Golden Friends

"Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same" - Flavia Weedn

Strangers are just people you haven't had the opportunity to meet yet. Myself, I believe that strangers can quickly become friends and friends can quickly become family. I've had the amazing opportunity to meet a lot of strangers through my fundraising, Scouting, and being on social media so often. What always does surprise me is the amount of kindness that I've been shown by so many strangers who have quickly become like family to me. Seeing the generosity that has been offered by so many people on my journey has lifted my spirits on difficult days and inspires me to keep going. 

Gold Reflections in the Bowmanville Mall has been an amazing supporter of my Jacob's Healing Rooms Project. Marilyn, Karen and Ken Easby, the owners of the store, heard of my struggles with Crohn's Disease and plans to make the treatment process better, and jumped at the opportunity to support my charity work to make child-friendly IV treatment rooms at Sick Kids Hospital. The Easby family went to various local businesses and organizations to seek donations for promotional draw items that they could give away as prizes. All of the fabulous staff at the store encouraged customers to get involved in supporting my fundraising efforts. They were able to gather enough donations to host multiple weekly draws from Gold Reflection's 30th Anniversary celebrations in November to Valentine's Day.

In total, Gold Reflections was able to raise $5797 for Jacob's Healing Rooms! This goes a long way to helping to improve the treatment experience for so many kids at Sick Kids. The draws were the perfect example of how a local business can bring the community together to help create a positive change. 

But Gold Reflections wouldn't have been able to pull this event off without the help and support of the many local businesses who generously donated prizes. I'd like to give a shout out of thanks to: 

Kelsey's Restaurant - Bowmanville

Shauna Duff of the Bowmanville Mall

Rotary Club Bowmanville

Dr Doreland at the Oshawa Animal Hospital

GEM Lab.

Rhonda Miller & Ron Baldwin

NEBS FunWorld

Enesco Canada

East Side Mario's Bowmanville

Staples Bowmanville

Hair House (Bowmanville Mall)

Top Choice Nail Salon

Dioro

Nygard - Bowmanville

CJB Insurance

Canadian Tire

Cineplex Theatre Oshawa

Cineplex Theatre Bowmanville

Shoppers Drug Mart Bowmanville Mall

GoodLife Fitness - Bowmanville Mall

And of course, none of any of that would have been possible without the kindness of the people who made donations as they picked up their draw tickets. Thank you SO MUCH to those who got involved in supporting my special project. 

Even my words of thanks are not enough to say how overwhelmingly grateful I am for all the hard work everyone put in to make this event such a success. Thank you Gold Reflections and welcome to Jacob's Squad. Together we're going to make a huge difference!

A Million Thank Yous from the Heart

Family. Friends. Community. These things are on my mind as I sit down on my 13th Birthday to write what I hope to be is one awesome thank you letter. These three words are so important. Your
community is your home base, they're all the people who you haven't met yet but are just waiting to become friends. They're like the space around an atom, they're there but they're invisible until you go looking for them. Then you have Friends, who are like the electrons surrounding the nucleus. They help to bring energy and support the nucleus, consistently there even though they might move around a lot. Then you have family, which is like the nucleus. It's tightly compacted, full of possibilities and serves as the heart of the atom. My nucleus, my family, grew huge over the weekend!

This weekend I hosted Jacob's Birthday Bonanza, my drop-in birthday fundraiser for Jacob's Healing Rooms to redo the outpatient treatment rooms (4C) at Sick Kids Hospital. It was a huge success but only because of family, friends and community. Without the help of a lot of people, most of whom were strangers to me, Jacob's Birthday Bonanza would not have been the success that it was. I owe a lot of thank yous. It's this outpouring of generosity that inspires me to keep going, to keep trying to make Jacob's Healing Rooms become a reality, to keep dreaming of changes I can make to help this world be a kinder and more welcoming place. 

To Mayor John Henry, MPP Granville Anderson, and Councillor Willie Woo, thank you all so much for taking the time to come out and take part in my birthday. It means so much to me, and I was happy to be able to share my special day with you all. I can't imagine too many other 13 year old have the honor of saying that they celebrated the day with their local politicians!





