was and all the things he wanted to do to this cut on his gum. He was not happy.
Then it got worse! He had to take meds before bed. He had to have a little snack. He had to have his glucose levels checked and he had to do his insulin shots. A lot to do when you are feeling frustrated about a sore gum and 50% of what you had to do involved passing stuff into your mouth and over the thing that is causing you frustration! We were at an impasse. He had to do these things but was so agitated that he could not wrap his head around getting them done.
His nurse sent us away to problem solve.
It took a while but Jackie came up with a solution: he would take his meds crushed up in chocolate milk and inject with a syrynge PAST his owie gums. When it came time...he bailed.
Back to the drawing board. We talked alot; about his gum, about how frustrated he felt, how good he was at always taking his meds, how the nurses couldn't put him to bed without giving him his meds, how bad it would be for his body if he didn't take them, back to how good he was at taking his own meds. Then he had a light go off: "what about this? If I take my meds can I show you how I do my insulin shots?". Sounded like a good plan to me. Back up to the nurses station and we get the choclate milk, a cup of yogurt, his crushed meds and mix the meds with the yogurt. Big spoonful followed by a chaser of choclate milk. More yogurt/med combo and another chaser. Finally we got it all in and down.
Next on the agenda were his insulin shots. He handled his injections like a pro going over each step telling me what he was doing and how he was being safe. He had 2 injections to do. I could tell he was pretty happy about getting himself through all of this.
So we got Jackie fixed and it was time to go home.
Steve broke the rockband.
Time to go home.
Steve. Rockband. Broke.
i got in first. Little Normie was back in the house. Normie greets us in classic rocker fashion by sticking out his tongue and raising his right arm. Steve and I taught it to him. After dinner we played a little air hockey but his eyes quickly rested on the X-box. He was heading home soon so we played for about 5 minutes. He is such a happy little boy!
The 'incident' occurred much later.
I wasn't there when it took place but I know that Steve was drumming and Lucas was singing. Before Jackie and I went upstairs the four of us were doing our darnedest to nail Weezer's song 'Say it ain't so'. Jackie and I were on guitar. He strummed and I did the fingers, Lucas sang, and Steve drummed. First we got 25%, than 27%...32%. We hit a magic 49%. Even though Lucas was the singer Steve and I both enjoy singing more so we were all singing at the top of our voices and when the program ended the song...it was all about the high fives. We were yelling and cheering and than we did it again. We did it about 7 or 8 times! Classic boy behaviour.
Jackie wanted to go upstairs. His gum was hurting him. We got upstairs and hung out on the kids floor. One of the doc's was around and he peeked in his mouth. There was not much to be seen. I think he had maybe a little sore on his gum and those really hurt. They sting. This was stinging him and he was getting really frustrated. Jackie kept saying how frustrated he was and all the things he wanted to do to this cut on his gum. He was not happy.
Then it got worse! He had to take meds before bed. He had to have a little snack. He had to have his glucose levels checked and he had to do his insulin shots. A lot to do when you are feeling frustrated about a sore gum and 50% of what you had to do involved passing stuff into your mouth and over the thing that is causing you frustration! We were at an impasse. He had to do these things but was so agitated that he could not wrap his head around getting them done.
His nurse sent us away to problem solve.
It took a while but Jackie came up with a solution: he would take his meds crushed up in chocolate milk and inject with a syrynge PAST his owie gums. When it came time...he bailed.
Back to the drawing board. We talked alot; about his gum, about how frustrated he felt, how good he was at always taking his meds, how the nurses couldn't put him to bed without giving him his meds, how bad it would be for his body if he didn't take them, back to how good he was at taking his own meds. Then he had a light go off: "what about this? If I take my meds can I show you how I do my insulin shots?". Sounded like a good plan to me. Back up to the nurses station and we get the choclate milk, a cup of yogurt, his crushed meds and mix the meds with the yogurt. Big spoonful followed by a chaser of choclate milk. More yogurt/med combo and another chaser. Finally we got it all in and down.
Next on the agenda were his insulin shots. He handled his injections like a pro going over each step telling me what he was doing and how he was being safe. He had 2 injections to do. I could tell he was pretty happy about getting himself through all of this.
So we got Jackie fixed and it was time to go home.
Steve broke the rockband.
