Around my birthday, my Mom changes my feeding tube. I lean my wheelchair back and I make my dad hold my hand because changing the feeding tube is kinda uncomfortable and I don’t enjoy it very much! Good thing it’s only two times a year or unless it falls out.

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My birthday was June 7. In the morning I got up to balloons, they were red, a happy birthday balloon, and a flower purple balloon! In the early afternoon I got to open some of my birthday presents from my roommates! I got hair dye, pictures in pictures frames and some smelly bulbs for my butterfly night light, some bath bombs and lights and you make words with the letters.

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I went to my parent’s house for my birthday supper and homemade ice cream cake. Joel, Ashley and I did face masks! My Mom’s friends surprised me and dropped by and sang happy birthday and gave me Red flowers! Joel and Ashley got me the Twilight books! My Mom and Dad got me some new bed sheets and a bigger weighted blanket for my bed, and some red shorts! My Auntie Gail got me a K necklace for my birthday! It was a good day!

We painted bird houses and we gave them to our secret senior! I finished my colouring book in four days. It had 30 colour by number and 30 colouring pages!

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For Father’s Day Rose Club did a paint pottery activity. I made a whale and a Dad sign for my Dad for Father’s Day! For Father’s Day the whole family put up our swimming pool in the backyard, we played bocce ball with Dad while Mom took Coco for a walk, and we had two games of Yahtzee! My Mom finally finished my birthday present, she made me summer moccasins with sunflowers, which I love.

My friend Kirsten had a baby boy named Alex and we got to FaceTime with her and meet her baby! She used to work at the Kandu Camp that I used to go to and now she’s moved to Edmonton, got married and had a baby in December!

My friend Emily from high school came to visit me with her baby girl Brielle, we visited for 1 ½ hours. I bought her baby girl some t- shirts and a yellow dress which Emily loved!

Rose Club had a scavenger hunt and we had pages of pictures that we had to find. We saw a bull and a baby cow! We had to find a golf cart and I got to sit in one (my very 1st time sitting in a golf chart!) We also went to the park with the spaceship! We went to the spray park, and we needed to get a group picture of our house, but I can’t really put other people in my blog, so it’s just got a picture of myself at the new spray park. We are super excited about everything reopening on the 1st!

Mom and I enjoying the pool!

I have learned a lot about my brother Joel’s experience with allergies and having asthma! I didn’t realize how bad it was when he found out. I am his younger sister and didn’t understand what was happening.  We had some cats growing up and it wasn’t that bad. I think it was worse with dogs and horses. I can’t imagine how much his eyes swelled up! That’s scary!  We had some excellent experiences with the family and going on holidays! Joel was only with us when we went to Disney world and Disneyland! He was going to school in Edmonton when we went on more holidays! He’s my big brother who has been there for me. He’s great at changing my feeding tube every December and June if he’s around! I love him so much!  I hope you find his interview educational and interesting.

Kelsey: How did your allergic reactions start to pets?

Joel: They first started when I was about 5 years old. We were at my parents’ friend’s house and they had a dog. I am told I had a runny nose and had trouble breathing.

Kelsey: What are your allergies and your symptoms?

Joel: I am allergic to dogs, cats, horses, guinea pigs, hay, dust, mold, birch trees, grass, and the most severe, chores 😉. My symptoms range depending on the allergen, but my main symptoms are runny nose, itchy/watery eyes, and difficulty breathing (I get very wheezy and need to use an inhaler).

Kelsey: Do you take medications for your allergies?

Joel: I take Claritin mostly because it is non drowsy. I also have a salbutamol inhaler for my breathing. About 4 years ago I started getting allergy shots for my allergies. I have found my symptoms have become milder since I started them, but they are still present.

Kelsey: How did your family react with your allergies and asthma?

Joel: The most memorable reaction was when I went horseback riding as a kid. My eyes started to swell up, so my mom had to take me home. On the drive my eyes swelled completely shut and we were a bit freaked out and she took me to emerg. Luckily, I haven’t had my eyes swell shut since!

Kelsey: How has your allergic reaction been to Coco, has the shot been helping?

Joel: I have fairly mild symptoms to our little dog Coco. She is hypoallergenic, which helps, but I still have some trouble breathing at times and often take allergy meds. The shots seem to have helped a bit as I used to get quite sick around hypoallergenic dogs. We also have an air purifier which helps my breathing.