To the amazing Durham Regional Police Services - THANK YOU! Your
attendance made me feel pretty extra special on my special day. I don't know too many other 13 year olds who have a whole bunch of officers show up at their birthday parties. It was so overwhelming that you all would take the time out to come and support Jacob's Healing Rooms. I look forward to my tour!


To Pepper the Clown and Bob the Magician - What an amazing surprise for you
both to donate your time to help keep my guests and I entertained. And
entertained you did! Not only are you guys fantastic at what you do, but you're also incredibly warm and generous people. I felt so incredibly lucky to have you both at my party!




To Boston Pizza Oshawa - Wow. Your support of making Jacob's Healing Rooms come true is absolutely amazing. Thank you for going so much above and beyond what anyone could possibly hope for. The pizza donations were a huge hit with everyone (we were only left with 1 slice!), and I love the idea of selling the kids club meal cards with $1 going back to Jacob's Healing Rooms! I can't wait for our Celebrity Serve Night!

To Jack Astors (Whitby) - Incredible. Every now and then you run into extremely special people that

really make a difference. Thank you so much for jumping on board to support Jacob's Healing Rooms from the moment you heard about my project. The outpouring of love from your staff has been so overwhelmingly amazing. The huge tray of cookies was so very thoughtful and yummy! I look forward to working with all of you around the Jacob's Healing Rooms server shirts - I have some ideas! 

To the Whitby Curling Club, thank you for donating the space for a discounted rental price! We were able to transform upstairs into a fun-filled party room quite nicely. Your support of Jacob's Healing Rooms has meant a lot to us! 

To Karen, Marilyn and Ken Easby from Gold Reflections (Bowmanville Mall), thank you for your never ending support. From running around with my mom to ask for donations, to making sure we had everything we need and helping with the set-up, donation table, our special surprises and clean-up, you guys were there to help us out. 

To Jen Doolan, Doug Hamilton, Doug Izard and Robyn Minnikin - Thank you for helping in the set-up and clean-up, and arranging things for us during the party to help avoid crises. It was hugely appreciated! 

To Trisina at Skippy Cakes (Hamilton) - Your cake is a work of art. Not sure if I or my mom told you,
but when I was younger I used to re-read the Lorax all the time, it's one of my Dr. Seuss favorites. Thanks for being so awesome, driving all the way from Hamilton just to come out for my special day. And helping to clean-up afterwards, even though we mostly chatted rather than worked! 

To Jen of Jennifer Rue's Photography, thank you for taking such beautiful pictures of my guests and I.  You have a special talent with that camera. Thanks for being a part of my day. I can't wait for our next photoshoot! 

To Andrea Kirkwood-Look, Emiko Balazik, and Alison Smith (Ali Katz Cookies) - Thank you so much for providing such yummy snacks. Our bellies much appreciated them! 

To all the companies and individuals who donated such amazing prizes - Mandy Rusk, Clare Izard, East Side Mario's Whitby, Party City Whitby, Bev Bradbury, Buffalo Wild Wings Oshawa, Wild Wings Whitby, Melanie Pringles, Putting Edge Whitby, Boston Pizza Oshawa, Billie Jax's Whitby, Mastermind Oshawa, Scholar's Choice Oshawa, Edible Arrangements Whitby, Swiss Chalet North Oshawa - Thank you for being part of my special day. Without the generosity of people like you, it would be so much more difficult to make my dream into a reality. 

To those special people who took the time to come and hang out with me, thank you for making my day so very special. We may have started out as strangers, but you are all now my family. I couldn't be luckier to have such an amazing and supportive team of people cheering me on. I will always treasure the memories that we created. 

Jacob's Birthday Bonanza has raised $3674.65 so far thanks to the kindness that everyone has shown to me. Thanks for sharing in the best birthday I could have asked for! And Thank you for joining my family. 

A HUGE Thank You to the Ladies of Leaside Curling Club

Kindness. Generosity. Philanthropy. Charity. These are words that matter, words that will make our world a better, more gentle place for everyone. The wonderful, amazing Ladies at Leaside Curling Club have all of these characteristics, and then some.

