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If you are able to help support Nicole, please click here to make a tax deductible donation. All donations received will contribute to renovations to the family home to store the mountain of equipment, and provide a therapy room for Nicole.
Update 4th February 2010
We are happy to report that Nicole came home from hospital last Thursday 28th January. Her family are ecstatic to have Nicole back home with them, and report that Nicole is smiling a lot more now that she is home.
We need the Gold Coast's support for necessities for Nicole, such as a wheelchair.
Nicole's parents are providing 24 hour care for Nicole and even have to get up every 1 1/2 hours to check on Nicole on a roster system, while still both working during the day. They no longer have time to tend to their garden, so if anyone has time, gardening support would be very much appreciated. If you are able to help out call Deb Smith on 0412 389 607.
Nicole is also in need of phsysical therapy, so if you have any experience in physiology or physiotherapy, all offers of help are well received. At the moment, Nicole's family have no special mode of transport for Nicole, so any help would need to be given at their home.
Thank you for all of your support for Nicole,
Deb Smith
Update on Nicole's Progress April 2010
I just wanted to give an update on Nicole’s progress since she has been home. It is coming up to 9 weeks since we got our beautiful Cole home.
Each night Steve and I set our mobiles to get up to check Nicole. We have to ensure that she is covered and also to make she has not covered her face with the pillows.
It was such an emotional time for us all when Nic first came home however we have all got a routine going which is incredibly busy but working for us all. At times the routine gets disrupted by outside issues, such as services coming to assist with programs, however the small changes can change the entire focus of our days. However as each visit occurs we just work to getting back on our routine as this is essential for us to achieve all we need to allow Nicole to continue to move forward.
Nicole has been making some good progress. We have been having physio coming in on a regular basis so we can get Nic ready for her wheelchair that will be arriving soon. We are doing a lot of massage and exercises so she can learn to sit up in her chair. This will allow us to be able to take her out of the house at times.
Her room is full of the things that she has always loved. It was really important to get all of these positive things close to Nicole as they always inspired and gave her the courage to keep moving forward in her life and the battles she faced. The minute you enter her room you are met by the beauty and positive energy that would always surround Nic. Everyone has commented on what a wonderful environment this is, for Nic to continue to heal in.
We have also been having success with getting her in her recliner chair. Whilst she is in the chair she can come into the lounge room or the dining room and share time with us all. It has also been lovely now because Nic’s twin Fiona and her twin boys can come and share time with us all, allowing the boys time to share and get to know their beautiful aunt. It is still very early days and the journey has just begun, but the support that we have received from Dream Workers allows us to keep the dream unfolding.
We will keep you all updated as our journey continues.
Thanks to all
Jen & Steve Tierney
Update on Nicole May 2010
Just a quick update on Nicole’s progress, she has been home now for nearly 4 months, that is so hard to comprehend, our days just seem to roll into each over.
Nic is doing really well she is having physio 5 days a week; this involves putting her on her tilt table and getting her upright. Initially this was a huge worry as she had not been upright for so long, her blood pressure sky-rocketed but after a week or so that stabilised. Her physio sessions need at least three others if not more to help and we can not thank everyone enough for all of the time and effort they are putting in for Nicole. One of the main focuses is to work on her cognition and help her be able to communicate with us. We are getting some good responses with this, but still a very long road ahead. We are also working towards her being able to support her own weight so we can transfer her from chair to bed and so on.
Nicole’s wheelchair has arrived, it was such an exciting day it has a hot pink frame which suits Nic perfectly. She has been able to go outside for a walk with her Dad, the first time in over a year. With it’s arrival and that of the tilt table our house does appear to be getting smaller so our next big project we think is to try and renovate so we can have an equipment room and be able to focus all of her care from that one space.
We have been so touched from the support of everyone; we had the girls from Sisco come and work in the garden which was wonderful and a special thanks to Kathy Hadley, and the businesses such as Fish Pot Cafe, Recreate Yourself and Helen Jeffries from Inner Goddess Salon for raising money and providing us that support which we can not thank you enough with words. The fact that complete strangers are willing to offer this for Nicole gives us such strength to continue.