Time to go home.
Steve. Rockband. Broke.
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
TV and Zoo-reka! Friday Feb 13 2009
Whoa sorry, I did not post last friday...
now that it's so long ago I need to think deeply to recall what happened. Give me a few moments.
...
So I had a shift with Tony and Kim (Kim was subbing for Jen), and it was pretty cool. After dinner I spent most of my time with Stan on floor 2, where we just sat in his room and watched TV while ridiculing various american commercials and laughed watching the simpsons. One particular news that struck both of us was that a young British boy of 13 became a father with his girlfriend of 15. That was extremely shocking, and they boy looked like he hadn't hit puberty yet and was still a kid himself...I wonder how his family is going to work this out.
So anyways, after some choco milk and more TV, Stan was ready for his shower, and I went upstairs to join Kim and Sarah and Jimmy in a game of Zoo-reka! Jimmy was the best at it - he already got part of his Zoo while us girls still didnt have anything yet. That game was brand new! It was fun learning how to play it, and Sarah was so happy.
At the end of the night, as we boarded the elevator to head downstairs, Sarah told Kim and I, "I had so much fun with you guys today. Thanks!!" It was so sweet of her and it made me realize that there are few people in this world who rejoice in the smallest things that most others miss. Sarah is one of those few, and it reminded me of how our time spent with these kids can mean so much and be so meaningful.
now that it's so long ago I need to think deeply to recall what happened. Give me a few moments.
...
So I had a shift with Tony and Kim (Kim was subbing for Jen), and it was pretty cool. After dinner I spent most of my time with Stan on floor 2, where we just sat in his room and watched TV while ridiculing various american commercials and laughed watching the simpsons. One particular news that struck both of us was that a young British boy of 13 became a father with his girlfriend of 15. That was extremely shocking, and they boy looked like he hadn't hit puberty yet and was still a kid himself...I wonder how his family is going to work this out.
So anyways, after some choco milk and more TV, Stan was ready for his shower, and I went upstairs to join Kim and Sarah and Jimmy in a game of Zoo-reka! Jimmy was the best at it - he already got part of his Zoo while us girls still didnt have anything yet. That game was brand new! It was fun learning how to play it, and Sarah was so happy.
At the end of the night, as we boarded the elevator to head downstairs, Sarah told Kim and I, "I had so much fun with you guys today. Thanks!!" It was so sweet of her and it made me realize that there are few people in this world who rejoice in the smallest things that most others miss. Sarah is one of those few, and it reminded me of how our time spent with these kids can mean so much and be so meaningful.
Sunday, 15 February 2009
Aldo revisited
Aldo and I were sitting at the computer and I told him I had the blog. He goes "No way!". I then told him that he was in it, and he says "no way". I searched for a Star Wars reference in the blog and was directed to this one: Aldo House. Scroll down a paragraph and I start with the sentence 'Aldo is a favorite of mine'. Couldn't have asked for a better sentence to start with when the kid reading it is 'the Aldo'.
He laughed about his new name.
He laughed about his new name.
Friday, 6 February 2009
Friday with Aldo (aka Noodle)
Here I am with Aldo himself. We are up in the school room looking at the blog. Aldo would like to tell you all the story about him crashing in to a truck!
"Well, I was playing tag outside when I was looking back my nurse yelled 'STOP!!', and I wouldn't stop. Before I knew it I crashed into a truck. Luckily it was parked. I almost broke my leg, got a bruise about the size of a ruler, and I cried for about 10 to 15 minutes. My nose got bashed and bled like crazy, filling up my mum's hand in less than a second. The truck was dented by my chair pretty good. From that day forward I have never seen the owner of the truck. He must have felt really bad. I would like to end my story by saying, There is more than meets the eye...as the Autobots leader always says.
"Well, I was playing tag outside when I was looking back my nurse yelled 'STOP!!', and I wouldn't stop. Before I knew it I crashed into a truck. Luckily it was parked. I almost broke my leg, got a bruise about the size of a ruler, and I cried for about 10 to 15 minutes. My nose got bashed and bled like crazy, filling up my mum's hand in less than a second. The truck was dented by my chair pretty good. From that day forward I have never seen the owner of the truck. He must have felt really bad. I would like to end my story by saying, There is more than meets the eye...as the Autobots leader always says.
