Raine's Blog

Pernicious Anaemia/B12 Deficiency Support Group on Facebook

2015-01-19T19:29:00.000-08:00

Ever think you are all alone and that no one understands why you feel the way you do. Feeling tired, fatigued, thinking of a word but you just can't seem to speak that word. Below are a list of symptoms that can be caused by B12 Deficiency.

Signs and Symptoms of B12 Deficiency

Fatigue
Sighs ( as if you are yawning)
fainting
Impaired cognition ( like being in a fog)
muscle weakness in the legs and arms

There are many more symptoms and for a complete list please go to this website:

http://www.b12deficiency.info/signs-and-symptoms/

There are many people in the world who have pernicious anaemia and/or B12 Deficiency. From a small group of 4 family members, the Facebook support group for pernicious anaemia/B12 Deficiency has grown to a world-wide membership of over 5000 members and growing daily. Go to the link below and request to join. It is a closed group so only you and members of the group can see your posts. The Facebook group was founded by a former PAS moderator. She and two other former PAS moderators are Admins on the group.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PAB12DSupportGroup/

Hand knit Scarves all made from Katia yarns

2011-08-23T19:19:00.000-07:00

Just in time for the fall and early Christmas gifts. These scarves are made from Katia yarns, a ribbon type yarn that makes for unusual and funky scarves.

Katia Rizos Scarf

Katia Triana Scarf..4 inches wide by 45 inches long. Can be worn wrapped around neck several times to give an extra frilly look.

Update on Sassy and Frosty

2011-05-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

On March 15th, we left at 4:30 in the morning for the long drive to Montreal. We made several stops along the way and thanks to Onstar, following their directions, we arrived at Animal Adoption Montreal (Chatopia) at 11:15 in the morning.

I met Maggie Shuter, the founder of Chatopia and Richard, a volunteer. There were several other volunteers who were busy feeding the cats. I saw Lucy, a beautiful white Persian, Queen of Chatopia and little Tammy, a tabby persian.

My eyes lighted on Frosty..flying along the hallway in his lion's mane haircut he had received the week before. What a beautiful cat. In a back room along with Shelby and other cats was Sassy, she too had a lion's mane haircut. She rushed over to the volunteer, standing up on her hind legs like a gopher, asking to be picked up. I reached down and picked her up and she snuggled into my shoulder. What a sweetie.

What a wonderful job Maggie and her volunteers do. The cats were not in cages...there were separate rooms and cats were divided as to their personality and needs.

We left Chatopia around 12:30pm, again following Onstar directions back home and after stopping only once, we arrived home around 6 pm..

I put Frosty in the back bedroom with a litter, food and water and it was two days later before I would really see him...during that time, I only caught glimpses of him. Sassy climbed up on our knees and glued herself to us.

March 15th was a Tuesday and on Thursday evening I picked up my younger daughter, Kim at the train station. She was coming home to see the cats. When she got home, she quickly had something to eat and then sat down on the floor closest to where we thought Frosty was. That worked...out he came and she had him eating from her hand.

Fast forward to today, May 15th, two months later and what a difference. Frosty explores all over the house..wants up on my knee, shares my bed with Sassy (gosh I wish I had the bed to myself) and is the most affectionate cat I have ever had.

Sassy is Sassy with an attitude. I had told Maggie that I thought I would change Sassy's name to one more fitting such a beautiful cat....I didn't because her name suits her to a T...she has cattitude like no other cat I have had, she is unpredictable and I get a massage every night..a Sassy massage. Her previous owners had her declawed ( I guess they don't realize that is mutilation) and so every night when she jumps up on my bed, she paws the blanket very fast before settling down. She settles close to my leg, so it is my leg that gets the pawing, ever so gently and just like a massage. She is so sweet and loving and then at other times will give you a look that can stop you in your tracks.

We love both these cats so much and although they are in no way at all like Vicky, they are their own unique personalities.

Thank you Maggie Shuter for allowing us to adopt them.

http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/QC35.html

Frosty getting his haircut...what a lot of fur. It is over two months now since Frosty and Sassy had their haircut at Chatopia and the fur is just beginning to grow in...both cats will be thankful for their haircuts if we have the hot summer the weather people are forecasting because it will be well into the fall before they have their full coat of fur.

