Lil Miss Working Dog

Shelby did great today on paratransit, lying down on the wheelchair lift and holding on for dear life as it moved. On the return lift when the HandiDogs instructor supervised us getting on board, the driver told her they usually take assistance dogs on board first then the owner/chair user. The instructor laughed and told him he would "never get this dog away from her owner." LOL That's my Shelby girl! Class went much better than last week as well, I am happy to report.

I realized that my National Brain Tumor Foundation's Angel Adventure Day is one week after my return from next week's surgery in Baltimore. With everything going on between prepwork to put the house on the market, DH's surgery, my sudden surgery, my mom visiting, and Shelby's training, I haven't been able to put nearly as much into it as I was able to last year. I feel badly about it.

Pardon me asking but if you are able, would you be able to spare even $5? Neurological research is so critically important. It is a terribly underfunded area when it comes to grants and sponsorships, and brain disease is devastating. Even if someone recovers, so-called recovery is typically partial. We are left with permanent life-altering and often debilitating side effects. While we struggle throughout every single day, our families are left to cope and pick up the pieces. Nothing is ever the same.

That is why we need your help. If everyone found $5 to give, which is of course tax-deductible since it is a 501(c)(3), it would make an astounding difference.

While new discoveries funded by your help may be too late for some of us, it gives us hope and courage to get through the days simply to know our children may take advantage of wonderful scientific and medical advances.

There is a link on the right side of the page. If you follow, you will find the donation page--and my family's deep gratitude.

DH's minor outpatient surgery today for a sort-of hernia went fine. He's been going back and forth between watching television and snoozing. All is well.

We have our flights and hotel but not the rental car yet. A generous friend is trying to work it out for us to use her accrued points for the car; hopefully we will know tomorrow if it will work out. It is so kind of her!

There is so much to do I'm a bit flustered which I guess is why I'm sitting here instead of getting things done. Thursday is just a particularly exhausting day because of Shelby's class. I'll work on a couple little things tonight (I hope).

Babette blanket FINISHED!

I had one extra skein of sea foam and needed another salmon to complete the border so I made the exchange at Purl's this week. Tonight I finished DD's blanket! It is so soft and the salmon-kind of color as the border is her favorite. She doesn't know yet that it is hers. It's been such a therapeutic process to crochet this blanket.



While I'm here I'm going to do some shameless plugs. Christmas Day will be my CafePress Chiari/Syringomyelia store's 3rd anniversary. It's hard to believe it's been that long! I designed all the items there and 100% of the profit goes to the Research Fund at the American Syringomyelia Alliance Project, also known as ASAP, a 501(c)(3). I have a design for everyone: CM and/or SM patients, Chiari 0 CMers, family members and friends, people of all ages including infants, clothing, stickers, magnets, pins, tote bags, etc. It's worth checking out.





I also still have my CURE CHIARI wristband project going for another outstanding 501(c)(3), Wishes and Rainbows, to assist them in helping patients with their expenses. The wristbands are dark purple, have CURE CHIARI embossed on them, are 100% silicone to stretch past the hand to fit comfortably on the wrist. Unlike the majority of wristbands out there, I have 3 different sizes. 7" fits teenagers, average-framed women, and small-framed men. 8" fits large-framed women and average-framed men. I also have a small amount of 5 3/4" for very young children. They are 2.00 each. All profits go to W&R to help patients with immediate needs. If you would like to purchase a bracelet feel free to contact me via comment or email. It's a great way to spread awareness to the public and show support!



I also wanted to let you know about GoodSearch, which is a great search engine. They donate one cent per search to ASAP. Simply select American Syringomyelia Alliance Project in the box by the yellow buttons. (One of these buttons also allows you to see how much money was raised per month!) If you just enter Syringomyelia then the foundation name will pop up. You can make a difference! Consider adding GoodSearch to your favorites or making it your homepage.