Sunday, 1 February 2009
Bomb It and Sesame Street - Friday Jan 30 2009
Hello,
I'm sorry this post is coming so late, but I've been so busy with schoolwork all weekend that I haven't had a chance to sit down and take a break until now! (First-year is way intense.)
So anyways, on Friday (Malcolm's anti-shift), other volunteers there were Tony, Mike, and Lindsey! Tony I haven't seen for a whole month because two weeks ago he felt wimpy and called in sick (:P). Mike and Lindsey used to be bi-weekly friday night volunteers, but because they live in Pitt Meadows (so far away!), they are currently on-call volunteers. It was great to see them again!
So we checked in upstairs with the nurses and went downstairs to have a delicious dinner with family, kids, and nurses. I sat beside Kaitlyn, who has this awesome set After dinner, I spent some computer time with 5-year-old Lucas, who is one of the most animated and humorous little boys I have ever met. He wanted to play some shooting game on miniclip.com, but I decided to expand his online game repertoire and introduced him to "Bomb It" on agame.com. This game involves moving a character using arrow keys in a 2-D area and setting bombs to blow up blocks and other players using another key. At first, Lucas had a bit of trouble coordinating his hands with what he wanted to do, but he got the hang of it very quickly and started to really enjoy it!
Then it was 7pm and his mum wanted him downstairs for a snack before bedtime, so I pried him off the computer and we met his mum in the kitchen. Have you ever tried eating apples with peanut butter? I've never tried it before, but Lucas and mum were gobbling it up and apparently is very delicious. I must try sometime.
Tony took off early because he was dead beat from waking up at 4:00am, and I went to find Mike and little 2.5 year old Matthew in the art room. The little boy has a heart defect and it was important that we kept him unagitated. Regardless, he was very hyper and full of energy, and later in the Snoezelen room he was crawling all over the place. We played a game(very repetitive) where we would cover Matthew with a blanket and exclaim, "Oh my gosh! Where has Matthew gone?" and Matthew would reply excitedly whilst quickly uncovering himself, "He's here!"
Soon enough it was time for Matthew take a bath, and then Mike and I spent some time with Eliza, who was watching "All Dogs go to Heaven." Quite an awesome movie.
After Matthew was clean and in his Canucks PJ's, I sat with him on his bed and we watched Sesame Street. His attention quickly got diverted to an interesting fleece blanket on the bed though, which had clocks and flags printed all over it. He took the blanket and covered me with it, and smacked various printed clocks to make the fleece wrinkle up and said "I broke it!" Then he stretched the fabric back to smoothness and exclaimed "I fixed it!" So so so cute. I loved spending time with him.
Sooo that's it for this week! I believe Malcolm will be posting next week. =)
PS Malcolm - I noticed that you changed the colour scheme of the blog, and it looks awesome! Some words don't show up though, because they're the same colour as the background (such as the description inside the box, underneath "canuck place adventure challenge", as well as other things and headers like the dates, "posted by", or "# comments" that sort of stuff. Maybe change the colour of those words to lighter or darker?
I'm sorry this post is coming so late, but I've been so busy with schoolwork all weekend that I haven't had a chance to sit down and take a break until now! (First-year is way intense.)
So anyways, on Friday (Malcolm's anti-shift), other volunteers there were Tony, Mike, and Lindsey! Tony I haven't seen for a whole month because two weeks ago he felt wimpy and called in sick (:P). Mike and Lindsey used to be bi-weekly friday night volunteers, but because they live in Pitt Meadows (so far away!), they are currently on-call volunteers. It was great to see them again!
So we checked in upstairs with the nurses and went downstairs to have a delicious dinner with family, kids, and nurses. I sat beside Kaitlyn, who has this awesome set After dinner, I spent some computer time with 5-year-old Lucas, who is one of the most animated and humorous little boys I have ever met. He wanted to play some shooting game on miniclip.com, but I decided to expand his online game repertoire and introduced him to "Bomb It" on agame.com. This game involves moving a character using arrow keys in a 2-D area and setting bombs to blow up blocks and other players using another key. At first, Lucas had a bit of trouble coordinating his hands with what he wanted to do, but he got the hang of it very quickly and started to really enjoy it!
