Faith the Dog's Official Web Site | Hope and Love on Two Legs and Oct. 2011 Update

Faith'>http://faiththedog.info/">Faith the Dog's Official Web Site  Hope and Love on Two Legs

Hi all,
Check out this website for Faith, a dog who is living without his two front legs. What an inspiration and miracle! 
(http://faiththedog.info) I first saw Faith this week on an episode of Oprah's Lifeclass on OWN. I'm an admitted self-help junkie but this show is for everyone. I am loving it. You can watch it on OWN or online at www.oprah.com or on Facebook but it is some the best television out there and I've learned some real things that I use each time I watch it. I tape it on the DVR so I can watch it when I have time.

Speaking of miracle dogs, Nick's service dog, Charger, is back home with us now. Thank you to Jenny Barlos and the staff at Assistance Dogs of America (www.adai.orghttp://www.adai.org">www.adai.org>) who helped us this summer with Charger to lost weight so he can be certified to work with Nick. We are obsessed now with making sure he's active every day. Unfortunately, our other two dogs, who we love to death, are older and LAZY. They'll run one lap with Charger around the yard (they're not big dogs like him!) and they quit, while Charger's just warming up. We love having him back and missed him. He's amazing and he and Nick are bonded tightly!

Life has been, well, like it is for most people, good, bad, frustrating lately. A mixture of all things.
The kids are busy with school. Nick is half way through his first semester of college and doing well and Isabella is loving 6th grade. She's in student council and loves that, playing Saxophone, joining Pep band, and taking dance. Greg is busy helping Nick, the usual things, and he's working on some special projects at work right now which he's really liking for a change. He and Nick are loving Fantasy football, going to games, etc. I've been working on healing my feet still (STILL.....such a slow process and tests my patience) and taking care of things at home and with the kids. I am wanting to go back to work once we get things settled with Nick and get him his van so he can get himself to and from school and we have someone to help him with personal care things at school.

We were told about three weeks ago that there is another delay with getting Nick's van at the State of Ohio level (RSC, the Rehabilitation Services Commission, or state vocational rehabilitation agency). Basically, the short version is that we were told there is a delay getting the funding for the modifications for Nick's van (we are buying him a brand new van and the State agreed to pay for the modifications, about $24, 000.oo). We think that is a lot of money and are glad they are willing to help so we knew going in we'd have alot of paperwork and waiting and we'd have to jump through the usual bureaucratic hoops one does when asking for services. We were told that we could "complain or appeal" about the additional possible SIX MONTH delay but if we do, that will just delay the process even further. That is what we were told. So, of course, we don't want it delayed even further as it is putting Nick and us in a real "hold" ourselves and a bind, so we can't "complain" or appeal this. We think this is terrible, and words I can't or shouldn't use in this blog. We're so angry/upset at this and the fact that there is literally no accountability or good customer service at these agencies at the state level in our opinion. Basically, it's made known, if you want help and want services, this is just what you have to put up with. Forget  what it does to your life while you wait, they don't care at all. So, needless to say, it's frustrating. We're trying just go keep going and do what we have to do each day to get Nick to school and help him. He should be in school right now and this is the right thing for us to do and we'll do what we can to make that happen for him. At some point, now that he's an adult, he should be able to access the services that adults with disabilities can access. The reason he's eligible or these services at all (besides we pay taxes like everyone else) is that he has a disability and wants to, intends to work and contribute to society. He plans to and is getting a college degree so he can work. He just needs some extra things due to his disability to make that possible, such as a van with a lift so he can get his power wheelchair to and from school and eventually to and from a job. So, we applied for services and are waiting. If we can get help with $24000 worth of modifications he needs for the van lift, etc., we'll do what we have to do to get it for him so he can go to college, work, get to and from places he wants to/needs to go.

Nick just got over being sick. He was pretty sick for a couple of weeks. We also just got him fitted for a sports wheelchair, a quad-rugby chair, made for wheelchair court sports like football, basketball, quad rugby. Nick is still practicing with the Toledo Crash football team at The Ability Center of Greater Toledo. We're just waiting on a quote for the chair. Insurance won't pay for this chair, but we feel he needs it to participate in sports and is worth it. We were laughing about the fact we may need a shed just to keep his "wheels". He'll have his sports chair, his power wheelchair, his regular manual wheelchair, his Segway, his walker, and his Paralympic hand-peddled bike! That's quite a collection! Then he'll have a brand new van with a lift. This should give people an idea of the expenses people with disabilities have to participate in the world. I have to add of course all of the hearing aids and supplies for that which insurance does NOT cover, because it is not medically necessary to hear of course;) Sometimes I just want to educate people, not to complain, but so they are aware of the stresses that families have. These are things most people don't talk about because we don't  talk about money and who wants to think about it all the time? (not us!) But, it's just the reality.

We are really needing some family time alone so we are going to Florida for the holiday break. Nick and Bella only get 2 weeks at Christmas (Nick get a month and Bella gets 2 weeks) and the summer off together now. Their spring breaks are at totally different times. So, family time is limited to those times for vacations and Nick can't take extreme heat in summer, so that limits where we can go if we go on vacation in the summer. We're going to spend Christmas in Clearwater on the beach (even if it's cold, we love the beach!) and plan to go see the dolphin from the movie Dolphin Tale at the aquarium there. Then we're going to Orlando for New Years and plan to check out the Harry Potter theme park, Seaworld, and Disney Epcott (and maybe one other park). We've been to all the Disney Parks and Universal Studios four times now so we wanted to go the parks we haven't been to at all or much. We love Disney and Universal and will never be too old for it. We're always just happy when we're there! We're really looking forward to it.

Isabella is going to be a "Cowgirl" for Halloween tomorrow. We've had a great three day weekend together. Nick doesn't have Friday classes this semester, Bella had Friday off of school (not sure why-a planned day) and Greg took Friday off. We saw the movie 50/50 with our parents this weekend and loved it! We watched some scary movies and carved pumpkins. We're so glad the kids still love to spend time with us and as a family. We NEED it. When things get crazy, we just crave time together to remind ourselves that "everything is OKAY!" We hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween!

One final thing....thank you to the people who read this blog and send us encouraging messages. We really love and appreciate the comments, e-mails, etc. :)))))

Blessings:)

Amy