I was honoured to once again be chosen by these ladies to have Jacob's Healing Rooms be the recipient of their annual end-of-the-season charity golf banquet. Jacob's Healing Rooms is my vision to create a more child-friendly place at Sick Kids Hospital for short-stay treatments, such as regular IV medication infusions. This is my dream and how I want to be remembered, as the person who did something positive to change other people's lives. It may be my dream, but it takes a whole village to make my dreams into a reality. I've heard a lot about how the curling community as a whole loves to help out special causes, and I've been so fortunate enough to experience this with not only Leaside Curling Club, but also the Whitby Curling Club and Oshawa Curling Club too! The response from the curling

community has been so overwhelming, but in a good way!











Our event was held on May 31 at the gorgeous Thornhill Golf and Country Club. The first thing that I immediately noticed was that a lot of the ladies and the staff were wearing my Jacob's Healing Rooms t-shirts! It was so touching to have people believe in my cause so much that they were
wearing t-shirts to promote it. I was so thrilled to be able to speak to the ladies about how Jacob's Healing Rooms will help children to heal and life as a child with a chronic disease. I hope that I was able to inspire at least one other person to go and make their own positive change in this world.

Thank you ladies for once again showing me what kindness can do. Together we raised just over $5000, which will go a LONG way towards making my dreams come true. We still have a bit to go, but you all have reminded me that if you can dream it, you can make it happen with a lot of work.




You can read more about my Jacob's Healing Rooms plans by clicking HERE.

Mental Health and Me

Today is #BellLetsTalk day, a day to become more aware of the mental health issues people live with every day and how we as a society can make it better. In honor of today, I'm going to post about a very difficult time that I struggled through which is still very difficult for me to talk about.

I am a survivor. At the age of 7-8, I felt like I wanted to die. A person close to me in my life in a position of trust who was supposed to love and care for me, didn't. Every time I did something wrong, I'd be left wondering "What's wrong with me? What more can I do to make them happy?". I began to see, or at least really believed, that I was to blame. I felt like there was something unlovable about me and I felt worthless. I felt like I had nothing of value to say or to contribute. I couldn't make a choice because I'd have to stop and analyze the "consequences" of each choice, whether it could possibly get me into any more trouble. I began to feel so paralyzed by wanting to make others happy and avoiding making any mistakes so that things wouldn't get any worse. I felt that if I were "perfect" that I could make others love me and that by being perfect it was the only way that people would ever possibly even like me. I was lonely, miserable and felt that if I wasn't here on Earth it wouldn't even matter.

It's been a long road back. The problem with mental health "problems" is that they're often complicated to treat and recovery takes time. There's no magic pill out there that's going to make me forget what it felt like to go through this. Reaching out to others, finding "spirit lifters" and focusing on getting to know who I am again have been the biggest key factors in my recovery. Despite the bullying at school that I continued to experience for a year or so after this, I slowly started to see that I had a choice to make: I could either let this experience define me negatively and either give up or turn into a bully myself, or I could use the experience as an example of what not to be. I figure I have a long life ahead of me, so I chose the positive choice.

Since this time, I've also been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Yes, even a child can have PTSD. I can't handle negative confrontations really well without having a flashback. So sometimes when I'm playing multi-player online games and someone starts saying something bad to me, it can trigger the memories. I still feel this need to make my work perfect, but I'm also learning that mistakes are also learning experiences. And, most importantly, I no longer wake up dreading being alive each day. I know that I matter, I make a difference. I know that I'm here for a purpose; to be a change maker.

What would I say to another young person living with depression and thinking about death as an escape? Hold on and don't give up. Right now might be a really dark time, but even though you can't see it there is hope out there. There are kind people out there that are just waiting to meet you. Even when you feel that there is absolutely no one, it's not true; I care. I want you here on Earth because you can make a difference in someone else's life, you can share your story of survival.

The Curling Community and Me

I'll be the first to admit it proudly; I'm brains, not brawn. Not that I'll never be brawn or anything, it's just that 3 years of being extremely sick have led me away from sports. If I can't walk across a field without feeling like my heart is going to explode, I'm pretty sure most sports are going to be crossed off the list...for now.

Something strange has happened though. Something wonderfully, delightfully strange and awesome has happened.

Sports has touched my life in another very unexpected way. It all started because my grandfather, an ice-maker for a curling club likes to brag and tell stories about me. First he told everyone he met how, when I was out of medical options for healing my colon, I donated it to research. Then he would carry on the story of how I've crossed the line into the Operating Rooms 15 times in 3.5 years. He talks about how I'm out of options to treat my severe Crohns disease. My experiences have left him way too many stories to tell.

