I cant believe its Mothers Day tomorrow! (in NZ)... We were going to do something but Mum was enlisted to work all day tomorrow so we will postpone it but of course I still have her a present and we might do something nice for dinner maybe?? Cause I have one Mother who is certainly worth honouring!
I thought Id take a step away from the pain side of things today and let you know a bit more of who I am over the next little while... and the different things Ive done... Cause CRPS is only a part of my life, CRPS isn't what defines me...
Well, I was born in Napier, New Zealand. I have two brothers and one sister... My brothers are Nick, who is 21, Aaron who is 18 and my amazingly beautiful little sister, Lauren who is 13... and also taller than me, lol!
My Dad used to run a fruit and vege business called 'Carters and Spencer'... They imporated and exported world wide which had Dad travelling a lot and working huge hours... We never got to travel with him but I remember a couple of times when he took me to work with him which was always a highlight! We would have to get up at like 3am in the morning and the first stop after Dad had woken up (with all the wiindows down driving on the motorway) would be the petrol station where the coffee person would have all the coffees and muffins ready for everyone, I would be happy because I would get a hot chocolate and would get to go down into the cool stores with him while he was doing orders! We could eat any fruit we wanted in the huge crates... It was a good memory!!
In 2001 though all that was to change as Dad was diagnosed with a brain tumour... He had been acting really funny and getting many headaches for a year or two before but we put it down to stress... We were shocked when we found out as we just thought he needed glasses... The tumour was behind his left eye... Infact if Dad lifted his eyelid you could actually 'see' the tumour! Nuts hey! By the time they operated it was the size of a small orange! Dad was 'meant' to recover within 6 weeks, "piece of cake, it should be" they said (as if recovering from something like that could be 'peice of cake', but what they meant I think was there was minimal risk or long term side effects expected... They had done many of these surgeries successfully)... but as the tumour had been pressing and squashing his brain and when they removed the tumour the brain was damaged... On the 10th day after surgery Dad had a Grand Mal seizure... But he had been having funny 'turns' from the 5th day...
That changed our lives and nothing was ever the same... Dad was really sick for the first 3 or 4 years and for the first year he could never ever be left alone (we normally had someone sitting with him in his room)... We had no nursing care or anything.. Mum did it all herself... and I helped out a lot too...
At the time I was being homeschooled because I had my appendix out the year before which had me miss a term of school due to complications and things... and I really didnt enjoy college (highschool for USA) at all.. I hated it but homeschooling suited me well and I did really well too - I would do it at night! I believe God had that planned maybe cause with me being home I was able to help a lot -- of course I encountered a lot more pain too as I was around for a lot more of it and seeing my Dad so sick and suffereing depression from the head injuries was devastating...
Dad has frontal lobe head injuries - the worst part to damage as its all your cognitive functioning skills and your rationalisation skills and thinking / processing skills.... We chose though to laugh and not cry and would make jokes with him if something went wrong... We do have a lot of funny stories...
In 2003, after many many tests, appointments and assessments Dad was labeled with permenant head injuries and permenantly disabled... He wont recover and even now can not work in the garden for more then an hour or two... He still gets very confused and flustered and gets a lot of major headaches/ migraines which can have him in bed for days on end... hes better than he was in those first few years but all the progress he will make has been made and its working now on blanace in activities and quality of life...
Mant people dont see or understand head injury... They dont see Dad when he is sick or unwell as he only goes out or sees visitors when he is feeling ok... But if we have visitors stay and talk to him too much he will get sick and be in bed for a few days,.. We dont go out at night and Dad has a sleep most afternoons...
In many ways where Dad and I am at, at the moment are similar... We both have to balance our activities... Both have sick/pain days. neither of us can go out at night, we both get tired talking for too long... haha... On the other hand there are also many differences... I cant do anything by myself without help, Dads more independant... But mine isnt for life (fingers crossed)... Where Dads is... But its nice knowing we can understand each others with good days and bad days... You should see Dad and I when Mum is at work --- its pretty funny!
