Canadian Mental Health Week is May 2-8 I came up with some interview questions and sent them to the staff at CAFCL. Each day of Mental Health Week I will share a different person’s interview. If you want more information on Mental Health the Canadian Mental Health website.
For me, I have to be busy. When Covid hit the world I got really sad and I would be disappointed because I couldn’t go to my parent’s house every Sunday night for 5 months so it was very hard for me because my love language is quality time with family and friends is very important for me! For me FaceTime kept me going on and moving on! I think I would have gone nuts without my iPad for that 5 months of my life. Good thing that I have a blog, because that kept me busy doing a blog every other week.
How do you enjoy your workday?
Doing the activities I love doing at Centra cam! I enjoy the dance workout videos on the Xbox. I love doing my learning broad but it’s hard to do it because I’m only at Centra cam twice mornings a time. I enjoy playing games with a group of friends. My favourite game is money doesn’t grow on trees with a group of friends. My day changed a lot, When Centra cam closed for a whole year, it was hard to keep busy. Good thing my best friend Teresa and I exchanged Christmas/ birthday the weekend before Centra cam closed and then I got colouring books, markers and highlighters with word searches books. Then my doctors said that I seat too long and my back is hurting because of it, so I needed to lay down every afternoon before getting my new wheelchair. Now I roll on my mat and go into my walker!
What’s it like to seat all day? Does your back get sore?
It’s very hard to seat all day. That’s why I like walking in my walker or rolling on my mat.
Do you like to work out?
Yes, I enjoy workouts and getting outdoors for a walk.
Do you have a good diet?
Yes, I’m tube feeding! So I have a good diet.
If you have a bad day what are your tips for making it better?
If I have a bad day, I like to be by myself and colouring or do word searches.
Do you enjoy the company with friends at lunchtime and coffee time?
I do enjoy coffee time and lunchtime with my friends.
Do I smoke or do drugs?
No. I try to keep my physical health and issues to myself, and just try my best to have a good mood!
How do your sleeping habits actually matter to your physical health?
I have a good nighttime routine, I like to go to bed at 8:30 or 9 every night.
What was it like with Covid around, was it hard on my physical health?
Yes, but I got to bring my walker back home with me!
On Good Friday we would go to church service in the morning after church service we would dry eggs with food colouring . When I was younger, we would have a scavenger hunt after church on Easter Sunday afternoon. My mom would make up clues and then we would hunt Easter eggs and usually a Easter Chocolate Bunny. We would go around the house and then we would go into the backyard. Now that we are older, we may get a small bunny and chocolate eggs. My roommates and I usually get to colour eggs sometime on Easter weekend.
Cherilyn- Our Easter Tradition is for the kids to color eggs and then the Easter Bunny hides them in our yard (pray the dogs don’t find them first!) The kids find them and then they find their Easter Gift. We usually have a turkey dinner with family. The kids love doing it and I hope they continue to do it for a few more years! Here is a picture from last year.
Kathleen- We did the 40 days for lent. Giving up one thing we each chose. Easter vigil mass. Egg hunt on the Sunday followed by breakfast. Decorated and dyed Easter eggs. We always used crayons and dipped them in vinegar water with food coloring added. Sunday mass, and we usually made a ham for supper with scalloped or mashed potatoes. This year I’m going to visit my sister in BC with some of the family too.
Mary Ann – Chocolate bunnies and family get together!!! We eat a big meal… turkey, ham and all the fixings!!!
Marisa- My kids get to do a scavenger hunt!
Gale – Just dinner. I hope to have grandchildren someday so will go back to doing Easter Egg Hunts.
Jessica- We like to decorate eggs and we like hide chocolate eggs around the house.
Danielle- When I was younger, we would decorate eggs and go on an Easter egg hunt Sunday afternoon after church. Now we just go to church on Friday and Sunday and eat a big dinner with family. Easter tends to be around final exam season, so we don’t tend to do anything too exciting as I am usually busy studying.
Janet – Not really any traditions, we just like to get together as a family and cook and have a wonderful meal together and play games 😀
Amy – Not really. I would say the only one we still maintain is to have family time, usually a dinner.
Ashley and Joel – We always have an egg hunt at my uncle’s farm! It started when all the cousins were really little. We would all wait in the bedroom in their little trailer while the adults hid all the treats. Now they add riddles into the hunt and make it hard because we’re all adults! After the egg hunt, we all play football and eat way too much food. I’ve missed it for the past few years, but this year we are flying home for it!
Candace- I usually do an egg hunt with my kids. This year we are going to my dad’s.
