25th Anniversary Gala in Calgary Oct 27th- 2 stories

Hello again my friends...

It was a lot of work getting ready for the Gala in Calgary but we got there and back safe and sound. We managed to leave early enough to miss the freezing rain Calgary and arrived late enough to miss the snow storm that hit Peace River. What a great feeling that was. 

Well, for now here are a couple of stories that I would like to share with you.( I will add some pictures in a bit, as soon as I have them loaded onto my computer.)

 AT THE GALA

Claudette and I had the honor to share a table with

1. Bonnie Garbish and her son Darren (liver recipient from Medicine Hat)

2. Dave Smith (Kidney recipient from Edmonton and President of the CTA)

3.  Orest Saskiw,( heart recipient from Saskatchewan)

4. Lisa Horchower and Mark Woll (Lisa is in need of a double lung transplant and wrote a little of her story for me.

These are just 6 of the 13 individuals that were able to attend this event due to being sponsored by Claudette Lambert.

This is an Email from, Bonnie Garbish about her son’s liver transplant.  Bonnie and her son were 2 of the approximately 112 individuals that attended the CTA – (Canadian Transplant Associations) 25^th Anniversary Gala in Calgary.

From: bonniejean67@hotmail.com

To: stranaghan2@gmail.com

Subject: a little about Darren

Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2012 00:15:51 -0700

Hello Maria, 

     I really enjoyed the gala, and I think Darren did also.

   Darren work up 1 morning and complained of sore eyes, upon looking at him they were yellow. This was the end of Dec 2009.

Bonnie and Darren’s Story.

Liver recipient - Darren at the CTA 25th Anniversary in Calgary

(Bonnie is a single mom from Medicine Hat and is trying to save up money to be able to travel to Peace River for the Parade of banners and Longest Banner attempt)

Upon a 6 hour stay in children’s emergency in Winnipeg, Manitoba I was told my son was jaundice and had hepatitis. I was baffled I didn’t know much about hepatitis, only that sex and needles were 2 major causes and Darren was only 7 1/2.

 We saw a doctor and were told they didn’t know what was wrong. In Feb. of 2010 the did a biopsy of Darren’s liver and after 5 hours in the operating room they told me his liver was gritty and full of scar tissue and didn’t know why.  They sent us to sick kids in Toronto in July, as by that time Darren was yellow from head to toe. We would joke he was my banana.  They put a stent in his bile ducts and told me my son had p.s.c (primary sclerosing cholangitis). I looked it up and started to cry... You will look it up and see why.  In Aug. we lost our liver doctor and things fell apart at home. I relocated to bow island Alberta and became a single parent with a sick child. End of Aug. 2010 Darren was admitted into Medicine Hat hospital as we had a very bloated tummy and was in pain. They couldn’t do much there except fly us to Alberta children’s in Calgary.  Upon examination it was discovered that the stent was plugged and had to be removed. He had developed acities and a drainage tube was inserted in the tummy area. We stayed in Calgary for a couple of weeks and got to go home end of Sept.  The first week of Oct. bang back in again with more medical issues. We travelled between Calgary and Medicine Hat until the middle of Dec. then we were home for a while. in Jan of 2011 we went to Edmonton for a pre transplant assessment. Darren was not too bad at this time. They didn’t want to list him, but Dr. Jason yap went to bat for us and by Jan. 20 we were on the list.  End of Feb 2011 back in hospital again this time would be the longest stay ever. He had developed varcies and was in terrible pain, the tummy was swelling again with fluid.  He went downhill fast. Darren’s b-day is may6th his wish was for a new liver and bang may 16 just 10 days after his birthday day we went into surgery in Edmonton. During his 12 hour surgery, there were problems. 4 hours into the surgery i got a call from the surgeon he wanted to see me. I knew they were not done and was scared. He told me they had Darren open on the operating table and they found a tumor growing throughout the liver and around his main portal duct. From an 80% chance of survival we were down to around 35 %. He wanted to know what I wanted to do.  My tears fell and my body said STOP, but I couldn’t do that we had a liver and needed it now... I prayed so hard. 12 hours later I saw my son in picture and knew he would be ok.  I found out he died on the operating table and came back, I know he is very strong. We have a few medical issues still, like alcetive colitis it comes with the liver disease he had. There is still a piece of tumor around the portal duct as they could not remove it all. His psc could come back, but I believe he will be ok in the end and he now wants to be a nurse.  I love him with all my heart.