But the story he shares the most often is how I decided to make a difference. How I decided to take my disease, and all the "crappy" things that go with it (no pun intended!), to change the experience for other kids. It's the story of Jacob's Healing Rooms.



The curling community has given amazing support to Jacob's Healing Rooms. Last June, the Ladies Division of the Leaside Curling Club hosted their annual golf tournament in honour of Jacob's Healing Rooms. They raised a shocking $3600 which was a really great start to getting the project off and running. This was also the start of my public-speaking, and I remember being so worried about what other people would think, or how they would react when they saw me with my NG feeding tube hanging out of my nose. The ladies made me feel at home, and I was able to share with them the importance of an encouraging, supportive environment on healing.

Next, it was time for the Whitby Curling Club to get involved, and through their collections was able to collect $625. I was super-excited to be able to deliver my first "freestyle" speech after forgetting my prepared speech at home. I loved being able to share my experiences so openly with the members, to build some awareness of what kids like me go through. After-all, we could be the next generation of curlers.

Last, but certainly not least, the members of the Oshawa Curling Club, plastered my article around the club and had a donations jar that members were reminded frequently was "available for your spare change". All of this "spare change" together, added up to $711 which was presented to me for my birthday in December! The thing I like most about "spare change" is what it represents; spare change to create positive change. I was able to talk to the members of the Oshawa club this past week all about change and how if we don't do anything, change won't happen. Such an important message that we all can learn from.

The curling community has done so much to help me out, and I can't begin to express what it means to me. As I said, I'm not a curler. I understand the sport but have never played. But what I can tell you from my experiences so far, is that curlers are full of heart. They are full of compassion and acceptance. They have forever earned a spot in my heart.

From Bullying to Friendship: A Story of Positive Change

Confession Time: I used to hate school. I'd wake up in the morning dreading going to school for the day. It wasn't the work, I love learning. It was bullying that started to make me dread leaving the house. I'd go to school and try to "walk away", "ignore", and all the other things adults tell us that we should do. I'd start each day telling myself that I could be strong, that I could get through it, but 10 minutes into the day, I'd already be feeling broken-down, lonely and sad. I talked to the teachers about it, but it didn't change anything. I'd still be made fun of, I'd still have tears forming in my eyes, I'd still feel really hurt inside. Each comment was attacking who I was, making me feel like I was wrong for just being me, for just being alive. And then my medical problems started. Soon, instead of just being made fun of because of my learning disability, or my giftedness, I was being made fun of because of the extreme weight gain from the steroids. It was difficult being called names, told that I look like a "fat lady", or have nasty comments about my weight and animal sounds being made. Here I was with a brand-new diagnosis that I'll live with for life, something completely out of my control, and being picked on because of it. I'd come home and cry, and the cycle would continue each day.

But then something happened...

Starting in grade 5, my classmates started to understand that I was really VERY sick and they would write me little notes sometimes to let me know they were thinking of me. I started to have a lot more absences until in grade 6 when I basically missed most of the year. I thought for sure my classmates would forget about me since I wasn't there. My teachers have done a really good job at making sure this didn't happen. In fact, now when I go to school I have so many people saying hi to me at once that it's overwhelming. In a good way. I no longer dread going to school, my classmates have become amazing supporters on my journey. They are eager to learn about my medical condition and the medical appliances I have (ostomy, GTube, sometimes a heart monitor), and love hearing what I've been up to when I've been too sick to go to school.

Today something amazing happened. Aside from the fact that I went to school I mean. Today, my teacher handed me a special folder of cards, drawings, activity booklets and messages that my friends have put together as special encouragement for me. As I sat at home looking through all the material, I had tears in my eyes. The good kind of tears that I'm not used to - Happy tears. On a day that I'm struggling just to be out of bed, this made my day so much better. It was such a simple thing that they might not even know made such a huge difference to me, but it did. It made a world of difference to feel remembered, included and important. The only thing I dread now are the days that I can't go to school to be with them all in person.

With a Little Help From My Friends

Friendship. I have the most amazing friends who go way above and beyond with their kindness and generosity. My classmates for example have become such huge supporters, something that I didn't think would ever happen with my history of being bullied at school. I used to dread going to school each and every day, even though I love learning. Now I just can't wait to get back to school.