Then it was 7pm and his mum wanted him downstairs for a snack before bedtime, so I pried him off the computer and we met his mum in the kitchen. Have you ever tried eating apples with peanut butter? I've never tried it before, but Lucas and mum were gobbling it up and apparently is very delicious. I must try sometime.
Tony took off early because he was dead beat from waking up at 4:00am, and I went to find Mike and little 2.5 year old Matthew in the art room. The little boy has a heart defect and it was important that we kept him unagitated. Regardless, he was very hyper and full of energy, and later in the Snoezelen room he was crawling all over the place. We played a game(very repetitive) where we would cover Matthew with a blanket and exclaim, "Oh my gosh! Where has Matthew gone?" and Matthew would reply excitedly whilst quickly uncovering himself, "He's here!"
Soon enough it was time for Matthew take a bath, and then Mike and I spent some time with Eliza, who was watching "All Dogs go to Heaven." Quite an awesome movie.
After Matthew was clean and in his Canucks PJ's, I sat with him on his bed and we watched Sesame Street. His attention quickly got diverted to an interesting fleece blanket on the bed though, which had clocks and flags printed all over it. He took the blanket and covered me with it, and smacked various printed clocks to make the fleece wrinkle up and said "I broke it!" Then he stretched the fabric back to smoothness and exclaimed "I fixed it!" So so so cute. I loved spending time with him.
Sooo that's it for this week! I believe Malcolm will be posting next week. =)
PS Malcolm - I noticed that you changed the colour scheme of the blog, and it looks awesome! Some words don't show up though, because they're the same colour as the background (such as the description inside the box, underneath "canuck place adventure challenge", as well as other things and headers like the dates, "posted by", or "# comments" that sort of stuff. Maybe change the colour of those words to lighter or darker?
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Blogging Group
If you look to the right margin you will notice that I have established a 'blogging group' which is representing the different areas of expertise within the house. Joan is a peer volunteer and she works every Friday night. The other bloggers are not real people...yet. It is my hope that we can get regular contributions that will share different perspectives from the people who work at the house. I have thought about it before but it was an email from Meyrick Jones (http://meyrickjones.blogspot.com/ ) that provided the impetus to actually do something about it. Thank you Meyrick!
I am hopeful that we will get a good response to the idea!
I am hopeful that we will get a good response to the idea!
Monday, 26 January 2009
Hello!
Hey everyone,
I'm Joan and I'm a peer volunteer at Canuck Place every Friday night; I get to spend every other shift with Malcolm, who has invited me to become a contributor to this blog! I am honoured.
Look forward to awesome posts by me - I will try to post after every shift. Actually, it might be a good plan that Malcolm and I post on alternate fridays - Malcolm after his shifts, and I after the shifts that Malcolm wasn't there for. yay!
I'm Joan and I'm a peer volunteer at Canuck Place every Friday night; I get to spend every other shift with Malcolm, who has invited me to become a contributor to this blog! I am honoured.
Look forward to awesome posts by me - I will try to post after every shift. Actually, it might be a good plan that Malcolm and I post on alternate fridays - Malcolm after his shifts, and I after the shifts that Malcolm wasn't there for. yay!
Jen and Stel's Blog
Sebastian's mum Jen has been blogging for a while about their triumphs and setbacks as a growing family. Please find her blog here http://jenandstel.blogspot.com/
It is another perspective that puts faces to the lives, and deaths, of Canuck Place.
Thank you Jen.
It is another perspective that puts faces to the lives, and deaths, of Canuck Place.
Thank you Jen.
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Friday night at the House
After 6 weeks of not being the house it was nice to be back! Met my new Friday night partner Steve and Joan was, as always, here on Friday night. Joan has become the new Kyle the only difference being that she can't eat as much as Kyle could.
Dinner was awesome tonight!
There was a ton of people at dinner. One little boy, who I'll call Normie, had his whole family: aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, and Grannie! The neat thing about this is that after dinner I went into the Playroom/tv room and they were ALL in there talking, playing table hockey...and there was tons of room. Little Normie was waiting patiently for the X-box to be set up...yes...even 3 year olds like to rock it out at times.
Normie is in a little makeshift comfy rolling chair. It is an old lounging chair that has been adapted into a wheel chair! Normie was so happy playing the drums...ok...holding the drum sticks! His mum and I tapped the right drums for him! Joan rocked on lead guitar.