Elyse – Easter is my moms absolute favorite Holiday so we always go big celebrating it! We spend the whole weekend together, starting Thursday night we celebrate Sedar, which is a traditional Jewish Holiday, and what Jesus would have been celebrating with his disciples at the last supper. Then we go to church on Good Friday, we have an Easter vigil service on Saturday where we act out different Bible stories (so much fun and so many laughs). Then we go big on Sunday with an Easter egg hunt for the kids, and a big dinner of Ham and all the fixings and home-made lemon meringue pie for dessert.
Karlina- We make paska and celebrate Passover and go to the Good Friday service and Sunday morning church, lots of family time.
Anne – Growing up, my dad was a teacher and spring break was a big time to rest before diving into the last few months of school. Easter usually involved visiting my grandma, having some kind of egg hunt, and singing Easter songs. I remember it being a very relaxed family occasion. It’s fairly similar now with my kids.
Alexandria – We usually have a big family easter hunt with all the cousins and then a big family meal.
Glenda- We have a Easter eggs hunt with the grandkids, go to the Easter Sunday church service and have Easter dinner with the family.
Karli – We used to go to my dad’s house when we lived in Ontario. Now that we live in Camrose, we always have a scavenger hunt for the kids and go to my mom’s house for Easter dinner. The kids would get new raincoats, rain boots candy, and colouring books.
Jennifer- Colouring Easter eggs and scavenger hunt!
I got to interview my friend Kirsten about her dad’s autoimmune disease. As you already know we met in high school, and we visited at lunch time, and we had our group of friends. In our friend group we had Annalise, Kirsten, another Kristen, Karla, and Marisa. I knew her dad from special Olympics and that walk with special Olympics around the lake every spring! I didn’t understand why her dad passed away or got sick. When she lost her dad, it was very sad and hard time for everyone! He was an amazing person and loving daddy! I can’t imagine how it felt like losing a dad or a parent so young. Thanks so much for your interview about your dad! He was such a hero! I hope people can learn about Kirsten and her dad!
Kelsey: What’s is an autoimmune disease?
Kirsten An autoimmune disease is where your body can’t recognize it’s own cells compared to foreign cells so it attacks your normal cells. One very scary thing about autoimmune disease is that they cannot be cured but rather treated or managed and can therefore recur at any point.
Kelsey: What autoimmune disease did your dad have, and what’s does it cause?
Kirsten: The autoimmune disease my dad had was PSC (Primary sclerosing cholangitis). PSC causes scarring of your bile ducts, therefore narrowing them and causing a buildup of bile into the liver which damages your liver. He experienced a lot of fatigue, nausea, stomach pain, unexplained weight loss and some changes in his urine and bowel movements just to name some vague symptoms he had.
Kelsey: When did your dad get diagnosed with PSC?
Kirsten My dad was diagnosed in November 2006 with PSC after over a year of seeing multiple doctors and going for multiple tests. He was told the only treatment was a liver transplant. After a four year wait, he received his live saving liver transplant on January 13, 2011. He thrived after his transplant and had five wonderful years of making memories with us, travelling the world with my mom, Rita, and just living with such gratitude towards his liver donor and family. Unfortunately, in July 2016 he started to feel unwell again and it started a long process of more tests and procedures before finally confirming on December 31, 2016 that his PSC had officially recurred and he required another liver transplant. He fought hard, and we fought hard for him, but he became too ill while waiting for a liver to come available and he passed away on April 25, 2017.
Kelsey: Kristen explains what’s her dad was like a person.
Kirsten My dad also worked hard to educate people about autoimmune diseases, liver disease, and organ donation/transplants. A big stigma behind liver disease is that many people associate liver disease with substance abuse or alcohol misuse. My parents were both non drinkers, in fact I can maybe count on one hand the number of times I saw him even have so little as a small glass of wine.
Kirsten: One really amazing thing is that my parents were the first in western Canada to meet his donor’s family members. We communicated with them through letters and my parents were first able to meet the donor’s wife, and then on a later trip were able to meet one of his daughters. We are still so grateful for their generous gift during their time of grief in supporting their husband/father’s wish to be an organ donor.
Kelsey: Where did your dad work?
Kirsten: He worked for ATB Financial for many years and was very involved in the community. He worked with Special Olympics Camrose, Camrose Friends of Stars, the Camrose Kodiaks… the list goes on! He loved to cook and bake and when I was working at the hospital in Camrose would show up at midnight sometimes with fresh cookies for all of us as a treat on the night shift. He was so supportive of us, and I could always turn to him for advice or support. He always had time for our friends too and was a father figure to many of them as well. He volunteered and did fundraisers with the Canadian Liver Foundation (which my mom and I continue as “Larry’s Girls” in the annual Stroll for Liver fundraiser).