We are really excited about the up coming Race Day our daughter Lisa will be coming up from Sydney to attend, and my sister Paula will come up to stay to help look after Nic. So Lisa, Fiona and I will be able to be at the races to share this exciting day with everyone.
Sorry it takes so long for the updates but as I am sure you can imagine our days are very full and time does seem to just get away.
Once again thank you to everyone for the continued support and especially to Deb for the tireless work she puts in for not just Nicole but all of the beneficiaries of her care.
Our dream continues to unfold and I will keep you all up to date so you are all part of this journey
Thanks again
Jen Tierney
Update on Nicole June 2010
Hi all
Thought I better get another update put together for you all. Another very hectic month in the Tierney household.
This month has had both up’s and downs, we have had Nic back in hospital for a few days with urinary sepsis, this was very traumatic for us all. We have discovered how difficult it is to get a GP to come and do home visits. However after a few days of IV antibiotics we were able to get her home again. This unfortunately slowed down her physio and she did lose some weight during this process. After a few weeks of perseverance she is back to her normal routine again and the weight has been regained.
On a brighter note, we had the race day for Nic, what a wonderful event. Our daughter Lisa made it up from Sydney and Fiona was able to leave her twins with Steve and my sister for the day. We all had a fantastic time, being surrounded by such wonderful people. The energy in the room was just what we needed to re-charge our batteries after having been through the hospital visit. The support that we have been offered by such a wonderful group of people just gives us the strength to keep moving forward. We got to play games and laugh, it was just joyous.
The physio is coming on really well, we are now getting Nic on the floor and working on her building up her strength in her lower limbs, the next huge step will be to try and get her standing up so we can work on transfers from bed to chair. Extremely hard work, but it is so rewarding when we see some progress.
Also we got to celebrate Fiona and Nicole’s 30th birthday. This was difficult on some levels but also a great achievement as well. We had a small gathering at our house and had a lovely night; Nic spent the entire time in her chair and was surrounded by such love. This was the most people she had been around in over a year and she handled it really well.
And just to round out our month we had the people from the 7PM Project come and interview us last week One of the stars of the show Charlie Pickering came himself to interview us he was a really lovely guy and obviously sympathetic to our plight. This is about the lack of services available to families that are caring for loved ones at home. They were with us for over 3 hours. It is due to be aired on Monday 28th at obviously 7PM on channel 10. Hope it comes through well about the wonderful support that we have received from all of you.
Thanks again to everyone for all the amazing support
Jen Tierney
Nicole working hard on her rehab. It's fantastic to see Nicole gaining strength every week, and holding her own head up. A huge feat when you have been laying in bed for over a year.
Article that featured in the Gold Coast Bulletin on Saturday 30th January 2010
Article that feature in the Courier Mail on Saturday 22nd May 2010
Click here for article details, about the problem for families caring for their loved one's at home, and the lack of government support.
Nicole and her family featured on the 7pm Project on 28th June 2010
Click here for more details on this story about the plight of carers in the community
Recreate Yourself Beauty Day
On February 3rd, Recreate Yourself, a beauty and hair salon at West Burleigh, held a special day for Nicole.
All money taken on the day for all therapies was donated to Nicole's Appeal.
Catherine, manager of Recreate Yourself, was thrilled with the response to the appeal. The salon was fully booked for the day and Catherine had to turn bookings away.
Over $650 was raised for Dream Workers, to go towards Nicole's Appeal.
Please support businesses that support Dream Workers.
Bookings to Recreate Yourself - Hair and Beauty Salon can be made on: 1300 599 773 or log onto www.ry.com.au/salon
Inner Goddess Salon raises money for Nicole
Helen Jeffries of the Inner Goddess salon at Broadbeach Waters, very generously donated $1,000 of her takings at the Salon for the month of March to Nicole's Appeal.
