Saturday, April 11, 2015

The Journey ****CSI Case File #161****Dusty Attic

Hello,today I am here to share with you a LO, I did playing with CSI # 161.I decided to do a LO on my middle son,who was in a tragic snowmoble accident Jan 11th,2014,leaving him with a Traumatic Brain Injury.

From the case File I used,the colors,circles,wet medium,stripes,stars,metal & something that flies.
Dusty Attic is one of the sponsors for CSI this month. 
http://csicolorstoriesinspiration.ning.com/forum/topics/case-file-no-161-case-closes-on-april-23-2015
The Dusty Attic used:
Barb Wire Frames
Barb Wire Frames
Cogs 1
cogs
Chains  4pc
 chains
Tangled Barb Wire small
Tangled Barb Wire
Spark Plugs
Spark Plugs
Number Grid Small
number grid small
mini Calendar months #2
mini calendar months
Pipework mini
mini pipeworks
Stars #3
Stars#3
Pointer tags
Pointer Tags
Word Pack #3
Word Pack #3
mini ABC set upper
mini ABC set Upper
mini NUMBER set
mini Number set
Teeny Tiny ABC set
Teeny Tiny ABC set
You can now buy Dusty Attic directly from Dusty Attic, & for the month of April you will get Free Shipping...http://dustyatticblog.blogspot.com.au/
The Maja Design used:
Nyhavn-P
King's square bs
Kings Square-BS
Veteran ships bs
Veteran Ship-BS
Sitting at the dock
Sitting at the dock
I really did a little over embellishing, on this LO,but I could not help it as,I was thinking of the accident & brain injury,so I had layers & layers of thoughts, going through my head, as I worked on this LO......





For the red used on the chipboard ,I  used my wall paint,for the red,plus I applied a coat of clear crackle varnish.
I used LuminArt' (Jasper Red)H20 over the crackle on the chipboard. The red was still a bit to bright,so I toned with wintermist gray H20,once the red had dried. I used this on all the chipboard in these LO's....I also inked the edges of the chipboard using a ink pad..I used distressed brushed pewter stain,paint & crackle on the rest of the chipboard.


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On January 11th 2014,Erlendur & his best friend Andrew,left our home about 3 in the afternoon,to go  snowmobiling & ice fishing. At some point of the day the 2 boys separated, as DD took off with another friend, to go snowmobiling, instead of ice fishing. The weather was cold that day,but clear,however it changed as the boys were heading home,or back out to the lake. The wind came up & was causing white out conditions.they did not see each other, as they met up, causing a head on collision. Andrew passed away, at the scene of the accident. Andrew was  travelling with other snowmobilers,that were a couple minutes behind, so they arrived at the scene of the accident, within minutes.They did not see DD at first,but they did call in for emg. & it was one of the paramedics that found DD. I remember every part of that crazy night. I was woken up,with the RCMP at my door & of course the 5 barking dogs,the hospital calling in,with my phone beeping with another call coming in, at the same time,as my youngest son found out about the accident via facebook.This was all happening at the same time. I took off to the hospital,was not allowed to see DD,as the emg team were stabilizing,to send him into the City via air ambulance. I went home to pack,as I was going with DD  to the City,on the Air Ambulance. It amazing me, that I even thought of getting a hold of Heather Jacob,so that she could let every one know, that I would be missing out of action. Once we arrived in the City,(my youngest son was waiting for us at the hospital),the air ambulance,said to me in front of Tandri,"You better call in the Family,as this is looking very grave".Tandri broke down,thinking he was never going to see his brother again. I told him that DD was still here with us,& has not yet seen the neuro surgeon,& it will take some time as they will need to do blood work,CT scans,MRI ect. So I sent him home, to sleep for awhile,shower & then come back.Erlendur was taken to ICU,were he remained for just about 3 weeks,with 24 hour care. He was diagnosed,with a Traumatic Brain injury.When I sat down with the Neuro Surgeon, & as he explained to me the extent of DD's Brain injury, he also told me that I needed to take this on day by day,as every thing could look OK,but can also become worse. One of the concerns, was Brain swelling,which DD did not get.After the 3 weeks,of ICU,watching the slow progress,DD was moved to the Trauma Ward.DD was only there for about a week,then transferred to a Brain Rehab Facility. We were so relieved & happy,to see him get accepted into the rehab,as they only have 10 patients,& it could take months to get in. DD was now on fast track. The program is a 3 month program. It involves speech therapy,occupational therapy & physiotherapy. DD being a self motivated person,was progressing really well, so well that we both started to get bored with it,& started talking about going home.It took me a few days, to be able to ask the doctor, if we could get a early release & I would become DD's care giver. We got it,YES!!! DD was released on Feb 28th,& his release date was Mid to the end of April.Once we got home,in our place of comfort,DD even had better progress. DD wrote next about all the changes he made for Brain injury recovery.....  

