Author: Hschichie

Hey! So here I am, bruised, battered, teary but smiling. Life has brought us a poop load of loss and this is how we get through it

Summer School

On By HschichieIn The Samantha Years2 Comments


Samantha finished summer school on Tuesday.


She has never attended summer school.

I have never been a summer school parent.

Unchartered territory…..

Summer school is a funny little animal because it’s summer and summer is the time when you shouldn’t be in school. The atmosphere is pretty laid back and protocol that happens during the school year just doesn’t happen during the summer….primarily because they don’t have the staffing.

In any other situation, these relaxed circumstances would drive me crazy…..nuts…

Relaxed atmosphere? We are many things in our household but relaxed is hard to come by. We are scheduled, timed, measured and monitored….but not relaxed.

Thank goodness….THANK GOODNESS…our lovely para from the school year, our fabulous Miss Linda volunteered to work summer school and be Samantha’s para.

I hugged her the first day and whispered in her ear “I’m so very glad you’re here for us.”

And meant it with every bone in my body…..down to my pinky-toe bone.

If Miss Linda is watching Samantha, all is good…..the world is right.

Because she loves Samantha and Lil’ Miss loves her right back.

And her cell phone is always in range….ready to take a call from a hysterical Samantha’s Mommy.

I think she needs a super hero cape……Miss Linda….Super Para!

I’m quite serious.

The last couple days she had a side-kick, her daughter Rachel; who loves Samantha just as much.

Once again, how lucky are we?

Here we are with some of Samantha’s buddies on the last day of summer school.


Samantha and the dynamic duo!

Miss you already Miss Linda! See you in August. Love, Samantha



Shhhhhhh!!! (By Samantha)

On By HschichieIn The Samantha Years5 Comments

Mama has gotten A LOT of great press lately. Monster Max, The Fisch Tank and Makenzie’s Miracle have all thanked and sang kudos to Mama for riding for the Children’s Hospital and their kids.


This is wonderful….

And thank you for your thank you’s…..

But I have to let you in on a little secret,

Just between you and me…..

Mama LOVES this time of year!!!!

Loves it, loves it, loves it.

When else does Mama get to take off for hours on end? To go on a bike ride?

Mama is also hungry ALL the time and has added Milano Cookies to her ‘training regime’. She has developed a nice tan and FABULOUS biker shorts tan line. She leaves Daddy and I to entertain ourselves for hours on end. Not a bad way to spend a summer, eh?

In regards to raising money for Children’s, the people who should be thanked is all of you for your generous donations and constant messages of support. Did you know because of you, Mama is in the top 40 this year for donations?

Top 40!

That and the lovely Channel 9 commercial have given Mama a big head. Any bigger and we’re going to have to get her a new bike helmet.

I’m not kidding, it’s like an orange on a toothpick*

So thank YOU…..and Mama too…. but really….so much to you… Mama’s out somewhere, with her bike eating gummy bears and working on her funky bike tan

Well that’s a huge noggin’ a virtual planetoid.

P.S.- Name the quoted movie and I’ll send you a subscription to GetBorn! First one wins 🙂

P.S.S- To move Mama even further up in the Courage Classic standing, you can make a donation here.

We will build our house

On By HschichieIn The Samantha Years3 Comments

and chop our wood,


and make our garden grow,
and make our garden grow….Candide

I am quite proud of the garden class of 2010.
They seem to be high-performers, over-achievers…

Garden Frog

Cutest Garden Helper

Max…..neighbor’s dog and the 2nd cutest garden helper

Lovely Lily

Bouquet of lavender, basil, mint and rosemary….all from the garden

Feast for the senses…..I am in love


Stage Mom

On By HschichieIn The Samantha Years2 Comments

A lot of exciting things are happening at the Schichtel household!

We are in the height of training, summer events, friends turning 40!!!??? and getting Samantha on the television.
T.V. baby.
Children’s really liked our Smilebox video….they liked it so much they sent it to 9news. 9news loved the pictures of the ride and our kiddos. They loved it so much, they used our photos in their commercial.
Very exciting!
On Monday I got a call saying that the commercial is airing but, sadly, they forgot to put a picture of Samantha in it.
I was a little disappointed but felt a little stage-momish by being disappointed AND a picture of our team and who we ride for is in the commercial….that’s important isn’t it? AND Samantha’s buddies are in the commercial.
On Wednesday I got a call asking for a photo of Samantha since they felt like she should be included.
Oh how great! I sent a photo to the PR firm.
But by including Samantha, they cut Max. Jeez oh’ Pete.
Regardless, here are the two fabulous version of the commercial with our wonderful kids.

Big Girl Bed! By Samantha

On By HschichieIn The Samantha Years3 Comments

My bed arrived last week!


It’s pretty darn cool.


Remember the ‘Stay Away Seizures’ sign from Children’s Hospital? Mama feels it’s good ‘juju’ to have it above my bed:) But look at that cute big-girl bed!

Mama and Daddy ordered a hospital bed but Mama thought it was important that it didn’t ‘feel’ like a hospital bed. Here it is with my friends.

Here it is without my friends. Quite a difference, eh? And a pretty beefy bed. The rails keep me from rolling out and the frame allows the bed to move up and down. I could sleep in this bed for a very long time!

This is Mama’s ‘master control’ that moves the head and the foot of the bed up and down. It’s great when I’m feeling a little stuffy to have me elevated.

This is the crank that moves the whole bed up! Kinda nice as I get bigger. It’s a little easier on everyone’s back.

Mama really tried to make my room just like any little girls room. Is my lamb sitting on an oxygen tank?

A girl can never have too many stuffed animals


Test results are quite positive!