Helen picked up a flier about Nicole at her local Blockbuster video store and was so moved by her plight that she decided to donate 40% of takings from her salon for the month of March.
Help those that help Dream Workers.
For more details and to book call Helen on 0414 509 143
Local Youth Rally to help Nicole
A group of young ladies from the "Get Set For Work Program" which is run by SCISCO Career pathways volunteered to help Nicole's family any way that they could.
So on a rainy day last month the girls went to Nicole's home and worked hard on gardening for Nicole's family.
The Get Set For Work Program is an alternative learning education program for young ladies.
The program is for 18 weeks with the girls completing a Certificate I in Workplace Education and a Certificate I in Business and/or Retail.
The girls participate in Community Work and do Work Experience in career's they choose. The course covers motivation, self esteem, gratitude, positive attitude's and building healthy relationships with all types of people. The girls learn to communicate better with their family/ friends and colleagues.
The experience the girls have gained from meeting Nicole and Jen in allowing them into their lives has been invaluable. The girls have come away with a better understanding of their own lives, and the capabilities that they have. They are indebted to Nicole and Jen.
The girls are an amazing group and facilitator Kathy is very proud of the efforts. They have come such a long way and in just 8 weeks they have grown and bettered themselves. SCISCO would like to thank all that have helped the girls and those that will continue to support SCISCO.
If any employer is looking for junior staff, traineeships/apprenticeships, or just willing to give a young person a go Kathy would love to hear from you.
Kathy Hadley can be contacted on: 0417 525 073
Friends of Nicole's Rally to support Nicole with a Raffle
Friends of Nicole's, Lara and Amanda, wanted to know how they could best support Nicole. So after much thought, they decided to run a raffle, and bought the first prize themselves to donate.
The raffle received so much support from the Gold Coast Community, especially once Carly Wheatley came on board to help.
Carly has never met Nicole, but felt that she wanted to help support Nicole and her family. Carly walked the streets week after week, door knocking and sold over $2,000 of tickets!
The end result was that $4166 was raised for Nicole's Appeal. An amazing amount, from what started as a simple idea to help a friend in need.
Thanks must be given to the following businesses for their support for the raffle:
The Titan's football club
Omeros Brothers Seafood Restaurant at Marina Mirage
Event Cinemas
Inkspot Printing
Copirite Design
McKenzie Comer sings for Nicole
Local talented teenager McKenzie Comer has been a big supporter of Dream Workers for the last couple of years.
McKenzie recently asked me if she could sing for Nicole, so a date was organized and McKenzie visited Nicole last week.
Jen tells me that Nicole listened intently the whole time that McKenzie sang.
McKenzie was so moved by meeting Nicole, that she is currently organizing a new video featuring Nicole, to add to her vast You Tube collection of hits. McKenzie is also asking people to help support Nicole by donating to Nicole's Appeal on the Dream Workers website.
To see McKenzie's latest video on You Tube, click here
Vision Personal Training help the Community to lose weight and help charity
Owner of Vision Personal Training at Mermaid Beach, EJ Barnes has a weight loss challenge starting at his salon on August 29th, 2010.
The challenge is for people to lose as many kilo's over a 9 week period, as possible. The national winner has the chance to win a trip to Hawaii for their efforts.
E.J. decided that he would also like to add another incentive for his clients, and that is for them to help out Nicole as an additional motivator.
Vision Personal Training at Mermaid beach are asking their clients on the challenge to be sponsored by family and friends for each kilo that they lose.
All this money will be donated to Dream Workers for Nicole's Appeal.
For more information on how you can join in with the weight loss challenge, contact Vision Personal Training at Mermaid Beach on 07 5526 6777.
Thank you to the following People/Businesses for your support of Nicole:
Nicole working hard on her rehab. It's fantastic to see Nicole gaining strength every week, and holding her own head up. A huge feat when you have been laying in bed for over a year.
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