I’d like to ask everyone to consider being an organ donor, you can’t take your organs or tissue with you when you’re gone! Register your intent to donate and make sure your family is aware of your wishes as they do get the final decision if something were to happen to you.
National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week (NOTDAW) raises awareness about the critical need for more donors across the country and encourages Canadians to register their decision and to talk to their loved ones about organ donation.
In 2022, National Organ and Tissue and Awareness Donation Week will take place April 24-30. Green ribbons, and green-lit landmarks, pop up across Canada during NOTDAW to honour the donors and donor families who gave the gift of life. They also acknowledge the thousands of patients in need of a transplant and those who have died waiting. Canadians are reminded to register their intent to donate and to discuss their wishes with family and friends. Visit organtissuedonation.ca to find out how to become an organ donor in your province.
I miss my dad every day. I was truly blessed with the most loving dad. He had a great sense of humour, was generous, kind, smart, and a great leader. He and my mom loved each other so much and watching them showed me what I wanted in a partner and marriage.
Kelsey: How did your family act when your dad got really unwell?
Kirsten: We were scared when he got sick but just wanted to support him and get more information about what to expect and what we could do. For liver transplants a live donation can be done as the liver regenerates itself so they take one lobe of the liver and transplant it into my dad and it would grow into a full liver in his body as well as regenerate in the donor. I was too young and wouldn’t have been a similar size match for my dad so I couldn’t get tested which was so frustrating for me. Our next-door neighbor as well as many of my cousins got tested but no one was able to be a safe match.
Kelsey: What’s your tips for other people who have the same disease?
Kirsten: I think for anyone with an ill parent it is so challenging as we’re used to our parents protecting us and supporting us so it can be overwhelming and hard to wrap your brain around the fact our parents can get sick. I was so fortunate to have such a loving and supportive dad and he fought so hard for himself and for others as an advocate. I learned a lot just by watching him. It also does make you grow up faster in a way as you start to worry about them and want to care for them rather than the other way around. The important thing is to ensure you don’t just fixate on the fact they’re sick. Remember that they’re still your dad or loved one and ensure you still take time to have fun and laugh and enjoy the time you have with them no matter what.
Kelsey: What’s your favourite memory of your dad?
Kirsten: I have so many amazing memories with my dad, it’s hard to pick one to share! He loved to cook and bake, and one of my favorite things was he made apple cinnamon pancakes for us many weekends. He’d get them started so when we woke up we’d smell them and want to come running down to eat them. He also loved to come see me when I was in nursing school in Edmonton and he and my mom would take me for lunch or dinner and make sure to send me home full and with lots of leftovers. He’d also usually fill my fridge and cupboard with groceries and treats (like my favorite ice creams, or at Valentine’s a giant bulk bag of conversation hearts). He was always so proud of us and our accomplishments and never made me feel bad about myself in any way. He and my mom truly encouraged me and kept me going especially when nursing school was really hard. Even after I graduated, I remember I was studying to write my licensing exam (the NCLEX) and he was admitted to the hospital in Edmonton as he was quite sick again, but he made sure to send me encouraging messages about how I’d worked so hard and was so smart and had a good head on my shoulders, that he knew I’d be successful. When I was working at the hospital in Camrose he loved to show up late at night when I was working the night shift with fresh cookies or muffins for myself and my coworkers (so fresh they’d still be warm from the oven!) or my mom and him would bring me a late night teen burger from A&W or fresh berries on ice cream for a treat at work. I was so spoiled and so loved. When we had hoped he’d get his second transplant it was actually scheduled to be the same day as my birthday and he joked the night before that he’d need his own cake or I’d have to share mine as it was his “new birthday” or “liverversary” as we’d call it. Even when he was so sick and tired, he always was joking and making us laugh.
I hope you learned something about autoimmune disease and find our more about if donating organs & tissues is right for you! You can save a live! Thank you Kirsten for sharing your Dad’s Story.
I made valentines cards for the teams from Camrose Association For Community Living! My mom did my fingernails Valentine’s Day themed.
For Valentine’s Day there was a Valentine’s Day dance at Centra Cam and we watched Marry Me on demand on Valentine’s Day evening. I made Valentine’s Day poster at Centra Cam about the love languages.
For Theresa’s birthday presents we went to the Beauty and the Beast play on the 1st weekend in February which was awesome. We watched the actual movie before we saw the play while playing Candy Land it was my Christmas present from Craig! I helped my staff clean my fishbowl.