Wherefore Heart Thou?

On By HschichieIn The Samantha Years3 Comments

Samantha went to the cardiologist today.


In May, she was sick with a virus and that virus affected her heart.

Pretty significantly….the heart rhythm developed a ‘gallop’ meaning her heart wasn’t beating regularly and her valves became ‘leaky’. In fact, her heartbeat was so irregular, when we tried to sedate her for a tummy procedure in May, her heart crashed.

That’s no good….even a tad stressful on all parties involved….none of us do well in the ICU.

Today, after two months of heart meds and pretty good health, we took Samantha into TCH for a follow up and everything looked good.

They couldn’t hear the gallop

The leaky valves in her heart no longer leaked

And her overall cardiac performance has improved.

This is good. The heart needs to be a good cardiac performer.

Because it’s her heart.

Go heart, go.

Torrid Affair

On By HschichieIn The Samantha Years2 Comments

I’m having a love affair.


It’s not with my husband……..

but he seems to understand. In fact, this weekend he kicked me out of bed in order to go on my date.

The subject of my affair is fabulously exotic….well he sounds exotic….his name is Scattante but I can never pronounce that correctly, so I just call him Mr. S.

Mr. S. has a carbon fiber frame, he is a stunning dark grey, light and speedy with new pedals and super-sonic tires. He’s not a talker but that’s okay, we speak the language of bike.

On Sunday Mr. S. and I were out for hours. We went past Carter Lake, through Masonville and up to Horsetooth Reservoir. This is one of my favorite rides…..few cars, great scenery, rolling hills. Sunday was nice and cool so Mr. S and I stayed out a little later. We shared a chocolate chip Cliff bar on the top of Horsetooth. Well, I ate most of it….Mr. S. likes to watch his super sleek figure.

Time with Mr. S. is good…..so nice I tend to lose my head a bit. Here we are together…..match made in heaven.

It’s hard to be sad

On By HschichieIn The Samantha Years6 Comments

It’s hard to be sad when you wake up and the donations to your Courage Classic team are up to $2,100.00!

It’s hard to be sad when your daughter greets you in the morning with a big, gummy smile and a slobbery cuddle.

It’s hard to be sad when you walk a labyrinth with good friends, the mountains in the background and a breeze against your skin.

It’s hard to be sad when you think gratefully of how far you’ve come.

It’s hard to be sad when the day starts with good thoughts from good friends and a lovely tin of frog magnets 🙂

Today our son Jack would have been five. Today our son was stillborn at 41 weeks. The day of his ‘birth’ has always been a sad, bittersweet day…..Today I became a mom. Today I lost a child.

As the years have evolved however, this day has become more of a day of remembrance than mourning.

Today is a day that I am reminded to take nothing for granted.

I am reminded that even in your darkest hour, you will laugh again.

And although that first laugh sounds foreign and somewhat inappropriate, the next one will come a little easier and the one after that.

And you never forget….but as time goes by, remembering isn’t so hard.

Happy Birthday Jack.

Bleep Blop Blurp Blip…..

On By HschichieIn The Samantha Years2 Comments

My computer died on Friday.

It gave me no warning….

No, Hey not feeling too well today, you might want to backup

No Check engine light

Nothing, just a couple computer moans and the light went dead. I sat on the couch frantically trying to reboot but again, nothing.

I feel betrayed.

The good news is that techie hubby pulled the hard drive out and saved what I forgot to backup (for about a month) AND he ordered me a new fancy, light as air, new laptop!

Hubbie is good.

The bad news is that we are sharing a computer until my new-fancy pants one arrives so I’m a little remiss on my writing.

My mother called me yesterday to remind me I’m behind in my blogging and to say she could no longer look at the picture of the great white shark …especially in relation to Samantha’s health.

Okay, I get it…..new picture.

Instead of sharks, I give you puppies in a wagon. And the news that Samantha had a good weekend and has been seizure free since Friday evening (knocking on wood over here!)

Another thing that happens when you aren’t online as much is that you miss when your friends do wonderful things, like donate over $1,300 to your Courage Classic ride.

Once again you all are fabulous. Even more fabulous than seven puppies in a wagon.

Do we need bigger boat?

On By HschichieIn The Samantha Years3 Comments

Did you ever see Jaws? Remember the guards on the towers, standing there, watching for the elusive shark? Welcome to seizure watch 2010. I don’t have a tower or binoculars but the last two days have been confined to the house, documenting Samantha’s seizure activity.


Sometimes her seizure can be fleeting like a shadow. Was that a shark or a school of fish? Or pretty obvious Hey, check out that dorsal fin.

When I see them coming on, the Jaws theme sticks in my head. Duh…..duh…duh…duh..so forgive my fish analogy. Seizures are the great white sharks of my life.

The good news is that I have become the old swarmy fisherman in fighting seizures. Remember him? The one with the boat? Yeah, he did get eaten but just ignore that fact, trivial…I can spot a seizure, call a neuro, document the time and prime a syringe with seizure meds…all while singing that crazy song swarmy fisherman sang...what was that song?

We have developed a great relationship with our neurologist. She trusts me and I trust her. On days like today, we talk several times….what did you give her? What can I give her? How does she look? When is it too risky to keep her at home? The goal is to try and manage Samantha’s seizures at home, without needing the bigger boat, without needing to head down to TCH.

After day two, we’re still hanging in there. I’ve maned the Ativan harpoons and kept a constant watch on Little Miss. Currently she’s on the floor, content and seizure free since 4:50 this afternoon.

Knock on wood. Perhaps we should order sushi for dinner.

Fingers crossed for an uneventful weekend 🙂