Rescue Cats.. Persian/Himalayan..Animal Adoption Montreal

2011-02-07T11:02:00.000-08:00

It took me a long time to write about Vicky's passing. But it was only last week that I realized just how much I missed having my beautiful cat. A friend of my daughters told me about a group in Montreal who operated a cat rescue for Persians and Himalayans. I don't know why anyone would not take care of these beautiful cats, how could they end up in a shelter.

I looked at the Animal Adoption Montreal site through Petfinders and found Sassy, a gorgeous five year old tortie himalayan with the most beautiful expression in her eyes. I fell in love with her...she reminds me a bit of Vicky. And so I applied to adopt her. One of the questions in the application asked if I would consider taking two cats. I answered "undecided". I really was undecided because once I decided on Sassy, I looked at other cats...Frosty is a beautiful four year old Perisan, a shy guy. How could I leave him there. We have enough room at our home for two cats and more than enough room in our hearts for two cats. That was it..Sassy and Frosty, you both belong with us. I am just waiting for arrangements to be made for a volunteer to drive them to me.

Welcome home Sassy and Frosty.

This is Sassy

This is Frosty

There are more beautiful cats still available from the shelter. If you are thinking of getting a pet cat..check out the link below.

http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/QC35.html

R.I.P Vicky, March 24, 1994 - September 13, 2010

2011-02-06T10:30:00.000-08:00

It was a sad day last Septmber 13, 2010 when I took my precious Vicky for the last time to the Vet. A year and a half earlier I had taken Vicky in to see the Vet because she just wasn't her usual self. There were no outward signs of any illness but her eyes no longer sparkled the way they used to. So blood samples were taken for various tests, after all, she was 15 and a half and I knew the test results may reveal what was wrong with her. The next day my Vet called me and told me the prognosis was not good. Vicky was having a problem with her kidneys, they weren't working as well and suggested we change her diet to one recommended for cats with kidney disease. Three months later we had to begin SubQ fluids a couple of times a week for her. For the next two months, I took Vicky to the Vet twice a week for fluids. Each time I was encouraged to learn how to give Vicky fluids. I declined but later on in the fall of 2009 I decided that Vicky would be much happier if I gave her the fluids at home. With winter approaching I had dreaded the thought of having to take her out in the cold and so I learned. For the next 10 months, along with the help of my husband we were able to give Vicky the fluids she needed to keep her comfortable. It gradually increased to three times a week and then late in August, I noticed she wasn't responding as well. A decision had to be made and so I called my Vet.

R.I.P Vicky, know that you were loved from the day we adopted you. We were your third and final owners and we were so lucky to get you.

In Remembrance, November 11th

2010-11-11T12:47:00.000-08:00

I was a child of two and half years when my older brother left to join the RCAF. I remember that I couldn't understand where he had gone or why he left except that I knew he had something to do with airplanes. My mother told me that when my brother left, whenever I would see a plane in the sky, I would call out Baw, Baw, my name for my brother Tom.

A few years back, my brother was asked by his grandson to write a speech about what he did in WW II because he would like to share that speech with his classmates at school on remembrance day. The following is an excerpt from that speech

In 1942, I joined the Airforce. I was 16 ½ years old. I was stationed at Toronto for assessment for three months; went to McGill University for four months then to #9 Bombing and Gunner School at Mont Joli for four months. After Mont Joli it was on to Three Rivers Commando Training then to Halifax. Boarded the ship Nieu Amsterdam, landed in Gurock, Scotland. Took the train to Cheltenham, more training then to Abingdon to assemble crew. I then went to Acaster Malbis for more Commando training; then to Marston Moor to train on two engine aircraft; then to 462 Squadron to train on Halifax bombers. It was in Foulsham near Norwich I stayed there until the war was over. (WW11).

