Up and Down

 A few days have gone by and so much happens in a short time in the life of Tina.  It's hard for me to keep up.

On the weekend, Jenn (Tina's niece/my daughter) and her daughter, Emma came to visit Tina.  They had some fun and did a manicure for Tina.

Looking good!  Even better than getting your nails is that last piece of pie from Larry Wilson.  In our Steele world, there is a saying, "Apple Pie without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze." Tina did it right!

On Saturday, Tina went to the Salvation Army to do some work.  The ramp was a little slippery but she didn’t fall.  

Yesterday, Tina had a special visitor.  Vicki Leeming was a childhood friend.  She spent lots of time around our house growing up.  Vicki is just one of those sweet people.  She brought a chicken dinner for Tina and  even brought a cherry pie.  I'm told that everything was delicious and I'm not surprised.

These two look just like when they were teenagers.  I found out that Vicki had just gone through a serious health issue and here she was visiting Tina and blessing them with a meal.  

Today, Shelley Taylor, a friend brought in a Swiss Chalet for the family.  

So many blessings!

How is Tina really doing?  Most days she is our rock.  She can laugh, joke, plan and keep us all going.  Let's think about how you would be doing.  We think of that often and ask questions.  Tina can't straighten out her hands any more.  She can still pick up things but has to be careful because her hands are weak.  Her shoulders are tight and she can't lift her arms up past her shoulders.  Tina can no longer get dressed by herself.  She has been looking for clothing options to help when people need to dress her.  The homecare worker showers Tina everyday and she loves getting her hair scrubbed.  It's hard to believe that this is what Tina is going through.

So, today was one of those down days.  Tina had tried to contact her doctor to get a prescription for the new meds.  Last week ALS Canada had told her that she should be able to get this medication through a clinic in her home town or via home nurse.  The receptionist wouldn't let Tina talk to the doctor and even told her that the meds probably wouldn't be offered to her.  It was frustrating to us to hear and I imagine even more to Tina.  Tina will talk to ALS Canada to try and get help with this.  We are thankful for ALS Canada who offers so much support.

So hearing that Tina was having a down day was hard but that is when we need to STEELE stand for her.  We will be the Fort around her.

Tomorrow is another day!  We are STEELE Standing and we are STEELE strong.

Praying!

Thanks Casey Distefano for following the blog and for being a good friend to Tina. 💕