Kelsey: How long have you had Coco?

Joel: We got her in November 2020.

Kelsey: What sports did you play?

Joel: Although I am allergic to grass, I didn’t have a problem playing sports outside. Sometimes in the spring I would need allergy medication or my inhaler, but it wasn’t too bad. The main sports I played as a kid were soccer, hockey, and football.

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Kelsey: What did you want to do when you grew up?

Joel: As a kid, I apparently told my mom I wanted to be a “lady doctor”. When I got older and learned what a “lady doctor” actually meant, I quickly changed my mind.

Kelsey: What are your hobbies?

Joel: I like to play sports but since Covid I have started getting more into woodworking. Ashley and I have started selling different types of shelves online and I also built us a coffee nook. In the summer I like to play golf, go camping, and go for hikes. This summer we hope to go camping in Tofino.

Kelsey: Where have you travelled?

Joel: When my sister was 16 she got to make a wish with the Children’s make a wish foundation. She wished for her family to go on a vacation to Disneyland! I’ve also been to Disneyworld, Guam, Ecuador, Mexico, Costa Rica, and a number of a countries in Europe during a school trip in high school.

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Kelsey: Do you remember when you graduated high school, how was that?

Joel: I enjoyed high school and remember having a good time celebrating graduation with my friends and family at the Knights of Columbus hall. We had a little party there with the friends and family of Josh, Taylor, Eric, and myself!

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Kelsey: Are you still close with your friends from high school?

Joel: Most of them! I still see your future husband Josh quite often.

Kelsey: How’s living in Edmonton?

Joel: Living in Edmonton is okay but it is a bit too big for my liking. I would like to live in a smaller city, but it is hard to find two OT jobs for both me and Ashley in a small place!

Kelsey: How is your job? Do you like being an OT?

Joel: I am currently an OT at a long term care facility, which I enjoy! It was quite challenging back in December as we had a Covid outbreak and a lot of the residents got very sick. Things are starting to get back to normal now that all the residents and workers there are vaccinated!

Kelsey: Where did you meet Ashley?

Joel: I met Ashley when I was in the OT program at UofA, she was in my class.

Kelsey: What’s her job?

Joel: Ashley is an OT at Children’s Autism Services of Edmonton. She works with young kids aged 3-7

I made a happy anniversary card for my friend Nicole and her husband Kevin’s wedding anniversary on May 19.

For Mother’s Day weekend. We made signs with Rose Club on Zoom!  For Mother’s Day I helped with Mom’s garden and gave her the sign, Happy Mother’s Day!

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I changed out my clothes and everything is summer and spring clothes. 

I love going on walks and going to the outdoor workout gym by the park! 

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It’s been a super-duper stressful week as my Mom has been in hospital in Camrose. She needed knee surgery replacement on Monday.

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My special friend Teresa had her birthday last week on Wednesday and I mailed her a birthday card. This is probably my favourite picture of Teresa and myself.

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We watched the high school musicals on Disney + and I love the High school musical 2 which is in the summertime.

We had another school presentation today; everyone was at their houses, so they had little boxes of people on the computer screen!  It went very well! Thank you to the Mrs. Calhoon’s OLMP Grade 5 class for having me.

So, for my roommate Craig’s birthday we played block buster charades! Happy birthday Craig! I gave him a subway gift card for his birthday! We had take out for supper and his Mom made black forest cake! 

We had bingo spring with rose club! We all got a bingo! We got to get bingo prizes!

My hair was purple around Easter and it’s slowly getting back to normal colour!

Saturday night we watched the perfect date! What a good movie!

Saturday afternoon… we went walking around the house in my walker. It’s felt so good to walk after a week of being sick! We played Yahtzee and I got Yahtzee! I was spring cleaning my markers and threw out some! Emma did my fingernails red and blue!

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On Saturday night we had birthday bash with rose club! I had some more chocolate cheesecake!

Sunday afternoon of cooking. Making rhubarb crisp and making meat balls with potatoes and green beans!  We got some meals from Good Food and you get everything precut and everything else is inside the bags! All you need to do is make your meals and cook!  Super duper easy and so much fun with good taste!  This was huge help while my mom is recovering from her knee replacement! 

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Replanting sunflowers