For Theresa’s birthday we went out with Maryann, for lunch and then we had DQ ice cream cake for dessert! Theresa got flowers from her sister and brother and sister-in-law and balloons from Kat. She had a great day, she even got to go swimming with Maryann in the evening on her birthday!
The last weekend in February we spring cleaned out my room and donated items. We drove them to the donation bin with Centra Cam!
In March we started doing my favourite Job the School presentations on google meet. They are going really well except for the computer issues. My favourite part is answering the questions from the students and getting feedback from the students and teachers.
My mom and our girlfriends went to Fox n Fable on a Saturday afternoon.
My Mom and I made brownies on Sunday afternoon, we ate them with ice cream and chocolate sauce. My mom gave me a facial.
We played name that Irish tune on one Friday night with Rose club!
We played St. Patrick’s Day bingo on a Friday evening with Rose Club and I got four corners.
On St. Patrick’s Day we had a school presentation, and I went home for green blueberry pancakes with sausage.
We had Rose Club Radio on Saturday night, Theresa and I had a great time listening to music and funny sayings on the radio.
We celebrated our brother Joel and Ashley’s birthday party on Sunday night with Skyway Chinese food and we had caramel cheesecake for dessert. Joel’s birthday is March 19 and Ashley’s birthday is March 28. Happy birthday Ashley and Joel! After they left, we watched Chasing Happiness with the Jonas brothers and a few weeks ago we watched Black Shelton Country Voice.
I wasn’t able to get to my parent’s house during the week because they were getting ready for new cupboards and appliances in the kitchen and they took some walls out.
We are excited about Grandpa Ray coming in April! He’s a super good helper with the Cupboards and we appreciate it! I think we might be having Easter with him!
On Friday evening we had Rose Club Craft night. We did water colour paint flowers and birds. It was Super duper fun evening.
I hope you had a good February and March. I hope you enjoyed my blog see you next time. ~ Kelsey
I met Taylor through my brother Joel and his group of friends! My Mom said that I should interview him and this experience with Covid! He lives in Edmonton as an OT so it was hard to get a picture of us! Taylor is nice person and was very friendly to me and everyone that he knows! I hope you enjoy reading this blog and his experience with covid and his experience as a physiotherapist.
Kelsey: How did you know that you had Covid?
Taylor: I first suspected that I had Covid when I was feeling unwell in September, I later became more worried when I noticed that my sense of taste was dulled. I soon had my suspicions confirmed by the results of a PCR test the next day.
Kelsey: What were your symptoms and how long did they last?
Taylor: I found that my symptoms were similar to a really bad cold, additionally I had significant fatigue and a loss of taste and smell. Most of my symptoms gradually improved over 10 days but some have continued to linger, I still have some issues with strenuous exercise.
Kelsey: Are you vaccinated?
Taylor: I’m happy to say that I am; I was double vaxxed when I caught Covid and have since received my third dose.
Kelsey: What’s your reply to people who say vaccinations don’t work because you can still get Covid?
Taylor: Great question Kelsey, I’ve had a few conversations on this topic. I like to compare vaccinations to wearing your seatbelt: it may not completely prevent an injury in a car accident, but it can certainly reduce the severity of the incident. I’m grateful to have been vaccinated when I got sick as my experience could have been much worse. I’d encourage anyone with vaccination questions to ask a trusted healthcare worker about their concerns.
Kelsey: Do you know how you caught Covid? Where were you working at the time?
Taylor: I’m pretty confident that I caught Covid at work as I tend to be around some very sick individuals. It’s hard to ever be certain of exposures as rates were quite high at the time, but I was working in an ICU environment where Covid was very prevalent.
Kelsey: What is your current job?
Taylor: I’m currently working as a Physiotherapist at the Royal Alexandra Hospital; this provides me opportunities to work with some incredible colleagues and help a diverse group of people.
Kelsey: What is your education?
Taylor: I completed a Masters of Science in Physiotherapy from the University of Alberta, and previously received a Bachelor’s of Science at Augustana Campus.
Kelsey: What are your hobbies?
Taylor: In my spare time I still like to shoot some hoops, play a little music, and get together with friends (in whatever creative form restrictions permit). I’ve enjoyed finding new outdoor activities last summer and I hope to be thrown off my bike less next year.
Kelsey: Where did you grow up?
Taylor: I grew up in Camrose AB, a rural community southeast of Edmonton.
My friend Kirsten and I met in high school. Kirsten was in grade 12 and I was in grade 10. We had a great group of friends that Kirsten and I would visit at lunch time every day! For my 17-birthday party we got to decorate cupcakes and got to go bowling! When Kirsten said that she got Covid, I was worried about her and her husband Adam.