This is the story that Lisa typed into my notes program on my phone. Lisa and Mark sat at our table....

When I first walked into the hall and I first saw Lisa, I thought what a beautiful young woman, and I wondered why she was on oxygen....what could be wrong with her lungs, how long has she been on oxygen, etc.

Then when we were all asked to sit at our tables for supper, Lisa and Mark came to sit with us.

As we sat there, even with the noise due to the excitement of the evening, I could hear the machine pumping oxygen into her lungs. After supper I asked Lisa to tell me her story and as she spoke, as the oxygen continued to pump into her lungs, all I could think of was , she will die without a transplant, her son will be without a mother! All of this made me so sad and I had to fight to hold back my tears.

Lisa's Story

Lisa Horchower and Mark Woll - 11 year old son, Joshua.

Lisa had a rare condition of Idiopathic Pulmonary Hypertension. A condition that causes the arteries in the lungs to scar closed, which also cause enlargement of the right side of the heart, a disease that can be life threatening with no cure.

A double lung transplant is the only solution when medication can no longer provide help to the patient.

I was diagnosed in October of 2009 with Idiopathic Pulmonary Hypertension. Since them, my life changed forever. I've been placed on very expensive life saving drugs since then. I have yet to be placed on the lung transplant list. At this point to be placed on the list, you must have less than two years of life. Organ donation awareness is imperative for those many people who die waiting for a life saving organ

Well my friends ...

All I can say is that, like so many others, my heart and prayers go out to those waiting for a transplants.

My heart and prayers also goes out to those families that will suffer a loss and have to make the decision to donate or not to donate. 

God bless and take care.

Maria

Why gold fabric paint on edges of the banners??

 Hello and good afternoon my freinds,

I'm hoping that this message will reach those that have already done banners.

Our banners are
green for the cause of organ & tissue donation

The reason that we are asking for the edges to be painted is to prevent the fraying of the fabric.

The reason for the gold edges (with fabric paint) on your banners is because, we would like for the World's Longest Banner to have a unified look.

Another reason for the GOLD edges

Now ---- some of you may think that this is corny, but

I was raised with this saying that –

A child is worth it's wieght in gold.

Therefore reason for the gold is that

the Gift of Life is worth its weight in gold

(Ya, I know – it’s corny!)

But what do you expect from a country bumpkin. lol

 NOW ---

For those of you that have already done banners and those banners have been handed in to me.

An Example of

Some of the banners that have been completed and handed in, Banners,

• That have been handed in by Jennifer. that were done at special events in Edmonton.
• Those banners that have been done at the National Games and/or were handed in at the games.

I want you to know that I am painting the edges/border with gold fabric paint and I will sew those banners together.

Thank you again for all your help and I apologize for all the confusion that this has caused.

p.s.

The reason that I had to make the change in the instructions i.e. gold paint for edges instead of glue.

This is due to the fact that using glue clogs the sewing machines.

This is a lesson that I had to learn the hard way, after the glue ended up causeing damage to one of my sewing machines.


Thank you again for your patience and understanding.

And, please make sure to paint the edges of your banners gold.

Take care - God bless - and have a great day.

Maria

Lots of editing and cutting - but almost ready

Good evening everyone,

Well my friends...it's finally all coming together and we are almost ready to meet with our town council on the 22.

And we are also almost ready to attend the 25th anniversary Gala in Calgary for the CTA .

Saying Thanks

- having these documents done so that we can be ready for these events, would not be possible, if it wasn't for all the help that our volunteer editor has been giving me. 

This lady has asked me to keep her name confidencial and I must tell you that she has her hands full with other projects that are on the go.

But I would like to say that

Man oh man - has she ever done a lot of work! - What can I say, but thank you so much - you are a life saver and I'm truly greatful for all you are doing to help this cause.
I have to also say that, I'd be lost, if it wasn't for all the help and support that I've been getting from another very wonderful lady and I'm proud to say that she is a great friend of mine (Claudette)

So now, most of the documents are done and there are 80 sections of banner material ready to bring to the Gala on the 27th...Woot, woot!

