Blood brothers

Last week we got our blood tested.

My brother and I had very different experiences with the drawing of blood.

When we got to the doctor's clinic, Owen and I were very nervous. I decided to watch my mom and dad give their blood so I would know what was going to happen to me.  When they started they tied an elastic band around my upper arm.  Then they stick the needle in your upper arm where your elbow is but on the inner part of your arm. It takes about 15-20 seconds. It felt a bit like a mosquito bite.

Owen came in and had a really hard time. I felt really bad for him.

I did not have a very hard time and as long as you stay calm you'll be fine. I am also very curious about my blood type.

I've got it all sewn up!

Yesterday I fell off my bike, in Proctor Park, a large conservation area behind my grandma’s house. When I came down a large hill, it was really muddy so I got off my bike and started to walk my bike. When I saw a path just off to the side, I got back on my bike and after about 20 seconds I went over a large stick (smaller than a log, but big enough). I’m pretty sure I didn’t flip over the handle bars, I think I just tipped over. I put my hands down to stop my fall, and my left hand was all of a sudden

As close as I'll get to the pool for 1 week

bleeding. I had a gash the width of my palm.

I left my bike and ran to my grandma’s house. She rinsed all the blood off my hand and pulled a little pebble out. She drove me home and my mom put hydrogen peroxide on my cut. Then we could see how bad the cut was. My mom ran and got my dad. He decided I needed to go to the hospital to get stiches.

When we go to the hospital I was in shock and the triage nurse wanted to see me before some other people who were waiting. She gave me a Band-Aid, took my blood pressure, my weight and then I had to wait for another nurse to see me. It stopped bleeding while I was waiting. Then I got called into the ER section. This was a lot faster than when I needed stiches for my chin. Then I waited seven hours to be seen, this time was only 20-30 minutes!

 The nurse practitioner who saw me, told me I might just need glue, but later on she decided it was too wide a cut and needed stiches. To get my stiches they put freezing into my hand, they did that with three needles. You can imagine how big the cut was to have 3 needles just to freeze my palm. After a half hour, to let the freezing to over and to help another patient, she sewed my hand with blue stitches. She had to tie five knots with tweezers. I couldn’t even feel the stiches go in, until the last one which hurt a lot!

I’m glad this didn’t happen in Grenada because I don’t know what the hospitals are like in Grenada. I think they would have good doctors and nurses, but the hospitals might not be like Canada.

Aiden June 2014

Rain, Rain Go Away

This week it was rained a lot. It was crazy there was thunder and lightening. It rained so much that our pool was on the brink of overflowing!

In Grenada there is a rainy a season that runs from June until December. I am nervous because whenever it rains or there is a lot of wind it might be a hurricane. Ten years there was a horrible hurricane that damaged 90% of homes in Grenada. It also destroyed a 17th century jail where the convicts escaped. I do not want that to happen again.

I hope that they have rebuilt. I know there economy is struggling and that is part of why my mom is going to help.

It is just a little poke

Cuso is making us get vaccinated for a bunch of diseases that you are higher risk for than in Canada. They do this because they don’t want us to get sick when we are in Grenada. Vaccines are a good way to not get a disease because they are like an anti-virus that protects your body.

On Tuesday June 3^rd we got our needle for TwinRX. The needle did not hurt one bit, it felt like a mosquito bite. I thought it would not hurt at all- and it didn’t. If you are nervous don’t be it will be fine.

We got our needle at our family doctors office (hint: don’t look when they put the needle in).  We need 6 more + 1 coming back.

I will be happy when the needles are over because it’s not fun waiting in the waiting room. That is the worst part. In the nurse’s office ask if you can have a Band-Aid after you get the needle. Happily none of us were bleeding after it was over, so we didn't really need a Band-Aid. The nurses /doctors are very nice so you have nothing to be afraid of.

I hope this helps and you are no longer afraid of getting your needle just remember to bring a stuffy (if you think you need one). Don’t look. The worst part is waiting and remember none of us ended up bleeding.

Kiteboarding from Brighton's parks to the Caribbean Sea

Today my dad, Owen and I practiced using a kiteboarding training kite. We started off by going to Presque ‘ile but we were not allowed to fly the kite until June 10^th. They do not want the kites scaring the nesting birds. So Owen suggested going to King Edward Park, where we were able to practice with the kite.

Once my dad has learned to use the practice kite, he will buy an inflatable trail edge kite. That kite allows you to go in the water because it does not sink. You use the real kite in conjunction with the kite board. We were only using a two meter practice kite, the real kite will be up to seventeen meters square.

In Grenada dad will learn to kiteboard, using the trade winds. They are called trade winds because they were used by old sailing (and pirate) ships to move trade around the world (or plunder). It is very gusty in Grenada so daddy should learn quickly and painfully (if he goes flying into the ocean). When we get back, we hope that dad can teach us.