Kelsey: What’s was your symptoms and how did you feel like when you had COVID?
Kirsten: My husband’s symptoms started the Monday night, and he had a headache and scratchy throat. The next day he was nauseated, vomiting and had a bad cough. My symptoms started Thursday evening/Friday morning with a cough, fever, nasal congestion. We are both triple vaccinated and thankful to be! He works in a long-term care as a geriatric social worker and his work has been so careful to protect their residents as many of them would likely have severe outcomes from Covid. And myself I’m an RN who has a regular position in the ER and am currently training and working temporarily in the OR (operating room). I was also reassigned to work in ICU for a few months this fall to assist them when the delta variant of Covid was overwhelming the ICU.
Kelsey: Were you scared when you found out it was covid? Your husband had it before you, how did you know if you got it as well? How long did you have covid? What were your thoughts about your experience with covid?
Kirsten: We were a bit scared and sad and frustrated to get Covid as we have tried to be so careful and protect ourselves and those around us. We had also just finally that Saturday booked our honeymoon trip we’ve had to postpone twice already to go to Mexico from January 25 to February 1st but we booked Saturday and he got sick on Monday, so we had to postpone again which made me very sad! The last two years have been very challenging and overwhelming being in healthcare (as well they have been hard for everyone though!) and we’ve very much isolated ourselves from everyone due to our high exposure risk to try to protect those around us. Our friends were great and checked in on us and offered to bring us groceries while we isolated, my husband’s one co-worker brought us some groceries. Our friend’s daughter (our niece) video called me every day to ask if aunty was feeling okay and to check on me. Our family checked on us frequently and offered to bring us things as well. We were just grateful we didn’t get anyone else sick or expose anyone as you can be contagious for a couple days before showing symptoms.
Kelsey: What’s was your childhood like?
Kirsten: My childhood was amazing! I have the best family and was so fortunate growing up to see my parents and how much they love one another and love us. We had a great education and a great supportive home life. We played lots of sports, had great times camping and on family vacations. I know not everyone has been so fortunate and I am forever grateful. I am still very close with my Mom and talk to her every day and miss my dad who passed away in 2017 every day as well.
Kelsey: What school did you go to, how did you know that you wanted to be a RN?
Kirsten: My brother and I are close and I am fortunate to be very close to his wonderful fiancé as well now and consider her my sister! I went to Jack Stuart, Charlie Killam and CCHS. My mom is an RN and retired in February 2013, and often encouraged me to try something else or study something else in school as shift work is quite challenging and she knows working in healthcare can be very challenging. I originally thought I wanted to be an OT (occupational therapist) which is a masters degree and you need a bachelors degree to get into. So my mom then suggested I take my Bachelor of Science in nursing as then there’s also a job waiting at the end if I decided not to pursue my masters right away. I then fell in love with nursing! I graduated from MacEwan University with my BSc in Nursing in 2016. I worked in Camrose from 2015-2018 and then moved to Edmonton in Feb 2018 to try new opportunities and to be closer to Adam (and now we’re married so I’d say it was a great move!)
Kelsey: Did you get the vaccine?
Kirsten: We both felt very fortunate to get our vaccines! I believe in the science behind the vaccines and can attest that my time in the hospital and in the ICU has proven that the unvaccinated have had far worse symptoms and outcomes than those who are vaccinated (both those who are perfectly healthy otherwise and those with comorbidities!) I cried tears of relief when I got my first dose January 6th, 2021. I feel it prevented me from getting sick prior to my recent experience of having the Omnicron variant of Covid and also prevented me from having more severe symptoms. My work hasn’t been greatly impacted by the vaccine besides shortening how long I had to isolate once becoming sick. Very few coworkers that I’m aware of have left from the mandate to get the vaccine and I think we are very fortunate we are vaccinated.
Kelsey: How’s work, what’s are the rules at work?
Kirsten: Work is hard! Covid rules are often changing and evolving so lots of new policies to read and try to keep up with. We do a “fit for work” every day before our shift starts where we answer screening questions to ensure we aren’t coming to work sick. If you are sick you stay home, and the rules changed just before I got Covid where if you are fully vaccinated and your symptoms are improving you can return to work 5 days after showing symptoms. We are expected to do continuous masking and wear eye protection at all times, and if we have our mask off to eat or drink it has to be in a designated area and be 6 feet apart from everyone. We wear N95 masks (special fit, higher protection than regular masks) for all close patient contact now whereas previously they only wanted us to do it for high risk activities like intubation, extubation, doing CPR or other aerosolizing procedures. Another health related issue we could talk about sometime is organ donation or transplants! My dad had an autoimmune disorder and needed a liver transplant, and he was a big advocate and now our family is continuing to honour him that way!