My classmates have been following my journey on my blog since I haven't been to school to tell anyone what's been going on. I love being able to share what my experience of being a child with an incurable illness is like. I think that it helps both of us; my classmates learn about the challenges people with disabilities face and I get encouragement from them to continue my long fight.

One of my school friends, Sadie, asked if she could do a special fundraiser this Christmas for Jacob's Healing Rooms. Sadie is a very talented, kind-hearted, 12 year old who I'm lucky enough to call a friend. Sadie decided to put her amazing artistic talents to work to create absolutely stunning Christmas cards that she put a lot of time and effort into making. And then something else great happened.

Sadie's Star

Sadie's Snowman

Sadie's Heart (My Favourite)

Two of Sadie's friends, Nicholas and James, decided that they would also like to help Sadie raise money for Jacob's Healing Rooms. This is such an awesome example of how one kind act can lead to another. Sadie, Nicholas and James are perfect examples of what I hope to do with Jacob's Healing Rooms on a larger scale - to inspire others to do their own acts of kindness. I'd love to create a giant "snowball of kindness".

Together, Sadie, James and Nicholas raised $320!! I want to say a giant thank you to them and everyone who purchased cards from them. This type of generosity is what is making Jacob's Healing Rooms such a success. Never stop with that giving spirit guys, kindness conquers all!

My Best Birthday Gift

Last week was such a busy week for me with all of the medical appointments that I'm just getting caught up on all of the wonderful birthday messages and love that was shown to me that day! It meant so much to have people all over the world show such thoughtfulness. I'd like to share one special act of kindness that was presented to me on my birthday weekend.

My Papa used to work at The Oshawa Curling Club and made many friendships with people there over the years. When my story made the newspaper, a few of the members of the club had seen it, and reached out to find out how they could help make my wish come true. A few members decided to take it upon themselves to bring attention to Jacob's Healing Rooms. My newspaper story was posted in a few areas of the club, and a big collection jar was placed at the bar. It was such an amazingly nice thing for them to do!

I haven't been able to have a birthday party in 3 years. My grade 5 birthday I had pneumonia and could barely blow out candles let alone host a party. My grade 6 birthday was when the nausea and vomiting started to be a huge problem. This birthday I was recovering from surgery #14 to place a GTube feeding tube, which we have learned I am allergic to and it will need to be replaced on January 7. It was a bummer that I couldn't have an actual birthday party yet again, but I decided to do something awesome with it and see if I could host "Jacob's Online Birthday Bonanza to Benefit Sick Kids". Why not turn a bad situation into something a bit better?

Hearing that it was my birthday, they decided it was the perfect time to give me their awesome present. Together, the Oshawa Curling Club members raised an amazing $711!! My birthday wish goal amount was to see Jacob's Healing Rooms reach $8000, and thanks to the outstanding generosity of the members, I was able to reach my goal, which was the best birthday present I could have asked for!

Thank you for everything that you all have done. This dream of mine can only come true with the kindness and generosity of others. I know that together we will be able to bring some smiles to these kids faces and make treatment days brighter! I can't wait until I can come and thank you all in person next month!

Happy Birthday Jacob!

Dear Jacob,

Twelve years ago, I received the best possible early Christmas present, a wonderful son. I remember holding this tiny, perfect little person in my arms, and thinking that I could stare at him for hours. I had so many wishes of what I wanted for your life, but most of all I just wanted you to have all the happiness in the world, and I still have that wish.

As a parent it's supposed to be my job to make it all better. I'm supposed to be able to help fix it all. I struggle everyday to accept that your health is something that I can't make go away instantly. It hurts a lot to not be able to do something to make it better. And as much as I wish I had a "pause" button just so that you could have a break of this rollercoaster, but I haven't really found one of those in the stores.

This year has been both the best and worst of our lives. I see you struggle with your health every day, yet somehow you find the courage and strength to keep moving forward. I know that at times you don't feel like you have this inner strength, but it's clear to everyone who meets you that you do. I have seen you take the worst possible situations and work to create something beautiful out of the experiences. I've seen you shed tears of pain and frustration and as a parent, I wish that I could make it better. I wish that I could just snap my fingers and we'd both wake from this nightmare.