There is still a report about donaton in rural communities to do and still work to be done on a sponsorship page. But I think that we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

At this point, I am now sending infromation to the schools so that we can get going on the baner challenge and it will be nice to see which school gets to dye my hair green before Christmas. (this should be fun!)

Well it's almost time for bed so I'd better get going for now.

Take care - God bless and have a great night.

Maria

Memorial Benches for Gift of Life Path

Hi again,

Well my dear friends, it's been an eventful day again and I'm thankful to have more information to share with you.

I have worked on a map with information about the memorial benches.

If you would like to view these benches you can check out the web site for the Town of Peace River.
 
Now since I don't know how to transfer a word document into my blog - I will now just cut and paste some of the information that I put on to the map. :-) and I will add it to this message.

God bless and have a great day.

Maria

Gift of Life Path and

Arboretum Project, Peace River, AB.

By the flowing waters of the Mighty Peace River

Gift of Life 2.5 kilometers of walking path in Peace River

(Along this path, benches are to be dedicated – in memory etc.)

To sponsor a memorial bench along this segment of the walking path in Peace River AB,

Please NOTE

Bench cost is $2, 22.85

Delivery of bench takes 10 to 14 weeks

The Gift of Life Project –

Ø A living tribute to and for the cause organ & tissue donation.

Ø This is being created in thanks giving for those that make donation come to fruition and in memory of loved ones.

 For - MEMORIAL BENCHES

Along the Gift OF LIFE path

For more information go to Town of Peace River Web-Site (www.peaceriver.net)

Or contact Town of Peace River Community Services Department (1-780-624-1000)

Ask for Brian Wollis Recreation Facilities Coordinator Community Services Peace River

View benches at Web Site, Community Services Memorial Bench Sponsorship Program

View information about benches, sponsorship, plaques & application Form.

Banner material sent to Ontario Gala

Hello again my friends,

Well how quickly things can change.

Yesterday I was a bit down because I really couldn't afford to mail out the banner material for the CTA's 25th anniversary Gala in Ontario.

But when I informed (CTA member) Sandra of this, she sent me a quick email stating that they would help by paying for shipping. What a relief that was.

Then last night, I remembered the girl from the post office saying that part of the cost was due to the size of the package.

Therefore this morning I decided to take that sucker apart and I squished it down as much as possible and then I did the Red Green thing and duct taped that baby tight!

Now the package is in the mail and there will be banner material available for the guests that are attending the Gala.

And guess what?

All that squishing worked....and instead of costing $45.00 to send the package, it only cost $32.70. ----

Geeeee this old dog, can learn new tricks :-)

God bless, take care and have a great day.

Maria

A very special place - for me

Good morning my friends,

I've been at my computer since 2:30 this morning and I've been working on this diagram to show the area  for the Gift of Life path and Gift of Life Arboretum in Peace River.

Now, since I don't have a clue on how to post this from my word program, I took a picture of it on my computer and I'm posting it this way.

I know again that, this is a hillbilly way to do things but -

"Ya do. what's ya got ta do."

God bless, take care and have a great day.

Maria

p.s. - I just found out that, if you click on the picture it will give you a close up.



A Pledge to my Community

Responding to a Call for Action – A Three-in-One Challenge & Pledge

By Maria Stranaghan

Dare to Dream Challenge:

1.    I will distribute 1 kilometer of banner material to local and regional schools wishing to participate in the Parade of Banners & the Guinness World Book attempt for the longest banner in the world.

2.    The school that in PR that has the most* banners made before Christmas break will be able to dye my hair green for Christmas. (My hair will stay green until the Parade of Banners on May 5^th 2013) – Green for the cause of Organ & Tissue Donation

The dye is waiting & I'm ready to go !!

a.    (*The winner will be determined by the ratio of banners for number of students and staff in the school)

3.    . For Love and Marrow Challenge (for the Community of Peace River AB)

a.    To have, by May 5, 2013, 365 community members sign up with Canadian Blood Services as bone marrow donors.

b.    If our community meets this challenge – someone in the community can shave my head for the cause and then autograph it (with signatures or messages, such as “Peace River Rocks!)