Kelsey: What’s do you say to people who don’t get vaccinated?
Kirsten: I can’t make the choice for people, but I felt completely safe trusting the science behind the vaccine and felt much safer and more protected having my vaccines. The sickest people I’ve seen have been unvaccinated and many have expressed regret for not getting vaccinated, especially those I saw while in ICU.
Here is a website if you need information regarding COVID 19
I wanted to do a special blog for Valentine’s Day. I asked some of my friends and family what they do for Valentine’s and I also what their Love Language is. If you don’t know what your love language is you should check this out. It is interesting to see what makes you happy and your loved ones.
Nicole – As a family for Valentine’s Day, we make homemade heart-shaped pizzas with the kids. Kevin and I go out on a date sometime on the weekend. Nicole’s love language is a bit of everything. But mostly physical touch and words of affirmation. Kevin’s love language is words of affirmation.
Anna- We also don’t have any real traditions. We did a photoshoot with the kids last year, but that’s it. Apparently, we decorated cookies too ha I forgot!
Elsye – I usually buy flowers for my mom, chocolates for everyone else in the family, and the last few years I’ve gotten together with some friends for a girl’s night.
Robin- I do lots of these but I think my Primary one would be Quality time. I enjoy getting together with those I love and spending time with them. This might be an activity/experience, dinner out, a walk, or even just a long chat. I value this so much! Here is Dean and I spent some quality time together at an Oilers game.
Janet – Love language for me is gifts of service. For my hubby, it’s quality time. I will do his chores or rub his feet. He likes to cuddle while watching movies.
Tammy- Valentine’s Day is very special for us. We were married on that day. This year it will be 35 years!!🥳🎉🎈🥳. Greg often buys me flowers a nice card and we do something special for dinner. One Valentine I surprised him with post-it notes on the mirror….as far as my love language. I enjoy all 5! I love when Greg rubs my back when he comes up beside me and gives me a kiss before he leaves for work. He buys the most amazing gifts. One year I got gold(earrings), frankincense, and myrrh like the Wiseman brought Jesus. I like words of affirmation in his beautifully written cards. I enjoy when he helps with laundry, cooking, dishes, and house cleaning, and I love spending time together playing a game or doing devotions and praying together.
Joel and Ashley – Love language is quality time! We always eat our meals together and usually play games while we eat. 🙂
Kathleen – I did a photoshoot for Tracy’s sister, I went and got a little cake and a thing of Flowers for Nikky’s birthday and gave them to her, and tonight I’m going on a date! I also went to the coffee shop my sister-in-law works at, to visit her for a little bit.
My parents went to Edmonton and looked for new cupboards and new flooring on Valentine’s Day this year! My mom’s love language is quality time and my dad’s love language is physical touch.
For myself, my love language is quality time and giving presents for birthdays and special occasions. I enjoy making homemade valentines’ cards for my friends and going to Valentine’s Day parties at Centra Cam. This year we had a dance party! We also played named the song! For Valentine’s Day in the evening, we watched Marry me on demand! It was an awesome movie!
I hope everyone enjoyed their Valentine’s Day. Remember to show kindness every day!
My roommate Craig, staff Kelsey and I went to the Camrose Crush hockey game on a Saturday night!
We watched Wedding Crashers one Saturday afternoon. We had a birthday bash which was Oilers hockey game themed and played hockey Saturday night songs!
I missed the radio with Rose Club because I was isolated in my bedroom because my brother Joel shared his cold with me and my mom! The staff had to dress up in covid gowns until I had no symptoms! I have been doing lots of colour by numbers. That Sunday I Face Timed with my mom, and we made mint Chocolate chip cookies! Once I got out of being isolated, I painted the birdhouse I won from the Rose Club Bingo on New Year’s Eve! I painted the birdhouse rainbow colours!
I like to watch a cooking show on Facebook by a girl named Natasha. I really enjoy the Kbaby on YouTube. Katie and Ben have two kids Avery and Ella and they are having another baby girl coming in February! I really like the Arnold sisters on YouTube as well. You should check them out! Four sisters who also started doing a YouTube channel, While I’m colouring or doing word searches, I would have them on my iPad!
In December, Paulette and I started going back to the fire hall to shred paper on Friday mornings! We usually get two bags full!
We started watching Shauna Rae on TLC, it’s about a woman who is 22 and is in a 10 year old body! She had Brain cancer when she was 6 months old and stopped growing after chemotherapy! Kinda interesting!
