Scott's Blog

Hello all,

It's Kirsty posting this time. We have not posted for quite awhile, mostly because there was nothing new to report, but we've had a pretty exciting week, so I wanted to share it with you.

On Wednesday, October 21st, Scott was asked to participate in Military Appreciation Night at the Kingston Frontenacs game (our OHL team). Maj. Chris Catry called and explained that Don Cherry would also be participating in the evening, and that the Frontenacs would be wearing 'special' jerseys which they are auctioning off for 'Soldier On', a program to assist injured soldiers. Watch for Don on Coach's Corner tonight as he will be promoting the jerseys - they're really quite unique!

We were also pleased to meet Sgt. Andrew MacLean, a Search and Rescue Technician who founded 'Soldier On' and discussed some extracurricular activity options with Scott. We also had the pleasure of meeting MCpl. Jodi Mitic, a double amputee due to an accident in Afghanistan, who has experienced a lot of the same issues with modifying his home, and discussed peer support with Scott. It was VERY nice to meet these gentlemen.

At the game, Scott was at centre ice with the 'red carpet party' and then our family got to sit in the DND VIP box, where Don Cherry came up to meet the troops. Tanner, Kobe and Rhys were just thrilled and I thought the whole experience was amazing (thanks for organizing Chris!). We were also thrilled to see so many familiar, friendly faces in the stands and Kobe and Rhys' hockey teams both surprised us by attending the game as well. Thank you ALL for your support - it was a GREAT evening. I think Scott was overwhelmed, but very grateful for the experience.

We are also pleased to report that we are moving forward with our home renovations. The military denied our request to add on to our house. We have appealed this decision, but are told the appeal process can take from 1 1/2 - 2 years, so we are paying to add on to our home, and the military will pay to 'modify' our home, which will include things like lifts, an elevator, environmental controls, etc. So, we are not happy to have to fund this on our own, but are thrilled to be moving forward. We will move onto the base during the renovation, with Scott still coming home on weekends, then will move home as a complete family once the renovations are complete.

As for the van, we were disappointed in mid-September when we were expecting to receive our van, only to learn that it had not even been started. The windows were on back order in California, so we are now looking at mid to late-November before it arrives. The van will offer a whole new freedom for Scott as the Kingston Access Bus is very difficult to book on evenings and weekends, which is mostly when we want to use it. Scott has yet to watch any of the boys' hockey games this year, but I call every day to try to get him to any home games. I'm sure our luck will change soon and he'll be able to get out to a few games.

I am in my busy season at work (Fall and Spring are extremely busy for me), so I've been working some weekend events. Scott is still coming home every weekend, so with his folks back in BC now, we have been utilizing respite care for me to attend my events and get to some of the boys' home hockey games/practices. I wanted to say a HUGE thank to all the people (too many to list, but I cannot thank you enough!) who have helped me run the boys to/from hockey, birthday parties, running errands, etc. There is no way we could maintain our schedule without help and I just wanted to say a very heartfelt thank you for all your help!

I know our parents are all struggling with being away, but Mom & Dad Hamilton and Milne, please rest assure that our Kingston family and all our other friends have been amazing and very helpful. We are EXTREMELY busy - with the boys hockey/volleyball schedules, our first unscheduled day is December 24th, so even with help, life is busy - but everyone is busy these days!

One more note of good news is that Scott's health has been relatively good these days. He had to return to KGH to have a new feeding tube put in as the first one was not inserted far enough, but that went well. Besides still suffering extreme spasms, he is doing very well

Thank you all so much. Hopefully we will have more good news to post shortly.

Take care all!

Kirsty
and the rest of Team Milne!