Jacob's Song Pick of the Day (9/18/2015): "Nintendo" by Todd Carey

Not all great songs have deep lyrics to them. Sometimes a great song is just one that makes you want to tap your toes and dance in your seat or to get up and dance like no one's watching. Today's song pick is one of those songs, "Nintendo" by Todd Carey. Have a listen and see why I picked this as my song of the day:

It's a catchy little song, don't you think? I've been singing or humming it quite a bit. This song makes me feel like a kid again. You're asking how I can "feel like a kid again" when I am still just a kid. Well, I've missed a large chunk of my childhood spending most of the last 3 years in hospital. I've learned things that kids shouldn't have to know, but do because it's a part of the reality. I've learned about some cool things, like what the lab does with your blood sample, how DNA can be extracted from a strawberry, and how a pill-cam works (you swallow a blinking "pill" and it continually shoots images for up to 8 or so hours and then comes out still blinking). I've also learned some pretty uncool things like TPN (total parenteral nutrition delivered through IV) will blow the smaller veins quickly, that medications can have horrible side effects, and that being hospitalized on holidays is the worst. I guess you could say that this song just lets me clear my head of all of this and escape for a few minutes at least. 

Talking about escape, have you heard how gaming (like on Nintendo systems) can help kids? There was a great article written in MacLean's Magazine on the healing power of games. Check it out here. Games can help us in so many different ways. One of my favorite games is Minecraft. I can completely get absorbed for hours playing this simple game of building that can become as complicated as you want it to be. I've been known to build some outhouses and blow them up with some good ol' TNT. My way of taking pleasure of blowing up my poopy disease. Minecraft is one of the few things that I have left in common with the rest of the kids. When I am feeling frustrated with my disease and all that goes with it, I play some Super Smash Bros on the WiiU and imagine my character fighting back to overcome the challenges in my way. 

Jacob's Healing Rooms will make gaming one of the tools used to help distract kids from their disease and treatment. Each child passing through the doors will have a tablet available to allow them to play their favorite app, or to connect with other children in the hospital or in children's hospitals across Canada using the UPopulis program (a social media type program for hospitalized and outpatient children). This is just one of the important upgrades that I want to make so that other children have a supportive environment that encourages healing. Please help make my wish come true.