January 11th 2014 Andrew and I meet up and go out
sledding for the day, we end up at the lake, where we join in, on the ice fishing . Later on I leave with my buddy sledding again, Andrew remains at the lake, later on in the evening I  start my journey home or so I thought I would do…head on collision with Andrew, Andrew passes away on impact, I am rushed to the hospital where the doctors are able to get me to keep breathing, and off to Health Science Center via air ambulance, spend about weeks in health science center then shipped to Riverview to get medical assistance while in recovery 3 months go by before I am released to my mothers care , where the process of personal recovery begins, at the beginning I would rest all the time. then i go into a class called occupational therapy to learn how to perform daily functions, writing, problem solving , and mental acuity.  As the months past I got speech therapy via tele health to learn how to speak in sentences, read and write. We took a rest over the Christmas break to see if the time off would allow me to recuperate, which it did. I also did my own types of recovery, I put my self on a strict diet, researching all the foods that cause brain fog and eliminated them from my meals. I eliminated all fast food, desserts, and gluten. I went as carb free as I could and reduced my sugar intake to the minimal amount possible. I took all the vitamins that my doctors recommended and also with a little research added a few more. Vegetarian omega 3,ageloc vitality, folic acid, b2, b3, b6, b12, d3, k, magnesium, biotin, ginkgo biloba, vitamin c, c extra, align digestive care, and Norwegian kelp. I brought up my water intake from a glass a day to 10 glasses a day. I began exercising, at the beginning I was going for roughly an hour, a few months in and I was doing weights for an hour and cardio for an hour. I also walk lots to calm me down, and helped with my cardio warm-up. I went on my phone and downloaded any game that claimed to help with the brain and would play them for roughly an hour a day. Elevate, lumosity, peak, memorado, and trivia crack helped immensely. I started reading books, off the start my summaries would be about few words but as time went on and my reading improved I could remember the details I thought were most important and use some of their tips to help me out in my recovery. Eventually I found psychology books about the brain and started reading them to have better understanding in the topics I was going through. i left the tv to take a break. I stayed as busy as possible, having a positive attitude and believing after watching videos on everything I decided to tackle I could do I went to it, i believe all my previous work helped drastically in my ability to complete all the tasks i took on. luckily I have a really understanding mother because I have made plenty of mistakes for all the tasks I have accomplished…

DD has taken on many tasks,in the last year, of living at home. He has helped me out with the garden,we painted the inside of the house,he recovered the kitchen chairs,ect. He is even finding his creative side,by painting canvas's. DD is now in the process, of going back to work,onto the next step of his journey. Erlendur,is a true Miracle, & I can not imagine him, not being with us today.

Thank you so much for taking the time to look.....Rachelle

6 comments:

  1. Rachelle, I am so sorry you, your son, and family have had to go through all this. I know first hand how you feel as my daughter had a traumatic, freak accident when she was 9 and they weren't sure if she was going to make it. She is now 27 and is now a nurse and understands trauma first hand. She is also determined and strong like your son. Life is never the same after something like this, but it does make one appreciate each other more and how life is precious. Your layout is stunning and I can see all the love that went into it. It is so therapeutic to create isn't it. Best wishes to you and your son. Thanks for sharing your story. It helps to heal. Hugs xo

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  2. It's an absolutely beautiful layout. I love all the layers - they blend together so well. Your story made me cry and I'm sorry that your family had to go through such hard times. You are very lucky to have such a determined son. Wishing you and your family the very best of wishes. xx

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  3. Such an inspiring result for such a terrible and tragic accident, your son is an amazing young man! Your layout is a beautiful tribute.

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  4. Amazing layout of jaw dropping complexity!!! Amazing story from both mother and son. Totally inspirational!! My best wishes to you and your family, such courage in the face of great adversity!!!!

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  5. At first I was in awe of your layout...the layers and details..but then to read this story... I am in awe of you and your son. To overcome so much. Many dark days I am sure but to know you are rising from beneath...... XOXO!!!!!!!!! Truly remarkable.

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  6. I'm so sorry you and your family went through all this. Your son's determination to get better is amazing and inspiring.

    What a beautiful tribute page. I have always looked at your work and thought wow, I just cant believe how great this is!

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