I also see the worries in your eyes as we search for answers to try to get answers to help you feel better. I've had so many of these worries in the past twelve years. The day you had your first seizure, 6 days before your 3rd birthday, and went unresponsive in my arms for 6 hours, it was the most helpless I had ever felt up until that point in my life. I was terrified that I was going to lose you before our life together really even began. But then you were diagnosed with Crohn's Disease and having heart problems as well, and suddenly that first seizure was nothing compared to what you've been through over the past 3 years. Life can just be so cruel at times, especially with all the holidays lately that you've had to spend at the hospital or in bed. I really wish that you could just be a "kid" again.

Despite all of the challenges that you've already faced over the 12 years, you've turned into this absolutely, hands-down amazing person. I always new that you were special, from the moment you started talking and walking, there was just something clearly different about you. I know that when I'm talking about you that I tend to start to get tears, and you always ask "Mom, why are you crying?" but I'm just so proud and amazed by you that I can't help it. The moment you turned to the surgeon and asked him to donate you colon to research to find a cure, it was clear to me that you were going to have a huge impact on a lot of people.

Then you created something unimaginable. You came up with another completely selfless gift, you wanted to make the Medical Short Stay Treatment Rooms at the hospital child-friendly, so that other kids would have a supportive environment that encouraged healing. But Jacob's healing rooms is about so much more than just the rooms themselves; you are inspiring others to make positive changes, you are showing others that one person can make a difference (even young people!), and you are giving others hope.  I am so incredibly proud of the young man you have become.

I am honored that I get to call you my son. I feel like the luckiest mom in the world to have a son like you. Always stay true to who you are because who you are is an amazing person to be. I wish you the happiest of birthdays my son.

The Kindness of New Friends

Yesterday was just ... awesomesauce! Yes, it's an official word added to the dictionary last year, so I get to use it! I was invited to speak to the wonderful group of people at the Whitby Curling Club about Jacob's Healing Rooms and my love of the anti-bullying movement, ByStander Revolution. Considering that I forgot my prepared speech at home, I think it all went pretty well. I met some very nice and funny people who loved talking to me about all of my experiences (and science of course!). I even made them laugh, tear up, and smile!

The Whitby Curling Club's Book Club Ladies Division, The Monday & Thursday Day Ladies and the Senior Men had seen my newspaper article about Jacob's Healing Rooms and wanted to do something spectacular to help see my wish come true. Together they raised a total of $625.25 to be donated! This kind of generosity leaves me speechless. I love how so many people are coming together to get behind my special project. And I got to talk about all the special things that are close to my heart like Crohn's disease and Anti-Bullying.

I am so lucky to have so many caring and generous people coming into my life. It's people like this that give me the strength to get through my rough days. They restore my faith in people and remind me that there are great people out there just waiting to help someone out.

So a HUGE thank you to the members of the Whitby Curling Club. You all have done something amazing to help out myself and other sick kids. Can't wait to see you all again!

Jacob's Song of the Day (11/21/2015): "The Rainbow Connection" by Kermit the Frog

Today's song is for all the dreamers out there. Never give up your dreams no matter how far away they might feel or the challenges that you face along the way. Today's song is "The Rainbow Connection" by Kermit the Frog. Have a listen and read why I chose this song today:

I'm a dreamer. I'm a wisher. I'm a thinker, planner and full of hopeful ideas. In this way, I'm a lot like Kermit. I also love rainbows, and still think that there's something so magical about the splitting of light into the many colors streaking across the sky. When I think of a rainbow connection, I cannot help but think of the "magical" connections that I've had the opportunity to make so far in my life. Those connections that have happened on the spur of a moment, but came to mean so much more to me than can be explained. Every time someone shares their kind words of support with me, it motivates me even more to keep going and helps me through the difficult bad days. Complete strangers have become these little fireflies giving me hope and strength. They're magical.