I was an Air Gunner in the RCAF. My RANK was a FLIGHT/SGT service # R290043. While in ENGLAND, I was Stationed at FOULSHAM which is a village about 30 or so miles from the city of NORWICH. The Squadron was # 462 in Bomber group command. We were called Thunderbolt Squadron. We flew in Halifax 1V airplanes. These are large 4 engine bombers carrying a crew of 7 (pilot ), (navigator ), (Bombardier ), ( Flt/ engineer ) ( wireless operator) (2 Air gunners). One was a rear gunner and I was MID upper gunner. This was an (ABC) Squadron (ABC) stands for Airborne Counter Radio Interruptance squadron. WE carried an extra crew member with us, he had special training & spoke fluent German & our aircraft was full of specialized Radio equipment. His job was to disrupt the German fighter plane Dispatchers & Radar.

Our squadron would take off (5 or 6 planes ) at the same time as a group of bombers took off to bomb German targets. Before we reached Radar spotting height, (the German Radar could detect us at fifteen hundred feet ? ), the special operator, using a tube on the side would push out the appropriate amount of packets of tinfoil (these were designed to appear on German radar as if two equal number of bombers were on the way, one going to the south one going to the north of Germany.

This caused the German fighter dispatchers to send half their fighters to the North & half to the South, thus dividing their number of fighter planes. We would only fly (our squadron) to the coast of Europe, then circle around while the specialist used the German radio frequency to try to confuse the Germans by pretending to be the real fighter dispatcher and the German dispatcher was the wrong one.

The Germans overcame this at a later date by using female dispatchers We overcame

this by installing a microphone near one of our engines and the special operator would find the German frequency they used, flip a switch and jam the radio frequency. They would switch to a new one, the special operator would it and jam that frequency. We would then head home having done as much damage as possible.

The bales of tinfoil (called WINDOWS) were done up with paper bands so they would burst when they hit the slipstream. Hey maybe Bill Gates is in Patent infringement ? These got fed out depending on the amount going to bombing target (ie) 5 bales per minute for 100 bombers and 10 for 200 bombers. This would show up on radar as two identical squadrons of bombers. I don’t know the name of the person who designed this (ABC) program, we called ourselves, “The Air Born Cigars”.

My brother will be 85 years old next month and is one who has never been afraid to learn new things..five years ago he wanted to know how computers work..so he began to take various old computers apart and learned about them.

On this day I thank you, Tom.

My brother, Tom and his bride, Sadie, on their wedding day, June 18th, 1949.

Dundas/Dundass 101st Reunion

2010-05-13T14:01:00.000-07:00

1773 - 2010

Our 101st Dundass/Dundas reunion of the descendants of William and John Dundass, cousin Moses Dundass and other Fermanagh Dundas branches is quickly approaching.
Join with us and Clan Chief David Dundas and his bride Connie Sanders Dundas on Sunday, June, 27th as we gather for an 11:00 a.m. church service at Banner United Church, near London, Ontario.
The service is followed by our annual picnic and provides a time to socialize and reconnect. As usual, beverages will be provided. Bring your potluck contribution (for 4 -6), dishes, cutlery and lawn chairs and join your “cousins” in Banner.

Woolworth's Banana Roll (Cake) Recipe

2010-04-25T12:38:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate enough to be a stay-at-home Mom when my children were in school. Early in 1977, a neighbour taught me how to decorate cakes, not just birthday but the more advanced techniques of working with Royal Icing and air brushing colours on to a cake. Word got around the neighbourhood that I baked and decorated cakes..soon I had a thriving cottage industry. Over the years from 1977 to 1989, I baked and decorated a lot of cakes. Some were done for schools, gradutions, our local library on the opening of a new branch, weddings and birthdays, however, two that I recall were for people turning 100 and 101 years old. I still have my book of various pictures that I took when a cake was finished.

And two of my favourites, the "you're how old" was done for my sister's 40th birthday and the tiger was done using airbrush techniques.

Lifting heavy wedding cakes put a strain on my shoulder resulting in a "frozen shoulder" and in 1988, I stopped doing cakes. Went back to college at the age of 49, took a legal secretarial course and upon graduation, re-entered the work-force. Commuting to Toronto from Oshawa daily did not leave me very much time to do any baking, even birthday cakes for my kids. So I compromised.

Years before I began to bake cakes, my husband would periodically pick up a banana roll from the Woolworths store in downtown Oshawa. We just loved them, so delicious and not expensive, something like $3.50 for a banana roll that would serve 6 people. Although I had often been complimented on the taste of my cakes (I still am even today whenever I run into one of my former customers)I could never duplicate the taste of Woolworths banana roll nor the taste of the icing...it was so delicious. So whenver birthdays rolled around, I would order two banana rolls for that occasion.