All this time Steve was up on the Kid's floor snuggling with Mira. That was his job that tonight. He also had a bit of a nap. One of the perks you get when you are sitting in a comfy chair with a sleeping toddler. Mira's mum and dad (and little sister) are also in the house. Mum and Dad used Steve's high cuddle proficiency to get some time to watch a show on TV.
Corrine is a young teen with not much verbal communication. She is pretty good at one word missives and grunts and shakes of the head. I don't think she likes me!!! Joan was hanging with her in the school room and she was grooving (and singing) to videos. I started to talk to Corrine (in between videos) and she was getting upset. "no!", "bed!", "No!"...finally, "Do you want me to go away?"..."Yes!"
She and Joan continued to watch and sing with music videos....I scooted back to the other side of the room!
There were a couple other girls in the house. They were with their families too.
I think tonight, more than any other night, it struck me that the house is really a family house. Nobody in the house was without their family tonight. When kids are without their blood relatives there are awesome alternatives who get to step in.
I like being a part of this whole business!
Dinner was awesome tonight!
There was a ton of people at dinner. One little boy, who I'll call Normie, had his whole family: aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, and Grannie! The neat thing about this is that after dinner I went into the Playroom/tv room and they were ALL in there talking, playing table hockey...and there was tons of room. Little Normie was waiting patiently for the X-box to be set up...yes...even 3 year olds like to rock it out at times.
Normie is in a little makeshift comfy rolling chair. It is an old lounging chair that has been adapted into a wheel chair! Normie was so happy playing the drums...ok...holding the drum sticks! His mum and I tapped the right drums for him! Joan rocked on lead guitar.
All this time Steve was up on the Kid's floor snuggling with Mira. That was his job that tonight. He also had a bit of a nap. One of the perks you get when you are sitting in a comfy chair with a sleeping toddler. Mira's mum and dad (and little sister) are also in the house. Mum and Dad used Steve's high cuddle proficiency to get some time to watch a show on TV.
Corrine is a young teen with not much verbal communication. She is pretty good at one word missives and grunts and shakes of the head. I don't think she likes me!!! Joan was hanging with her in the school room and she was grooving (and singing) to videos. I started to talk to Corrine (in between videos) and she was getting upset. "no!", "bed!", "No!"...finally, "Do you want me to go away?"..."Yes!"
She and Joan continued to watch and sing with music videos....I scooted back to the other side of the room!
There were a couple other girls in the house. They were with their families too.
I think tonight, more than any other night, it struck me that the house is really a family house. Nobody in the house was without their family tonight. When kids are without their blood relatives there are awesome alternatives who get to step in.
I like being a part of this whole business!
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Sebastian
After this mornings post we received a note about Sebastian:
Dear Volunteers:
It's with great sadness that I share the news of Sebastian G. passing away
at 11:35 am this morning. It was very peaceful and Mom and Dad were there
with him.
Please take care of yourselves and each other.
Leanne
Dear Volunteers:
It's with great sadness that I share the news of Sebastian G. passing away
at 11:35 am this morning. It was very peaceful and Mom and Dad were there
with him.
Please take care of yourselves and each other.
Leanne
Friday
Looking forward to getting to the house this Friday. It has been over a month! The morning of my last shift I woke up with my uvula hanging like a swollen speedbag that had been punched at all night. Called in sick. There are enough bugs out there that the kids don't need me bringing them directly to them.
I am looking forward to seeing Sebastian and his parents. They have been at the house for 6 weeks straight. Sebastian hasn't been feeling well since the last time I was there. He is a tough kid (aren't they all?) and the family even more so. They had the big old house all to themselves over christmas.
I am looking forward to seeing Sebastian and his parents. They have been at the house for 6 weeks straight. Sebastian hasn't been feeling well since the last time I was there. He is a tough kid (aren't they all?) and the family even more so. They had the big old house all to themselves over christmas.
Saturday, 13 December 2008
Boyz to Men
It has been a while since I was at the house. I have been switched from one Friday to another. I have been doing Friday nights with Tony for 4 years now and will now be working with another family volunteer.