Dreamers and a dose of magic are needed to change the world for the better. Jacob's Healing Rooms is a fantastic dream of mine. It's my wish that other kids can have an encouraging environment when they go to get their treatments at the hospital. When I first started my dream felt so huge that I wasn't sure that it would ever take off. It was really hard to get people to take notice of me, the little kid with the big dream. But I stuck with it, and I'm so glad that I did. I've made awesome connections like with #MyGivingMoment, the ByStander Revolution movement, the Dancing Man, Krista (#TheCheerleaders) from the Amazing Race, Chris from The New Electric, my Houston Texans cheerleading squad... It's been an overwhelming outpouring of support which I couldn't be more grateful for! Thanks to EVERYONE who has supported me so far with my dream. I'm going to reach that end of the rainbow soon and Jacob's Healing Rooms will be that pot of gold!

And as for my fundraising update: I set a goal to hit a total of $6000 raised for Jacob's Healing Rooms for Giving Tuesday. I'm now only $350 away! It's such an awesome day!

*To DONATE to JACOB'S HEALING ROOMS click HERE*

A Thank You to a Special Friend

Every now and then some kind stranger comes into your life and their actions leave you feeling completely stunned, but in a good way. I'm lucky enough to be able to say that I've had this happen quite often lately for me. I'd like to tell you about one of these special people: Colitis Ninja (@ColitisNinja on Twitter). Colitis Ninja does a lot of awareness work in the IBD Community, through blogging her experiences, sharing support on Twitter, and creating fabulous IBD Ninja items. One of the wonderful things about Colitis Ninja is her positivity. Living with a chronic disease is difficult, but staying positive in light of the many challenges that come our way, can at times seem like way too big a job. Through humor and positivity Colitis Ninja shares what she's gone through over the years. You should definitely check out her webpage at: www.colitisninja.com

I want to thank Colitis Ninja for being so thoughtful in sending me a fantastic get-better shirt:

The shirt says "I'm a Crohn's Ninja" and here I am doing my best ninja posing. I love my awesome shirt! I'm proud to be a Crohn's Ninja but I'm prouder to be able to call Colitis Ninja my friend. Thanks for being awesome! 

Jacob's Song of the Day (10/18/2015): "Hey Mama" by Kanye West

Today's song pick was inspired by the ByStander Revolution's #MonthofAction challenge to call out someone who's always been there for me. I've picked the song "Hey Mama" by Kanye West. I might not always agree with Kanye's actions, but when it comes to this song, I think he's right on the money. Have a listen and read my tribute to a special person in my life:

It must be hard to be a parent to a child who has complex medical problems. My mother does so much for me and is there for me every step of the way. She's a single mom who has given up everything for me. She used to work as a Child and Family Social Worker but now she's taken on so many other roles instead. When I've been admitted to the hospital for months at a time, and she's right there at my bedside 24/7. She's gotten over her fears and learned how to inject me with medicine, how to do bandage changes, and how to work IV machines. Even after the 300+ blood tests, needles and IV starts, I'm still "cautious" around needles. My mom is there to shield my eyes and to help me to concentrate on my breathing while the nurse digs around for my missing veins. Since I can only attend school for 1.5hrs each day, my mom has taken on the role of teacher. I think we are teaching one another since I often end up teaching her, especially math and science. My mom is my medical coordinator. I have 9 specialists involved in my medical care. With that many people involved, it's important that one knows what the others are doing and changes they're thinking of making. For example, if psychiatry were to change my ADHD medication, it could have a direct impact on what's going on with my heart. My mom is the one who sits for hours e-mailing doctors with updates, keeping the school informed as to my progress, and memorizing every single detail of my medical care. Having pretty much an appointment a week when I'm not in hospital and at times having long admissions to the hospital, my mom cannot work. But yet she always makes sure that us kids get what we need, and then gives us a few "extras". My mother is in the league of parent superheroes.

Did you know that hospital treatment rooms have an impact on parents too? My mom has often told me that walking into one of the treatment rooms feels like a heavy weight has been placed on her. Having me bored to tears in the room doesn't help her day to go any easier. She's already worried about me and whether the treatments are going to work, that helping me with my boredom and trying to distract me from what's going on, makes so much extra work for her. Jacob's Healing Rooms is about more than just helping sick kids have a healing place to receive treatment. It's also going to help the parents of these kids too. It can help to take the pressure and anxiety off of the day. I know that when I'm smiling, it makes my mom smile too. Please help me help bring smiles to sick kids, so that I can bring a smile to their parents' faces too.