Saturday afternoon Nicki and I went on a winter, snowy and sunny walk around the lake and we went walking underground to the under pathway! Saturday night we watched sisters on Netflix!
On Sunday evening we made oatmeal blueberry muffins!
Kelsey: What were the 1st symptoms of your heart problems? Explain, how did you feel? Where were you when it happened?
Maryann: I was at home when I had indigestion-like pain. I had been having stomach problems for a few months before that, so I thought it was my stomach. I tried my usual tricks to get rid of the gas, a warm beanbag on my belly, a hot bath but nothing was working. It felt like pressure in my chest, just like a baby elephant was sitting on my chest.
Kelsey: What’s did your doctors do at the emergency room?
Maryann: In the ER, they hooked me up to the cardiac monitor, and told me that I was having a heart attack. I was in denial; I couldn’t believe that!!! They gave me several medicines and then I went to Edmonton’s Royal Alex. The next day I had an angiogram where they found several of my major arteries were blocked. Within four days they put in 4 stents and 2 balloons.
Kelsey: What did you have for heart problems? What was diagnosed?
Maryann: Inferior Myocardial
Kelsey: What did your family and friends say or do when you found out what was happening?
Maryann: My family and friends were shocked and concerned.
Kelsey: What’s would you say to other people that are going through the same symptoms? How are you feeling and doing today?
Maryann: I would tell others to go to the hospital if they are having these symptoms. I am feeling great now and my life is getting busier every day.
Kelsey: What are your hobbies and what’s your typical day?
Maryann: I love to sew, garden, kayak, and swim. I also love to spend time with my dog, Koda and my grandson’s dog, Kai.
Kelsey: What was your favorite job? Explain how you got into nursing?
Maryann: My favorite job was at Team 12. There was a nursing school close to my home in Ontario, so I was able to go to school.
Kelsey: How did you get your job at Team 12 and how many years did you work there?
Maryann: I applied for the job, had an interview, and was hired… I heard about CAFCL through my friend Karen Norrie. I worked there for 3 years!
Kelsey: Have you traveled? Where have you traveled?
Maryann: I have traveled extensively in Canada, but have also been to Europe, Australia, New Zealand and I’ve also traveled to Cuba, Mexico and Jamaica.
Kelsey: Where did you grow up? What did you do after you graduated high school?
Maryann: I grew up at a lake in northern Ontario, Sesekinika. After high school, I went straight into nursing school.
Kelsey: How many kids do you have and how many grandkids?
Maryann: I have three children and eight grandchildren.
Kelsey: Do you have any memories of your parents? What’s your favorite memory of your mom and your dad? What was your childhood like? Do you have any siblings?
Maryann: I had a very nice childhood, with my two sisters and three brothers. My favorite memory of my mom is that she was always baking or cooking something delicious. My favorite memory of my Dad is that he was always building something, and he had a great sense of humour and loved to laugh.
Here is some information I found on the internet regarding Maryann’s condition:
Inferior wall myocardial infarction (MI) occurs from a coronary artery occlusion with resultant decreased perfusion to that region of the myocardium. Unless there is timely treatment, this results in myocardial ischemia followed by infarction. In most patients, the inferior myocardium is supplied by the right coronary artery. In about 6-10% of the population, because of left dominance, the left circumflex will supply the posterior descending coronary artery. Approximately 40% of all MIs involve the inferior wall. Traditionally, inferior MIs have a better prognosis than those in other regions, such as the anterior wall of the heart. The mortality rate of an inferior wall MI is less than 10%. However, several complicating factors that increase mortality, including right ventricular infarction, hypotension, bradycardia heart block, and cardiogenic shock.
You can go to this website if you want more information:
Thank you Maryann for sharing your story with me and my blog followers. If anyone else would like me to help with another topic for a future blog I would really appreciate it.
The last night in November, my mom and I went to the concert Travis Dolter and saw the Christmas Coca Cola Truck! It was great to hear live music again!
In November we had a craft night with rose club, we made sock puppets for the Christmas party and our Christmas concert. So, the second Friday evening in December it was the Rose Club Christmas party, we were in the play Covid Christmas 2021 and I was Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and I used my sock puppet on my right hand and I had to read lines off the sheet of Christmas concert paper (Covid Christmas). We sang some Christmas songs with special guests form the North Pole and it was the leaders from SingAble, we did a scavenger Christmas hunt in our house, and we found an angel on the top of our Christmas tree and some mittens! We had a Christmas exchange, and I got the Frozen puzzle (from the Frozen movie.)
