Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Atomic Lemonade* on January 18, 2011 at 12:29am

I just checked in after being MIA for a while and am really saddened to hear this news.  I wish I had something to give but unfortunately I am living a life post cancer that isn't very prosperous.  I was diagnosed with AML at 33 with 3 sons on my own.  It's a tough road but I wish you all the best and much success and healing.  I hope every penny you need finds it's way to you.

 

Rose

• ▶ Reply

TeacherPermalink Reply by saray on January 18, 2011 at 9:17am

All the best to you, I have sent a little $ and hope to send more as the days come. I am forwarding your story to a dear friend who runs weekly healing circles in hopes that some extra energy and strength will find it's way to you. I'll be keeping you in my thoughts and workings as well.

 

Love and Light

• ▶ Reply

StudentPermalink Reply by Tangled Macrame on January 21, 2011 at 10:00pm

Donated. Blessed be!

• ▶ Reply

StudentPermalink Reply by Leah Shoemaker on January 22, 2011 at 9:27am

It gives me shivers every time I go through this. 

Wow, you are all simply amazing.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Crisdon (aka Spun Sugar) on January 24, 2011 at 10:28am

 

If you know me, you know I am never at a loss for words. Until recently that is. My mind had been on a desperate scavenger hunt to find the right thing to say.
How does one say thank you? Two little words that try to encompass all the people who worked so hard on everything from food, tickets, music, decorations, gathering of donations, friends who made my story known on the internet, people who have kept my family fed, others who have shown up with buckets and mops to keep the nooks and crannies clean, businesses who have helped with tires to travel to out of town winter appointments, garbage removal, and resources, teachers who have smiled alittle more for my children's sake, friends who brought loads of wood, trustworthy memebers of the community to handle finances, homecare workers who understand my shame in not being able to care for my home as I would like to, friends of my kids who help around the house but dont take it personally when I am too ill to visit and need them to leave,online communities of Hoopdancers who have never met me but continue to pour out support, friends and family of Dains who not only welcomed me at first but opened their hearts when we got the bad news... how I ask you? a simple letter to the paper? it just doesnt seem enough.
I have lost friends along the way when at first I didnt know what to do and lost myself into fear, shame and embarassment ( not sure why illness does that to a person), my life had taken a huge left turn when we realized the treatments from before were not working. I panicked and became less of the kind of person I had hoped to be when faced with a crisis. I grieved despartely for those losses. Then something absolutley mindbending began to take place. People I had lost touch with, people I had only met through Facebook, people I have only ever said hello to on the street, people I used to work with, people who cared,, just becasue it is human nature to care.. started to shine little beacons of light so I wouldnt be lost anymore, until this path has been illuminated like a Saturday night in Vegas.
The Crisdon's Fryingpan VS Cancer Hooplah Fundraiser was enourmously successful. We were able to raise around $12,000 from the gorgeous auction items, donations, plus private donations through the community. We left the next day to Arizona armed with loads of questions, fear, excitment and a cushion of love. We couldnt have gotten there to get the big news we did without your help.
I know lots of folks have been asking "how did it go" "what happened??". I will try to keep it PG rated as it is quite graphic. They amazing doctors said yes, indeed they can save my life. I am excited on one part as they are confident that it will be one major major all day surgery rather than a course of drawn out,invasive and life altering operations. They will need to remove my fibula from one of my legs to build the new bone for my jaw. In Canada they use the thicker hip bone with a titanium combo that has a shockingly high rejection rate. So yes to literally "save face" i must "lose a leg to stand on". Hopefully with rehabilitation and time I will be able to carry on somewhat of an active lifestyle, but sadly my soccer career is out the window..bummer. They understood that Canada probably hadnt seen this kind of tumor in 20 years but also emphasized that the Mayo Clinic had successfully performed the same surgey three weeks prior to my visit! PHEW!
The surgery itself is terribly costly at 157,000 and we are still going through the vast amounts of paperwork in hope that BC medical will help. I have run out of other options for care here at home. I have My family docotr here in Invermer. Dr. Page, and she is such a support. we decided Its like a fact finding school project and together have learned to navigate the syatem as my own advocate. It is a community effort though. I am not doing a single step of this alone as I have mentioned before.
I know that it will be ok. It just has to right?
I want to be a part of my life forever.. i know that sounds confusing but it make sense if you've been faced with your mortality. there isnt another me to care for my kids. I may have taught them everything they know, but i sure as heck havent taught them everything I know yet. I want to be a better friend. I want to travel, I want to love, I want to help. I want to pay it forward.
Turns out, being smart enough to choose our lives to be in the Columbia Valley since 1981, is the one desicion I made that could very well make all those dreams come true.
So I thank you. My kooky wonderful family thanks you. My concerened friends thank you. Thank you for allowing nature to take hold and human kindness to pour out.
Truly humbled
Crisdon Chaisson

• ▶ Reply

StudentPermalink Reply by Leah Shoemaker on March 10, 2011 at 9:11am

*****UPDATE*****

I want to give a little update on Crisdon, from what I understand.

Cris was denied by BC medical because they said that the procedure could be done in Canada. So now Cris is searching to find a team of three doctors who can do the procedure as BC med said, if they say they can’t she can then appeal their decision.