During the past couple of years, at birthdays, my younger daughter often commented, "Mom, how I wish you knew how to make a Woolworths Banana Roll", said she with a mouthful of a special order birthday cake from our supermarket. Find me the recipe, said I, and I will make it up. What a wonderful tool Google is..two weeks ago she sent me the recipe she had found on a website, http://www.hungrybrowser.com/phaedrus/m0407M08.htm#5

..it seems my family is not the only family who misses these delicious cakes. And so I made up a banana roll, following the recipe from the website. The cake tasted like the banana roll from Woolworths but alas the whipped cream frosting did not. Then I remembered, walking into Woolworths store to pick up the banana roll, it was ready for me and waiting in their display case, however, the case was not refrigerated...Woolworths did not use WHIPPED CREAM FROSTING on their Banana Rolls. I knew that it had to be a different recipe and thinking back to when I was baking and icing cakes, I remembered a recipe for a "Pretend Whipped Cream Frosting" that didn't use whipping cream at all. Mary Lisko,aka the happy cooker, had this recipe in her cookbook.

So I baked another banana roll, did up the frosting and yes, this is the famous Woolworths Banana Roll, except..the consistency of the frosting was not quite the same. It needed to be a bit stiffer. I solved this by adding a packet of "Whip-It" to stabilize it (I used to use "Nutriwhip" when I was decorating but I couldn't find it) to the frosting recipe.

Here are the recipes:

1 cup sifted cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 large) mashed ripe banana
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
5 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature

Line a 12 X 15 1/2 inch by 1/2 thickness cookie sheet or jelly roll pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2 inch overhang. Grease the pan first. Grease the parchment paper. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mash banana and add sour cream. The recipe calls for lemon zest..I do not use it. Cream the butter until it is smooth and lighter in color. Add the sugar and scrape the mixture clinging to the sides into the center of the bowl. Continue to cream until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the egg and continue to beat until the mixture is quite fluffy. Add half of the flour mixture until blended. Then add the banana mixture, blending well. Add the remaining flour mixture, blending until smooth. Pour batter into pan, using a spatula to spread it into the corners. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until golden brown. It may take longer, depending on your oven.

Remove from oven and while still warm, invert on to a tea towel that has been sprinkled with icing sugar. Beginning at the short side end, roll up in the tea towel..cool.

When cool, unroll the cake and fill with:

Pretend Whipped Cream Frosting:

4 Tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup white (granulated) sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon butter flavouring
Ground walnuts
1 packet Whip-it (optional)

Mix flour and milk in a saucepan (do not use a microwave). Cook over low heat until thick, stirring constantly with a wire whisk. Place into a bowl and put in fridg to cool. Cream butter and shortening together, beat for 4 minutes...it must be 4 minutes. Add sugar gradually. Add the flour paste, mixing well, then the packet of Whip-it and continue beating. Add vanilla and butter flavouring and mix well until well blended.

Using a spatula, cover the unrolled banana cake with the frosting. Then roll up beginning at the short end. Slice the ends of the roll to make it even and spread the frosting on top. Sprinkle the top with ground walnuts..and you have the Woolworths Banana Roll. Enjoy.

UK Parliamentary Reception for the PAS, a success

2010-01-01T10:41:00.000-08:00

Several health care professionals attended the UK Parliamentary Reception for the PAS and helped make this event a resounding success. Attending from the United States were Sally Pacholok, R.N. and her husband, Jeffrey Stuart, D.O.. Sally and Jeffrey are the well-known authors of "Could It BE B12, An Epidemic of Misdiagnoses". In the top photo are Sally and several members of the PAS, in the second photo are Sally and Jeffrey and the last photo is Sally. These pictures were taken in the Jubilee Room, Westminster Hall, at the event. Also attending from the Netherlands was Dr. Hans Reijnen, a physician who is studying the effects of B12 deficiency and discussed a paper on this at the event. Dr. Reijnen is one of a few doctors who use methylcobalamin as the preferred treatment for B12 deficiency.