The next day, which was Saturday afternoon, we did some Christmas shopping for our roommates and wrapped them in Christmas wrapping paper! Everyone is getting PJ’s for Christmas from me!
For the last week of Centra Cam we didn’t doing the Christmas dinner, Christmas exchange and the Christmas party. Instead we had some Special events during the last week of Centra Cam. On Monday morning we watched the movie Elf and coloured some Christmas pictures! Centra cam gave us a Christmas card and some gift cards from Wendy’s and McDonald’s. On Thursday morning (the last day of Centra Cam) some of the clients and staff were able to go to the bowling alley and I got 109 on my first game and then I got 88 on my second game. It was a wonderful way to end the year before the Christmas holidays and I had a great time bowling!
I went back home on the Thursday afternoon, and we made cookies to decorate! We also started to make my dad’s birthday cake which is homemade ice cream cake with chocolate sauce and mint chocolate patties on top of the ice cream cake!
We celebrated our dad’s 52nd birthday. So, there’s a story behind this… okay our Dad has a green vest that our grandma Shirley brought him for a Christmas present ages ago that he Loves! So Ashley and Joel decided to buy every one else a green vest to give to him for his birthday presents and we got dad long john’s, new blue jeans and underwear for his birthday! He kept saying What’s going on??? He opened 6 green vests then, we took some family pictures in the front of the Christmas Tree and everyone wore their vests! Then, we opened Christmas presents and they were Old Navy PJ bottoms with Santa Clause on them.
The day after Dad’s birthday, we celebrated Christmas, this was the weekend before Christmas. We did this because Ashley and Joel were celebrating Christmas in Moose Jaw and Luke might have to work this Christmas! So on the Saturday morning we opened Christmas presents and then we played Qwerkle together!
For our parents, we bought my mom some boots and we bought dad a new black vest! Joel and Ashley got some cookbooks, and kitchen supplies. I gave Ashley some fingernails and Luke got some jewelry making supplies! My mom brought her grand puppy Coco Christmas PJ’s ! My Christmas presents this year… Ashley made me a Scrapbook of my Kelsey’s Butterfly lifestyle blog! I got a butterfly and flowers puzzle, word searches books, fingernails, and tattoos pens and stickers. Brett young’s new CD and an day planner! Luke even made me a ring. My parents found some holders for our game Qwirkle and some score sheets.
Instead of doing stockings, Our family plays a game where you wrap up stocking stuffers into alot of saran wrap and then you roll dice until you get double numbers on the dice and then you give it to the next person! From the game, I got some shower gel, hand lotion, Christmas socks, face masks and an luffa. On the Sunday afternoon we decorated sugar cookies as a family and then mom and I did our fingernails!
The week of heading up to Christmas weekend!
On Monday evening, we did our roommate’s Christmas exchange! I got lots of bath bombs and a bath bomb kit that you can make your own bath bombs! I got two pairs of PJ bottoms, Willy Wonka themed Candy Land Game!
On Tuesday evening I went to the swimming pool with Maryann and Dylan. I gave them their Christmas presents! My mom made moccasins and I coloured a Christmas card for Maryann and we gave Dylan swim passes for the swimming pool!
On Wednesday afternoon my mom and I went for our booster covid vaccination shot and then we got our flu shots at the same time at save on foods. Then we made a ham pie for supper! We watched Uncle Buck in the evening and babysat Coco for Joel and Ashley!
On Thursday afternoon I did some word searches and finished the book! I had to pack for the Christmas weekend!
On Christmas Eve afternoon we were lazy and watched My Dad’s Christmas Date! It was good at the start, but it got boring after awhile! My parents and I tried out the Qwirkle bonus pack from my Christmas presents! It has score sheets and holders for the tiles! It’s worked so well! My parents tied and beat me by two points! On Christmas Eve we had Anna-Marie over for appetizers and we played Qwixx!
On Christmas morning I helped my mom get the stuffing ready by ripping up pieces of bread! On Christmas afternoon, My parents and I worked on a beautiful butterflies and pretty flowers puzzle that I got for Christmas! It took four hours to do! I helped my mom make sweet potato casserole! After Christmas dinner I watched El Camino Christmas with my parents and my brother Luke! It wasn’t a very good movie and we were disappointed!
On Boxing Day we played a few games of Farkle and we decorated gingerbread houses with Luke! The day before New Year’s Eve we made a turkey pie with the leftover turkey, and we made homemade bath bombs! For New Year’s Eve we watched New Year’s Eve movie! We hope 2022 will be better than 2021! Merry Christmas and Happy New year!
Kelsey's butterfly lifestyle 