I ended the night with the neatest conversation with a couple of the boys in the house. There is Jason who turned 19 in May and Brent who is seventeen. This was Jason's last weekend of respite care and then he officially graduates from the program. So what is next? That's when the talk got really neat. There is nothing like Canuck Place once you are an adult. There are few options...long term care (aka old folks home), full time nurse, or maintain status quo with your family. These guys would truly love a little independence and one of the ideas they had was to buy a house or large apartment and hire full time care. Of course they were pretty aware of the fact that it could cost as much as 2 -3 million to start a venture like this...but in their minds they had already formed a non-profit society (aligned with Canuck Place) and felt they could get the funds in place! They envision a place with 5 rooms, fully modified for chairs, hygiene and basic care. There would be 24hr care on hand. This would be their legacy to Canuck Place graduates and as a bed opens up in the house because somebody has moved onto bigger and better things...bang...the spot is filled!
When you have been in the care of your family for your whole life and you reach the age of majority a little independence is warranted. I also get the feeling that these guys realise how much effort their families have put into caring for them. Maybe their ideas tonight will never come to fruition. Perhaps the funds are too out of reach.
What I learnt tonight was that Jason and Brent will live their lives way beyond most people's expectations. Like all of us they make plans for their future. Being part of a hospice program doesn't phase them.
I said to Brent I can imagine the first purchase they would make is a case of beer. Not that they would drink it...just that it would seem the right thing to do. Brent replies that it wouldn't take much him being all of 20kg!
Guess what we did for the first 3 hours of the shift?
Rock Band! Jason had the best line of the night. He feels that X-Box 360 and RockBand should be covered under medical therapy. Jason has a reduced lung capacity because of muscular dystrophy. Part of his therapy has been to blow bubbles into a device; exercises to keep his diaphragm and intercostal muscles as active as possible. Singing does the same thing! Jason rocked out a few songs. Until you get out there and sing you don't realise how tiring it can be!
I ended the night with the neatest conversation with a couple of the boys in the house. There is Jason who turned 19 in May and Brent who is seventeen. This was Jason's last weekend of respite care and then he officially graduates from the program. So what is next? That's when the talk got really neat. There is nothing like Canuck Place once you are an adult. There are few options...long term care (aka old folks home), full time nurse, or maintain status quo with your family. These guys would truly love a little independence and one of the ideas they had was to buy a house or large apartment and hire full time care. Of course they were pretty aware of the fact that it could cost as much as 2 -3 million to start a venture like this...but in their minds they had already formed a non-profit society (aligned with Canuck Place) and felt they could get the funds in place! They envision a place with 5 rooms, fully modified for chairs, hygiene and basic care. There would be 24hr care on hand. This would be their legacy to Canuck Place graduates and as a bed opens up in the house because somebody has moved onto bigger and better things...bang...the spot is filled!
When you have been in the care of your family for your whole life and you reach the age of majority a little independence is warranted. I also get the feeling that these guys realise how much effort their families have put into caring for them. Maybe their ideas tonight will never come to fruition. Perhaps the funds are too out of reach.
What I learnt tonight was that Jason and Brent will live their lives way beyond most people's expectations. Like all of us they make plans for their future. Being part of a hospice program doesn't phase them.
I said to Brent I can imagine the first purchase they would make is a case of beer. Not that they would drink it...just that it would seem the right thing to do. Brent replies that it wouldn't take much him being all of 20kg!
Guess what we did for the first 3 hours of the shift?
Rock Band! Jason had the best line of the night. He feels that X-Box 360 and RockBand should be covered under medical therapy. Jason has a reduced lung capacity because of muscular dystrophy. Part of his therapy has been to blow bubbles into a device; exercises to keep his diaphragm and intercostal muscles as active as possible. Singing does the same thing! Jason rocked out a few songs. Until you get out there and sing you don't realise how tiring it can be!
Friday, 5 December 2008
gift of time
wow...the numbers for gift of time were astounding....over $750 000 . wow and thank you!
Monday, 24 November 2008
Radiohead + Creep + Me + Jeffrey = 97%
I tell you. This Rockband game is da bomb! Cut to the chase: Jeffrey and I had the game to ourselves for a few songs and we nailed Creep by Radiohead. I was on 'expert' in case you were wondering.