*To make a DONATION to JACOB'S HEALING ROOMS please click HERE*

Jacob's Song of the Day (10/17/2015): "I Can't Feel My Face" by The Weeknd

Today's song pick is inspired by something amazing that happened in a Tim Horton's donut shop yesterday. The song is "I Can't Feel My Face When I'm With You" by The Weeknd. Have a listen and read why this is my song pick today:

Even though The Weeknd is singing about love, to me this song has a bit of a different meaning, after all I'm too young to know about that type of love. To me, this song is about being so over-the-top happy that your face goes completely numb from all of the smiling. This happened to me yesterday at a Tim Horton's.

It started simple enough. After my family had ordered, I decided that I did want something after all and went to stand in line. The server gave me my change, and then something incredible happened. I donated my change to the charity box at the register, then went back to join my family. As we were leaving, the server came up to me with a gift card from another customer who had been touched by my simple act of kindness. You might think that this is the end of the story but it's not. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm always trying to think of ways to help others. That's why I'm blogging in the first place - to be able to help other sick kids on their treatment days.

This simple act of kindness inside a Tim Horton's has inspired me to pay it forward even more. Next week I will be going into Toronto for surgery #13. I've decided to make this stranger's amazing kindness even bigger; I'm going to give away my gift card to a person in need. It's a change the world with kindness type of thing!

*To DONATE to help make my wish to help other sick children come true, please click HERE*

Jacob's Song of the Day (10/16/2015): "Life's What you Make it" by The New Electric

Today's song was chosen because of the amazing message it shares with the world. The song is "Life's What you Make It" by The New Electric. Have a listen and read why I chose this song today:

"Gotta aim high because life's what you make it". This is one of the basic things that living with a serious chronic and incurable illness has taught me. It would be so easy to throw my hands up in the air in defeat and go a bit off the deep end. I really don't think anyone would blame me if I did considering the journey of the past 3 years that still continues. I could easily let negative emotions like anger and bitterness take over me. I could somedays see running though the streets shouting at the world as a real option. But I don't. Somehow I take all of that negative stuff and just toss (most of) it away. Why? Because life is what you make it. I don't have control over the course my Crohn's Disease will take in the future, or the fact that the medication doesn't seem to be working. I can't control the fact that I will still likely face multiple surgeries in the future to add to the 12 procedures I've already had. But I can control what I choose for my life. I decide whether I choose the positive or allow the negative to take over. When it comes down to it, we're given a choice; stand and fight or give up everything. And in the end I choose to fight because there is no other option.

I'm aiming high, I'm aiming to change the world! "It all comes down to Happiness!"

Today's Song of the Day (10/12/2015): "Thankful" by Kelly Clarkson

Happy Thanksgiving Canadian friends! In honor of Thanksgiving, my song pick of the day is "Thankful" by Kelly Clarkson. Have a listen and read what I'm thankful for this year:

It's been a difficult 3.5 years living with refractory Crohn's Disease, and it shows no sign of getting easier any time soon. But I look around at all the other kids who are at the hospital, and I'm thankful because things could be a lot worse. Yes, my medical options are VERY limited right now, but I know that research is being done so that this won't always be the case. I may not be able to physically do much right now, but at least I have the opportunity to do things. I know a lot of people look at what I've been through and say "he's got it bad" but there are so many other kids at the hospital that have it worse than me. I'm thankful that this disease has opened my eyes to see other people's suffering. If I hadn't developed Crohn's Disease I might never have learned first hand how under-supported this area of the hospital is compared to other areas. The Heart Centre has a cool "bubble wall" and an asteroid that holds special secrets. The treatment rooms in the cancer wards, my friends have told me, are amazing. But the Inflammatory Bowel Disease treatment rooms are greatly in need of an upgrade. I'm thankful that there are people out there, complete strangers, who take the time to see what Jacob's Healing Rooms is all about and support my wish to make sick children smile.

Most of all, I'm thankful for the support. Friends, family, strangers who have become friends, your support means the world to me. My journey with this disease has been far from easy. I've had so many disappointments and "hiccups" come along. At times I've wondered how I'd find the strength to keep going on. Then I read the messages of support and love. The kind words that people have taken the time to share which I save to read on the bad days, they mean so very much. Reading your words, sharing your stories of living with challenges, they help to bring brightness to my darkest days. I wish you all could know just how much your kindness has helped me. I'm forever thankful.