Thank you to Martyn Hooper, PAS Chair and all members of the PAS who contributed to this important event. All of your hard work is paying off.

As a result of the parliamentary reception, a parliamentary debate was held on November 4th wherein UK MP Madeleine Moon presented an argument relating to the treatment and diagnosis of pernicious anaemia. The PAS' fight for better treatment for pernicious anaemia/B12 deficient sufferers has not ended with this debate, in fact, it has just begun.

UK Parliamentary Reception Video on Pernicious Anaemia

2009-11-24T10:04:00.000-08:00

Pernicious Anaemia. TO BE OR NOT TO BE. from Mairi Sutherland on Vimeo.

Let all Dundases celebrate the marriage of our Clan Chief, David Dundas to Connie Sanders

2009-10-19T18:26:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Connie and David. On October 15th, last, in Cambridge, Ontario, Connie Sanders and David Duncan Dundas were married. David is the 31st Chief of the Clan Dundas. Connie is the co-author of the Dundas/Dundass genealogy book, "The Descendants of William and John Dundass, 1771-1981, Scots-Irish Immigrants to Canada". Connie and David met whilst Connie was researching her book.

I must commend both of them for keeping this a well-guarded secret. I don't think anyone who attended the Banner reunion in June, had an inkling that a marriage was about to happen.

Best wishes from a Dundas cousin to another.

Highway of Heroes...401 in Ontario from Trenton in the East to Toronto in the West

2009-09-01T18:51:00.001-07:00

God Bless Canada

Uploaded on authorSTREAM by aSGuest15191 | Upload your own presentation

What began as a grass roots campaign has grown to encompass the population of the cities, towns and villages that stretch along Highway 401 in Ontario between the City of Toronto in the west to the City of Quinte West (Trenton) in the east. As the video says, there are 50 bridges over the 401 along this stretch of highway and whenever the body of a soldier is repatriated back home, these bridges are lined with people. Firefighters standing atop their trucks on top of the bridges, Police Officers, EMS people and ordinary people, all out to support the troops in Afghanistan. The above video was sent to me in an email..Lee Greenwood sings "God Bless Canada". The Oshawa bridges are where I have stood, too many times, waiting for the approaching hearse and convoy of vehicles that precede the hearse. I stand on the bridge to show my support for our soldiers in Afghanistan and to show my support for the families of our soldiers. It is very moving, one has to be there to understand what I mean.

Sally Pacholok's Campaign to raise awareness of B12 Deficiency

2009-08-28T18:16:00.000-07:00

Press Release

“Year of B12 Awareness”
September declared
“Vitamin B12 Awareness Month” in the United States
September 23 will be “Vitamin B12 Awareness Day”
Fall into Action by September 23

Fresno, CA- Masked behind misdiagnoses, B12 deficiency has slowly grown to become the most untreated and unrecognized nutritional disorder causing injury in the United States.
This crippler is a master of masquerade, striking different people in different ways. It afflicts one person with tremors, makes another depressed or psychotic, and causes agonizing leg and arm pains in still another. It can mimic Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, early Parkinson's disease, diabetic neuropathy, or chronic fatigue syndrome. It can make men or women infertile or cause developmental disabilities in children. Other times it lurks silently, stealthily increasing its victim's risk of deadly diseases ranging from stroke and heart attacks to cancer.

Sally Pacholok, R.N. and Jeffrey Stuart, D.O. are spearheading a national effort to alert the public to the dangers of vitamin B12 deficiency—a public health care crisis costing state and federal agencies billions of dollars and costing millions of people their health.

Organizers chose spring to begin the campaign because it's a time when we're all thinking about getting out and moving around more—and healthy vitamin B12 levels are crucial for an independent and active life. They are calling on all health care institutions and assisted-living residences to learn about B12 deficiency by September 23—Vitamin B12 Awareness Day—and to include screening seniors for B12 deficiency in their fall-prevention programs.

