I took a gigantic leap out of my comfort zone last night. Anyone who has known me for any real extent of time knows that the mere idea of needles gives me the willies. But Husband did something long ago that came back surprisingly that got me thinking, and realizing maybe I should try to be a little more in-the-moment and hopefully end up helping somebody.
In around 1996, as far as he can remember, Husband signed up with OneMatch.com, through the Canadian Blood Services...he signed up, you see, as a potential bone marrow/stem cell donor. And time went by, and he pretty much forgot. Well, he got a phone call late last week. He is a potential match. Apparently the odds of ever being even a potential match are staggeringly low. Now he has a one in twelve chance of being a match. We now go through a rigorous testing relay (well....he does), and will know within the next two months if he is in fact going to be the donor. He's pretty staggered at the possibility of saving somebody's life. You can check out his thoughts and such on his blog, which is www.geldhart.blogspot.com
He asked if I would be willing to go in the registry (ie sign up), at which point I retreated into the farthest corner of the couch in terror and declared the re was no way I was going through all those needles and the potential of having someone drill into my leg bone, etc, etc, etc....but then I started thinking about it, and realized it was the right thing to do. So I signed up. Maybe nothing will ever come of it, but then, maybe I end up being the exact person someone has been waiting and hoping for and end up saving their life just in time. Despite all the pain and such it will put me through, I'm thinking tht will all pale in comparison to the knowledge that I'm saving somebody's life by getting a little (or a lot) uncomfortable.
I will keep you all posted if new developments arise and either his or my journey takes us through the next steps.
Please consider adding yourselves, too. WWW.ONEMATCH.COM
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Just a wee bit of a difference!
A few months back, we attended a cleft palate clinic with our son, where he was run through a gamut of tests and specialist interviews. He has a submucous cleft which, while really cool to look at, causes him to have to work really hard to form certain sounds, and in some cases, to compensate for a simple inability to make said sounds. He was seeing a speech therapist for awhile, and his speech improved drastically as he learned compensating skills. But that stopped after the clinic, as we were told that he would have surgery sometime this summer. I guess his therapist figured it was no real use seeing her until after the surgery, as he will likely have to learn to talk again with the new mouth structure.
We were thrilled that he would be having the surgery, especially in that time frame, as that would give him time to recover and learn how to talk again before he hit elementary school (he will start kindergarten in 2009).
WELL....we received to official letter saying he was put on the waiting list as of May 29th yesterday. Oh, good, we thought, his surgery should be coming up soon, then. The letter came with a number to call to find out what wait time we were to expect. So I called it. Got the automated answering service, left all pertinent info it asked for...and waited. They called back this morning to let me know his wait time is approximately 15 to 18 MONTHS. We are not amused. I am very upset, because this means his surgery will not take place until he is IN kindergarten, which is going to make it harder for him to fit in, especially when he's going to have difficulty talking for who knows how long, plus he'd probably miss some school....in his first crack at French Immersion...and I may not even be around for his surgery, as I have that International competition in October 2009 (moved from November because it would have clashed with the Country Music Awards).
I wish they had let us know right up front that we were looking at that kind of wait instead of telling us this summer! I understand, to a certain extent, I mean, obviously, there are children whose cases are much more urgent than ours, cancer kids and such...I don't begrudge them that....I just wish they had said it would be a long wait to start with, as Son was very disappointed, too, having had the surgery talked up so that he was prepared for it this summer.
But hey, what can you do. Now we wait and I guess hope they are wrong and the surgery happens sometime while he is still in preschool.
We were thrilled that he would be having the surgery, especially in that time frame, as that would give him time to recover and learn how to talk again before he hit elementary school (he will start kindergarten in 2009).
WELL....we received to official letter saying he was put on the waiting list as of May 29th yesterday. Oh, good, we thought, his surgery should be coming up soon, then. The letter came with a number to call to find out what wait time we were to expect. So I called it. Got the automated answering service, left all pertinent info it asked for...and waited. They called back this morning to let me know his wait time is approximately 15 to 18 MONTHS. We are not amused. I am very upset, because this means his surgery will not take place until he is IN kindergarten, which is going to make it harder for him to fit in, especially when he's going to have difficulty talking for who knows how long, plus he'd probably miss some school....in his first crack at French Immersion...and I may not even be around for his surgery, as I have that International competition in October 2009 (moved from November because it would have clashed with the Country Music Awards).
I wish they had let us know right up front that we were looking at that kind of wait instead of telling us this summer! I understand, to a certain extent, I mean, obviously, there are children whose cases are much more urgent than ours, cancer kids and such...I don't begrudge them that....I just wish they had said it would be a long wait to start with, as Son was very disappointed, too, having had the surgery talked up so that he was prepared for it this summer.
But hey, what can you do. Now we wait and I guess hope they are wrong and the surgery happens sometime while he is still in preschool.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
YeeeeeeHAW!