Dad is looking after me while I look after him - both in different ways hahaha.....
On that note I have a funny story for you... Today Dad was helping me up off a seat - lifting me up onto my walking frame when I started to tip over as I have shocking balance... Well.. Dad has bad balance too -- so instead of holding me up he just followed me over and we both ended up against the door... We just laughed... What a team we made... hahaha...
Ill leave it there tonight and give you a few more stories as the weeks go on... and tell you more about life and adventures aside from CRPS!
I have another inspirational story to share withyou tonight so Ill part here and leave you with that... This has been a long update so hopefully yourve made it through!!
Love Kylee xxx
The Father's Eyes...
Bob Richards, the former pole-vault champion, shares a moving story about a skinny young boy who loved football with all his heart. Practice after practice, he eagerly gave everything he had. But being half the size of the other boys, he got absolutely nowhere. At all the games, this hopeful athlete sat on the bench and hardly ever played.
This teenager lived alone with his father, and the two of them had a very special relationship. Even though the son was always on the bench, his father was always in the stands cheering. He never missed a game.
This young man was still the smallest of the class when he entered high school. But his father continued to encourage him but also made it very clear that he did not have to play football if he didn't want to.
But the young man loved football and decided to hang in there He was determined to try his best at every practice, and perhaps he'd get to play when he became a senior. All through high school he never missed a practice nor a game but remained a bench-warmer all four years.
His faithful father was always in the stands, always with words of encouragement for him.
When the young man went to college, he decided to try out for the football team as a "walk-on." Everyone was sure he could never make the cut, but he did. The coach admitted that he kept him on the roster because he always puts his heart and soul to every practice, and at the same time, provided the other members with the spirit and hustle they badly needed.
The news that he had survived the cut thrilled him so much that he rushed to the nearest phone and called his father. His father shared his excitement and was sent season tickets for all the college games.
This persistent young athlete never missed practice during his four years at college, but he never got to play in a game. It was the end of his senior football season, and as he trotted onto the practice field shortly before the big playoff game, the coach met him with a telegram.
The young man read the telegram and he became deathly silent. Swallowing hard, he mumbled to the coach, "My father died this morning. Is it all right if I miss practice today?" The coach put his arm gently around his shoulder and said, "Take the rest of the week off, son. And don't even plan to come back to the game on Saturday."
Saturday arrived, and the game was not going well. In the third quarter, when the team was ten points behind, a silent young man quietly slipped into the empty locker room and put on his football gear. As he ran onto the sidelines, the coach and his players were astounded to see their faithful teammate back so soon. "Coach, please let me play. I've just got to play today," said the young man. The coach pretended not to hear him. There was no way he wanted his worst player in this close playoff game. But the young man persisted, and finally feeling sorry for the kid, the coach gave in. "All right," he said. "You can go in."
Before long, the coach, the players and everyone in the stands could not believe their eyes. This little unknown, who had never played before was doing everything right. The opposing team could not stop him. He ran, he passed, blocked, and tackled like a star. His team began to triumph. The score was soon tied. In the closing seconds of the game, this kid intercepted a pass and ran all the way for the winning touchdown.
The fans broke loose. His teammates hoisted him onto their shoulders. Such cheering you never heard. Finally, after the stands had emptied and the team had showered and left the locker room, the coach noticed that this young man was sitting quietly in the corner all alone The coach came to him and said,"Kid, I can't believe it. You were fantastic! Tell me what got into you? How did you do it?"
He looked at the coach, with tears in his eyes, and said, "Well, you knew my dad died, but did you know that my dad was blind?" The young man swallowed hard and forced a smile, "Dad came to all my games, but today was the first time he could see me play, and I wanted to show him I could do it!"
Like the athlete's father, God is always there cheering for us. He's always reminding us to go on. He's even offering us His hand for He knows what is best, and is willing to give us what we need and not simply what we want. God has never missed a single game. What a joy to know that life is meaningful if lived for the Highest. Live for HIM for He's watching us in the game of life!
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