Jeffery has become one of my followers along with Joan. That sounds a bit creepy. No Kool-Aid to be served.
Meat and potatoes for dinner. I managed to put a rather tough piece of meat into Jeffrey's mouth. He was taking forever to get it down. I told him he had NO CHOICE but to swallow it because I wasn't going to deal with the 'spit it out into a napkin' plan. So I just kept giving him some of the creamy potatoes and juice to help it slide on down. He eventually got through the piece!
Quiet night tonight: Jeffrey was in, a girl I have not met before was in with her family. Sandy got us going with the Rockband and we played a number of songs. This game is absolutely addictive. Every other thursday I run a 'meeting'in my classroom. Very fun.
Jeffrey played guitar, Sandy played drums, Joan played base and I sang my heart out.
When we finally go a bit tired we made our way upstairs and explored on the computers. Sandy was with her family for most of the time after that.
Turns out that Jeffrey can barely read the screen of a computer. This boy needs his eyes checked. Next time I see him I hope that he is wearing some new eye candy.
Jeffery has become one of my followers along with Joan. That sounds a bit creepy. No Kool-Aid to be served.
Meat and potatoes for dinner. I managed to put a rather tough piece of meat into Jeffrey's mouth. He was taking forever to get it down. I told him he had NO CHOICE but to swallow it because I wasn't going to deal with the 'spit it out into a napkin' plan. So I just kept giving him some of the creamy potatoes and juice to help it slide on down. He eventually got through the piece!
Quiet night tonight: Jeffrey was in, a girl I have not met before was in with her family. Sandy got us going with the Rockband and we played a number of songs. This game is absolutely addictive. Every other thursday I run a 'meeting'in my classroom. Very fun.
Jeffrey played guitar, Sandy played drums, Joan played base and I sang my heart out.
When we finally go a bit tired we made our way upstairs and explored on the computers. Sandy was with her family for most of the time after that.
Turns out that Jeffrey can barely read the screen of a computer. This boy needs his eyes checked. Next time I see him I hope that he is wearing some new eye candy.
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
sitemeter
http://www.sitemeter.com/
holy crap! I thought that the google application that keeps track of the number of visits to your site was cool. not so!
Sitemeter tells you things like who referred the visit...so if you 'google search' something about canuck place and you happen to see the link to my page and click on it...sitemeter will show me that. cool!
of course it is all about vanity...but that is ok.
ps...click on the thing that says 'followers'. then i know who you are (of the 13 that have the rss feed)!!
holy crap! I thought that the google application that keeps track of the number of visits to your site was cool. not so!
Sitemeter tells you things like who referred the visit...so if you 'google search' something about canuck place and you happen to see the link to my page and click on it...sitemeter will show me that. cool!
of course it is all about vanity...but that is ok.
ps...click on the thing that says 'followers'. then i know who you are (of the 13 that have the rss feed)!!
Saturday, 8 November 2008
Raffi and Me
I have a penchant for singing Raffi songs. My kids grew up on Raffi and I remember singing Raffi songs for a number of years. I think I sing in the key of Raffi. Raffi has a wonderful website:
http://www.raffinews.com/
As remarkable as it seems he has been doing this for over 40 years. His focus now is one of sustainablity and of honouring the child. He is still teaching fortysomethings to be good stewards of our earth and to each other, so that they can teach their children.
Last night all I did was sing. Sing and colour. Colour and sing. Raffi tapes were lined up in the art room, Jesse (a 6 year old girl whose baby brother is in the house), Chancy (who is also about 5 or 6) was beside me playing floppy head, Tony, Joan, and me were all doing what we do best: hanging out. No TV, no rockband, no computer....just me and Raffi (and everyone else).
I think we did this for about 2.5 hours. Tony had no idea I knew so many Raffi songs.
Go to Raffi's site. I was not at all surprised to see the direction he has taken with his work. He always sounded like a real nice guy when he sang for me and my kids. Turns out he is!
As remarkable as it seems he has been doing this for over 40 years. His focus now is one of sustainablity and of honouring the child. He is still teaching fortysomethings to be good stewards of our earth and to each other, so that they can teach their children.