I am just a little excited....along with about 32 of my counterparts...or chorus mates, if you want to be exact.
This spring at Regionals, we came in 1st place small chorus, 5th place overall (The region being all of BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, NWT, and Yukon). Our scores were fairly good, but we had to wait with bated breath....for the rest of the regions in the world to complete their contests and get their scores in. We finished 7th place small chorus in the world. The top 5 choruses get to go to Internationals on 2009. Based on this, we were pretty much stuck where we were....then the news came in...the top Regional small in the world could not compete as a small at Internationals, as they also won 1st place OVERALL in their region, so has to compete with the big choruses. That put us in 6th. No go, still.
Then...oh bliss....THEN the 2nd place Regional small in the world decided NOT to compete at Internationals! That, by default, put us in 5th place!!!!!!!!! And we are ONLY separated by 5 points from the top small chorus, so this will be a tight competition. Yes, people! Yes! Just what you have likely figured out by now....!
PRAIRIE GOLD CHORUS IS COMPETING IN THE SMALL CHORUS COMPETITION IN 2009 AT INTERNATIONALS!!!!! And where, you might ask, do we get to go?????
Nashville, baby! I have ALWAYS wanted o go to Nashville!!!!! Woo hoo! I am SO going to check out the Grand Ole Opry while there, and all the other stuff. I am SO excited!!!!!
And with us all being mere points apart, there is a good chance we COULD win!!!! We are going to be working our BUTTS off to get our package shiny and perfect and absolutely knock-your-socks-off fantastic and we are gonna GET THAT GOLD MEDAL! Woo!
On another mysterious note, I am trying something over the next couple of months that should be interesting and hopefully kind of fun....but I can't tell you about it until it's done. Hee hee. (And the one other person who knows about this had better not say a WORD!) :)
This spring at Regionals, we came in 1st place small chorus, 5th place overall (The region being all of BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, NWT, and Yukon). Our scores were fairly good, but we had to wait with bated breath....for the rest of the regions in the world to complete their contests and get their scores in. We finished 7th place small chorus in the world. The top 5 choruses get to go to Internationals on 2009. Based on this, we were pretty much stuck where we were....then the news came in...the top Regional small in the world could not compete as a small at Internationals, as they also won 1st place OVERALL in their region, so has to compete with the big choruses. That put us in 6th. No go, still.
Then...oh bliss....THEN the 2nd place Regional small in the world decided NOT to compete at Internationals! That, by default, put us in 5th place!!!!!!!!! And we are ONLY separated by 5 points from the top small chorus, so this will be a tight competition. Yes, people! Yes! Just what you have likely figured out by now....!
PRAIRIE GOLD CHORUS IS COMPETING IN THE SMALL CHORUS COMPETITION IN 2009 AT INTERNATIONALS!!!!! And where, you might ask, do we get to go?????
Nashville, baby! I have ALWAYS wanted o go to Nashville!!!!! Woo hoo! I am SO going to check out the Grand Ole Opry while there, and all the other stuff. I am SO excited!!!!!
And with us all being mere points apart, there is a good chance we COULD win!!!! We are going to be working our BUTTS off to get our package shiny and perfect and absolutely knock-your-socks-off fantastic and we are gonna GET THAT GOLD MEDAL! Woo!
On another mysterious note, I am trying something over the next couple of months that should be interesting and hopefully kind of fun....but I can't tell you about it until it's done. Hee hee. (And the one other person who knows about this had better not say a WORD!) :)
Saturday, June 7, 2008
The Dream and the Reality
It has been awhile since I last posted, mostly out of sheer busy-ness.
I returned at the start of this week from a trip to Toronto to see some friends. That was the trip I mentioned a few months ago where I got 80% off the tickets through WestJet. It was a lot of fun....one friend I saw last year, but hadn't seen her kids for 3 years....the other friend i hadn't seen for 8 years, when I was pregnant with Daughter, so it was the first time for her meeting my kids, and the first time for me meeting hers.
It was a busy week to say the least, especially when you have 2 Moms and 4 kids....make that 5 when the neighbour boy showed up for an entire day. (My Hubby stayed home and her Hubby was at work and out doing other stuff)
While there, I got to try the Wii Fit. I fell in love with it, and hunted all over the city for it when I got home. Got my hands on one of the last 3 in the entire city. What a crazy race that was, to get across the city before it was snatched up. Nobody else in the city had any or knew when more were coming. Spent more on it than my friend (hers was $80, mine was $100 [plus tax])....but I love it. Everyone in the family has their own Mii on it now and even Hubby is working on losing some weight. It will take awhile for us both. If I lose a pound a week, based on my starting point on the Wii Fit, I have 46 weeks to go....but I'm having so much fun on it that I'm thinking the weight will come off faster than that.