4.    Banner challenge participants  may also autograph my head at this time:

a.    The school, team, community members for the Parade of Banners, that provide the most banners, come the furthest distance and

b.      The team and/or individual from outside of our community, with the most banners from his or her province etc. This individual or team will also take home the first hand-painted banner which I made for the NOTDAW Dare to Dream launch.

 On A Personal Note-

Recently I was asked this this question – “Are you CRAZY?!”

My response is, “Sometimes getting crazy is what it takes to bring about a positive change, I don’t expect others to get crazy with me, but they are welcome to do so.”

During the Christmas season in 1992 - I made a promise to my eldest daughter Tasha that I would help to educate on the subject of organ and tissue donation. After her death in 1993, I made a vow to myself and to God, that I would do everything in my power to fulfill that wish.

The Love and Marrow Challenge grew from having both a family member and a family friend that suffer from Leukemia

Important Note –

No one else is expected to dye their hair green and or shave their head, but I will surely appreciate the support of everyone else while I do these things in order to draw attention to the need for organ and tissue donation in our country.

Maria Stranaghan

Donor Mom, 1993

Box 6091 Peace River AB

T8S 1S1

Phone 780- 624 4337

Email stranaghan2@gmail.com

For more information:

World’s Longest Banner for Organ & Tissue Donation on Face book,

World’s Longest Banner, my story on BlogSpot

 Twitter at longestbanner20 –

www.worldslongestbanner.org  – (will be up and running asap).

Invitation and Vision

Invitation

Please join us for the - PARADE of BANNERS

On May 5^th, 2013

In Peace River AB, Riverfront Park

The Vision:    

Canadians working together to set a Guinness World Record for the Longest Banner in the World, 2013, by joining together 1 metre Banner Sections made by individuals and groups across the country to promote Organ and Tissue Donation.

1.    Teams from schools or groups and individuals are invited to wear colors and carry flags representing their community, region and/or province.

2. The Banner Sections made for this event will start being added to those made by the community of Peace River etc. by volunteer sewers.

3.    The procession begins and teams and individuals will walk, carrying the length of the  Banner, on the 2.5 Gift of Life Path,  to the Gift of Life Arboretum

4. As the Banner Parade progresses, we will then continue to add and sew banners together for the parade until all the banners have been attached.

5.    At Gift of Life Arboretum the Banner Sections will be counted and stacked accordion style. This is for proper documentation and to show proof needed by the Guinness organization.

6.    After the event, teams will take their Banner Sections back home to promote Organ and Tissue donation in their community and province.

Went to mail out 50 pieces today - but couldn’t

Well me dear friends

Yesterday, I spent the better part of the day - pre-cutting material to send out to the 25th Anniversary Gala for the CTA in Ontario - but this is the message that I had to send in its place.....

Things have been very chaotic for me over the past couple of weeks but yesterday I managed to get the material cut (50 pieces) etc. and I went to mail it out for you.

But, after I arrived at the mail with my package in hand, they informed me that it would cost me $45.00 to send it, this being said, I made the decision to keep the material.

I would like other to know that, I'm using the sale of the banners to raise money for the Gift of Life Arboretum; I'm also paying for this project out of our personal account. But because mailing material is so costly have to let others know that this is beyond my means.

This is an unfortunate message for me to relay but, therefore, due to financial constraints I am unable to mail out material for those that wish to participate in this effort.

Hopefully, no one will take offence when this is mentioned. And hopefully they will still want to participate and with them many others will want to join us in this quest.

The message is that I'm trying to convey is that, I do want people to participate -

1. It would be great if another community in Canada would like to meet or beat our challenge of doing the 1 kilometre that we are doing in our community.
2. This project is to help Canada set a Guinness World Record for Longest Banner in the World. This banner is to be made with the largest collection of banners that have been joined together by Canadians for the cause of organ & Tissue donation.

 Hopefully the information that I'm sending to you, about the WLB attempt, will help those that wish to participate in this project.

Please find five attachments included in this message.

Again I apologize for any and all inconvenience this may have caused.