Last night all I did was sing. Sing and colour. Colour and sing. Raffi tapes were lined up in the art room, Jesse (a 6 year old girl whose baby brother is in the house), Chancy (who is also about 5 or 6) was beside me playing floppy head, Tony, Joan, and me were all doing what we do best: hanging out. No TV, no rockband, no computer....just me and Raffi (and everyone else).
I think we did this for about 2.5 hours. Tony had no idea I knew so many Raffi songs.
Go to Raffi's site. I was not at all surprised to see the direction he has taken with his work. He always sounded like a real nice guy when he sang for me and my kids. Turns out he is!
Saturday, 25 October 2008
Boy's Night Out
More accurately put Boy's Night In but it appeared to be full of as much debauchery as could be: loud music, swearing, false accusations, falling out of wheelchairs, high fives, and the oddest event of the night being the whole crew sitting around the poker table watching a little Sing With Me Elmo doll sing "Shout". Not proud of that, but there is a really good reason for it.
In the House tonight for boys teen night are rod, liam, kenny, randy, saul, and jeffrey.
I was early and half the crew were in the TV room doing the Rock Band video game. I love that game. I can't sing, or play the drums but I can't help myself...I love the sound of my bad voice and I know others like it too. A couple of hellos, a couple of songs, and then off to dinner.
Awesome pasta!
Back to the TV room and a couple more songs until Poker Time.
Poker is a very high class game and must be played in the high class room: the Great Room. One day I will have to run through the house with my camera and do a bit of a show and tell. It is a beautiful house. Yours truly got to deal for Texas Hold 'Em. I don't know anything about poker, but am know well versed in the Burn and Turn, the flop, the turn and the river.
One of the prizes that went into the pot during a game of 21 was a dancing Elmo doll who sings shout. With his squeaky little voice at the end of his dance Elmo proclaims "oh boy! You really want to make Elmo SHIT!" Every time Elmo spoke the word 'shout' it comes out 'shit'! It had to be the funniest thing to happen all night....other than the time Kenny was doing a wheel stand in his chair. I was dealing and I could see him rocking back in his chair....he was holding it and had a big Elmo Shouting grin on his face...and then he started to go backwards. It was all in slow motion and he still had the Elmo Shouting grin on his face as I leapt across the room only to end up standing over him and laughing my ass off. It was the funniest thing to watch! Good thing it was on the carpet because he smacked the floor pretty good.
After poker Liam kept egging me on to go sing while he does guitar. We got Saul on the drums.
I like that game. Need one in my classroom.
In the House tonight for boys teen night are rod, liam, kenny, randy, saul, and jeffrey.
I was early and half the crew were in the TV room doing the Rock Band video game. I love that game. I can't sing, or play the drums but I can't help myself...I love the sound of my bad voice and I know others like it too. A couple of hellos, a couple of songs, and then off to dinner.
Awesome pasta!
Back to the TV room and a couple more songs until Poker Time.
Poker is a very high class game and must be played in the high class room: the Great Room. One day I will have to run through the house with my camera and do a bit of a show and tell. It is a beautiful house. Yours truly got to deal for Texas Hold 'Em. I don't know anything about poker, but am know well versed in the Burn and Turn, the flop, the turn and the river.
One of the prizes that went into the pot during a game of 21 was a dancing Elmo doll who sings shout. With his squeaky little voice at the end of his dance Elmo proclaims "oh boy! You really want to make Elmo SHIT!" Every time Elmo spoke the word 'shout' it comes out 'shit'! It had to be the funniest thing to happen all night....other than the time Kenny was doing a wheel stand in his chair. I was dealing and I could see him rocking back in his chair....he was holding it and had a big Elmo Shouting grin on his face...and then he started to go backwards. It was all in slow motion and he still had the Elmo Shouting grin on his face as I leapt across the room only to end up standing over him and laughing my ass off. It was the funniest thing to watch! Good thing it was on the carpet because he smacked the floor pretty good.
After poker Liam kept egging me on to go sing while he does guitar. We got Saul on the drums.
I like that game. Need one in my classroom.
Tuesday, 21 October 2008
Celine Dion
I never thought I would ever say this but, thanks to unknown benefactors, 60 Canuck Place volunteers (including me) are going to the Celine Dion concert tonight. As I said to Sara our Volunteer intake worker "my street cred has been destroyed...
It should be a great show...I will drive all night.
It should be a great show...I will drive all night.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)