I ran my 5km almost 2 weeks ago, in the rain, with a time of something like 38m22s. I was very happy with that score. Have battled a nasty cold and cough ever since, but hey, I ran the whole way just like I planned, and wasn't even stiff after....just super hungry. LOL.
I had another dream about that person again....and again it was one of those dreams that seems to make sense while you are in it, but upon waking up, leaves you going WHAT THE HECK?!!?!? I was in a living room somewhere and there were two swingsets there. The person is there, and is all dressed up in a dark blue suit. He sits on one swingset, I sit on the other. Someone is with me, but I don't know if it's one of my kids or Hubby or a friend. Person starts working on a laptop while on the swingset as I swing on mine. I feel grubby, so decide to go upstairs to change. None of the clothes I find seem to work. They have grease stains and such. I don't know why. I guess somehow I finally find something, because I find myself at the ATM in the hallway, with a friend from Toronto, taking out cash. I don't know why. I remember looking at the money and noticing the difference between the red of the $50 bill and the red of the $25 bill. LOL. Friend and I go back down the hallway and find ourselves in a classroom where Person is, still dressed impeccably in the dark blue suit and walking around the room. There is a teacher there, who is mad at us for being late, and I can't figure out if Person is helping him or a student. We have a many-page math test, with invisible staples, but everyone's package is different. I can't figure out how to do mine, which I find weird and frustrating, as it seems to be simple addition that we are being tested on. Again through it all, I find myself wanting to talk to Person and find out what is going on with him, and to make a good impression.
Of course, I think after that particular dream, if Person should suddenly show up somewhere, someday, dressed in that suit, I'd probably go stark raving mad from shock, trying to figure out if I was awake or dreaming, and if I was really awake, why on earth I would have dreamed about something that actually happened in the future (minus the weird dream components, of course, like the swingsets in a living room)
I returned at the start of this week from a trip to Toronto to see some friends. That was the trip I mentioned a few months ago where I got 80% off the tickets through WestJet. It was a lot of fun....one friend I saw last year, but hadn't seen her kids for 3 years....the other friend i hadn't seen for 8 years, when I was pregnant with Daughter, so it was the first time for her meeting my kids, and the first time for me meeting hers.
It was a busy week to say the least, especially when you have 2 Moms and 4 kids....make that 5 when the neighbour boy showed up for an entire day. (My Hubby stayed home and her Hubby was at work and out doing other stuff)
While there, I got to try the Wii Fit. I fell in love with it, and hunted all over the city for it when I got home. Got my hands on one of the last 3 in the entire city. What a crazy race that was, to get across the city before it was snatched up. Nobody else in the city had any or knew when more were coming. Spent more on it than my friend (hers was $80, mine was $100 [plus tax])....but I love it. Everyone in the family has their own Mii on it now and even Hubby is working on losing some weight. It will take awhile for us both. If I lose a pound a week, based on my starting point on the Wii Fit, I have 46 weeks to go....but I'm having so much fun on it that I'm thinking the weight will come off faster than that.
I ran my 5km almost 2 weeks ago, in the rain, with a time of something like 38m22s. I was very happy with that score. Have battled a nasty cold and cough ever since, but hey, I ran the whole way just like I planned, and wasn't even stiff after....just super hungry. LOL.
I had another dream about that person again....and again it was one of those dreams that seems to make sense while you are in it, but upon waking up, leaves you going WHAT THE HECK?!!?!? I was in a living room somewhere and there were two swingsets there. The person is there, and is all dressed up in a dark blue suit. He sits on one swingset, I sit on the other. Someone is with me, but I don't know if it's one of my kids or Hubby or a friend. Person starts working on a laptop while on the swingset as I swing on mine. I feel grubby, so decide to go upstairs to change. None of the clothes I find seem to work. They have grease stains and such. I don't know why. I guess somehow I finally find something, because I find myself at the ATM in the hallway, with a friend from Toronto, taking out cash. I don't know why. I remember looking at the money and noticing the difference between the red of the $50 bill and the red of the $25 bill. LOL. Friend and I go back down the hallway and find ourselves in a classroom where Person is, still dressed impeccably in the dark blue suit and walking around the room. There is a teacher there, who is mad at us for being late, and I can't figure out if Person is helping him or a student. We have a many-page math test, with invisible staples, but everyone's package is different. I can't figure out how to do mine, which I find weird and frustrating, as it seems to be simple addition that we are being tested on. Again through it all, I find myself wanting to talk to Person and find out what is going on with him, and to make a good impression.
Of course, I think after that particular dream, if Person should suddenly show up somewhere, someday, dressed in that suit, I'd probably go stark raving mad from shock, trying to figure out if I was awake or dreaming, and if I was really awake, why on earth I would have dreamed about something that actually happened in the future (minus the weird dream components, of course, like the swingsets in a living room)
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