 

Well my friends I must say that I hope this doesn't discourage others from participating and I hope they understand where I'm coming from.

God bless, take care and have a great day.

Maria

Banner material - pictures - Getting Ready for 2 Galas

Hello my friends,

It's been a busy few days, my grandson Max turned three on Wednesday and I have been working with my volunteer editor from BC (this lady has asked me to her name keep confidential).

We now have completed a few things for the web page etc and the presentation that I will be doing for my town council on the 22. (I will share this with you as it is completed.)

Today I need to pre-cut and catalog 50 pieces of banner material for the Gala that is to be held in Ontario.

At this point, I'm still doing this and working on my own, the for cutting the material has been a bit labor intensive, but I now have it down pat. 

Here are the steps that I'm using to get a Kilometer of material done in my community.

I just took these pictures for you this morning. (I hope this information will help those that want to meet or beat my challenge to do 1 Kilometer )

The first step I took was to design a pattern and then I ordered a kilometer of pre-cut material (Then geeeezzz -as you can see the material was cut in different widths - because of this I now have to make changes to the pattern size and instructions)

At this point I'm beginning to wonder "What else can go wrong?" and I'm beginning to feel more then a little foolish because the instructions have all ready been posted in the National News Letter for the CTA!

Then I think - "Oh well, we just have to keep trucking!" After this I speak with my head volunteer and good friend Claudette and she suggests that we take e excess material and make quilts for the needy....(O.K. this makes me feel better and now we move on.)





This isn't the order that I posted this

but this darn program has a mind of it's own..

But, I'm not going to fight with it anymore -

I know that you will get the gist of things...-



# 2
I cut holes in a box to make rolling out of fabric easier.

 


# 3

So that I could have an accurate measurement

I went to one of our local glass shops and

had a temp plate made from Plexiglas

 






#7
a rotary blade helps to speed things along.

  





# 8

After temp plate is on I take my rotary blade and

cut my material to the proper measurement.

 




#6

A top view of my production line - a line of one :-)

As you can see I have a hillbilly set up

But it works for me

 



#5

I then set my cutting mat down and

place the material on the edges that I have taped on the mat 





#4

I set up my table and then

stick a broom handle inside the role of fabric





# 1 -
Kilometer of material ordered



#9
I set my temp plate down on the material and
I am now ready to cut my material to the right length





#10 - a
I cut the left side

 


#10 - b
I then cut the right side
Since I am taking the pictures myself I had to take the picture in this manner -
 what I do normally is start from the bottom and work my way up.



# 11 - b




#12

I place the pattern on top of my pre-cut material and

mark the stitching lines



#11 -a

I made a pattern to be able to mark accurate stitching lines

This pattern is made out of construction paper.

.

 


.

#13

I place the pattern down to mark the stitching edges.



# 17
Some of my materials - paints brushes-temp plate etc.



Now for step #2

The material has been cut and the stitchings edges are marked.

(I did this with a felt marker and as usual I find out

 that if I don't move quickly that the paint bleeds and darn it -

I did it again!!)



.

#14

After marking the stitching edges

I start documentation of the banner material 

This is the World's Longest Banner - piece # 455

I write this number in the book 

After this it is ready for distribution. 



# 15

These are some of the paints that I use for the edges of the banner to prevent fraying of the fabric.

I sometimes use gold fabric paint or

I will use an acrylic paint that has been premixed with a medium

this transforms the acrylic paint into a fabric paint.



# 16
I now paint the edges with gold paint

 



# 13
This are cutting instructions
This picture is for those of you that are working on smaller pieces of material

   

Well my friends - I have been at this since 6:30 a.m. when I kissed my husband goodbye this morning as he set of for work.

So now that I have completed this task - I will start cutting material for the up and coming 25th anniversary Gala's in Calgary and Ontario.

Ontario would like to have 50 pieces of pre-cut material sent out asap

Therefore I better get my butt off this computer and get it in gear for cutting material.

I'll  need to have the material ready to mail out today, so that it will be ready on time for thier Gala.

Hopefully - Since mailing out material can get pretty costly for me - things will take a turn for the better soon and we'll have some brave souls that will take on this challenge and order their own material.

God bless - Take care and have a great day.

Maria