A couple things that are frustrating about this is that it was Canadian doctors who told her that the procedure could NOT be done in Canada. Also, the list of Doctors given to Cris did not seem qualified; one specializes in snoring, one in acne. She will be going to visit one of the doctors this month and hopefully he says “YES! We can do this and we can do it well!”

This is taking so much time, the Mayo clinic wanted this procedure done ASAP. But if they can do it in Canada, the price tag which seemed impossible is then possible.

Thank you to everyone helping. I can’t imagine doing all this, and also raising three children (wonderful children, given!)
Please continue to send your love and kind words.

Crisdon continues to stay so positive; she is a truly inspiring example.
So much love.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Crisdon (aka Spun Sugar) on April 5, 2011 at 12:43am

Well. Hello all you amazing gorgeous people.

As Leah said I was headed to Vancouver to meet a doctor. Kinda our last straw from the bunch. I went armed with a million questions, faxes, medical forms, charts, graphs, binders, pens and a determined look on my face.

I meant business. I was so tired and feeling limp that I just needed him to have all thr right answers. 

Every single question and fact slipped out of my mind when he sat down and stopped fussing with papaers and looking important and LOOKED at me. I simply started to cry and said "please. can you help me?"

Dr. Donald Anderson said he can help me. He had the right answer. It was wierd, it was like we saw into eachother for a split second and he understood and I believed.

Since the surgery is in British Columbia, the expenses are paid for. We were able to raise a fair amount of donations from friends. family, anonymous folks, people from my town,people from across the world. We have decided to use the fundraising money to have my partner and my mum have acoomdations and car rental transportation for the duration of the stay so far away from home. My 3 children (17,16,10) will be visiting me for a week in the middle of May. I will be hospital recovering from the tracheotomy, fibula removal,skin grafts and the jaw/facial reconstruction surgery I so desperately have needed.

My amazing boyfriend Dain who has been with me every single step of the way (even though we had only found eachother in THIS lifetime a mere 6 months before I found out I was sick again) keeps reminding me that every single moment in both our lives has led up to this explosion of challenge and triumph and so then afterwards we can properly continue on with our happily ever after like planned.

I am scared. I dont do well with surgery. Im a robust gal but frail of healing and health. I have been loving my body up, eating everything I have ever dreamed of wanting to (2 months of liquid diet is ahead of me) my arse is chubby and my cheeks are rosey, im vitamined and mineraled, USANA'd to the tits and I am going into this thing fighting like a champ. (well maybe less Eye of the Tiger and more BeeGees Stayin' Alive)

I am flying to Vancouver again tomorrow for more tests and speach patholgist appointments as well as dieticain ("101Ways to blend your BBQ dinner" is a hit I hear) and the biggie, the aneastesiologists. I am most anxious to speak to this cat as hes in charge of keeping this hooper alive for the nine hours im on the table. Speaking of which my mum said I should take in my collapsable hoop (thank you Shoes) to the nurses so they can see me how I am so when I am a bundle of tubes and bandages they'll understand a little bit better maybe. Plus who doesnt like a hula hoop demo in a hospital ward. like seriously! :)

I plan to dance as much as I can. literally, as I will be unable to for some number of months. The rest of the time I shall be whirling and twirling in my hospitl ed. My oldest daughter job is to make me an entire ipod playlist of all my favorite songs. 6 weeks flat down and the rest mending at home is along time to be still.

I know i make this sound all tickety boo, but please understand. None of this could have happened without every single person who did, said, mentioned causually, sent, forwarded, listened, empathized, sympathsized, laughed, took the time to do some homework ont heir own, trusted, beleived, hoped and prayed for it to be so.

Thank you so much all of you

Spin Spin Sugar

xo Crisdon Chaisson ~*Spun Sugar*~

• ▶ Reply

StudentPermalink Reply by Missina Lee on April 5, 2011 at 3:41am

Thank you, Crisdon for the update! I'm so excited for you that this is going to be covered and that the donations can be used for arrangements for your family and support network. Doesn't make the surgery any less intimidating, no doubt, but what a huge burden lifted. Lots of love going out to you!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Crisdon (aka Spun Sugar) on April 5, 2011 at 8:26am

thank you so much my dear. I am nervous as a bag of rats in a burning meth lab but its gotta be done. its normal to be afraid and I am embracing it. my bf teases me that now I have a range of six emotions. Happy crying, scared crying, mad crying, stubborn pouting, joy, and now afraid. lol

• ▶ Reply

StudentPermalink Reply by Leah Shoemaker on May 6, 2011 at 5:28pm

UPDATE: Crisdon has gone through her surgery. Everything went well and she is healing away! (Updates are coming for her lover boy)

• ▶ Reply

StudentPermalink Reply by Missina Lee on May 6, 2011 at 6:27pm

Thanks, Leah! That is so amazing to hear! Much cheering over here :D

• ▶ Reply

StudentPermalink Reply by MaisieHoops of *HulaHoopers.ca* on May 6, 2011 at 7:54pm

Thanks for the update.  I didn't catch her last post... She writes so eloquently...  Sending well wishes to her and get better vibes.

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• Next ›
• Page