Pacholok and Stuart point out that B12 deficiency is a world-wide problem and a hidden epidemic in the United States. B12 deficiency causes symptoms such as nerve pain or tingling, dementia, mental illness, tremor, difficulty walking, and frequent falls. It is commonly misdiagnosed as Alzheimer's disease, depression, peripheral neuropathy, vertigo, and mini-strokes. Major medical journals report that vitamin B12 deficiency occurs in up to 15 percent of the elderly—approximately 5.4 million seniors. Other studies report the prevalence to be 15 percent to 25 percent. What's more, these numbers only relate to persons 65 and older. They don't include the vast numbers of Americans under the age of 65—many of them infants, children or middle-aged adults—who become B12 deficient for a variety of reasons. In younger people B12 deficiency can mimic post-partum depression/psychosis and autistic-like symptoms in children.

Groups of people at high risk for B12 deficiency include vegans, vegetarians, alcoholics, people with eating disorders, celiac disease, Crohn's disease, those who have had gastric bypass surgery, and those who suffer from autoimmune diseases and AIDS. The use of certain drugs such as proton pump inhibitors, metformin, H-2 blockers and nitrous oxide can also cause B12 deficiency.

Did you know the following?
• Most patients who have B12 deficiency symptoms or are at risk for B12 deficiency never get tested.
• Even doctors who do order B12 tests miss many cases of B12 deficiency because they don't use an additional sensitive test (urinary methylmalonic acid).
• Misdiagnosis is common because B12 deficiency mimics other diseases.
• Many doctors rarely contemplate B12 deficiency unless red blood cell abnormalities or anemia—often late signs—are present.
• The elderly are easily misdiagnosed because doctors often blame their symptoms on coexisting medical problems.
• Treating B12 deficiency costs only a few dollars a month and symptoms are often completely reversible if people receive early treatment.
• If diagnosed too late, symptoms such as dementia, tremor, and nerve injury typically cannot be reversed.
• Multi-vitamin pills contain only small amounts of B12—far too little to correct a B12 deficiency or to prevent B12 deficiency in at-risk groups.

Pacholok and Stuart believe the hidden epidemic of B12 deficiency can be stopped in its tracks by educating the health care community and the public. "This is one of the most preventable, and most curable, of all medical scourges," they say, “but only if we choose to act." They urge the medical community to take steps including:

• Screening at-risk adults in assisted living residences, group homes, nursing homes, and hospitals.
• Incorporating screening for B12 deficiency into all fall prevention programs.
• Screening at-risk pregnant women and nursing mothers.
• Screening infants and children with developmental delays.
• Screening patients diagnosed with MS, mental illness, or dementia (including Alzheimer's).

Pacholok and Stuart are seasoned media interviewees and would be happy to answer your listeners' questions.

Sally Pacholok has been practicing emergency nursing for 22 years. Jeffrey Stuart, D.O. is board-certified in emergency medicine and has been practicing for 16 years. They coauthored the most comprehensive explanation of this problem, Could It Be B12?: An Epidemic of Misdiagnoses (Quill Driver Books). They have appeared as guests on CNN-Headline News, Seeking Solutions with Suzanne, KATV Channel 7 News in Little Rock, Arkansas, and numerous TV shows in southeastern Michigan. Additionally, they have been interviewed by dozens of radio stations including: KSTE Radio, Sacramento Wide World of Health, KHNR Honolulu Doctors Health Radio, KKCR BBS Radio, Dr. Ann West Show, CHOK Radio, Ontario Canada Live with Lee, Redbook, First Magazine, Bottom Line Health, Variety, Anchorage Times, Detroit Free Press, South Bend Tribune, Lockport Union-Sun and Journal, and Nursing 2007.

Possible Interview Questions:

Why is vitamin B12 important?
Why do we become deficient?
What are the signs and symptoms of B12 deficiency, and who is at risk?
Who should be tested?
Why are patients being misdiagnosed?
What are the names of the tests used to diagnose B12 deficiency?
What is the cost to patients and society regarding misdiagnosis?
What can we do to help raise awareness?

David Duncan Dundas, the 31st Chief of the Clan Dundas, taken at the 100th Dundas Clan/Family Reunion at Banner, Ontario

2009-07-01T11:37:00.001-07:00

It has been said of the House of Dundas that "any Prime Minister can raise a man to the House of Lords but it takes seven centuries of Scottish history to make a Dundas of Dundas", the Dundases are certainly one of the oldest historical families in existence. Helias, son of Uctred who obtained the charter of lands of Dundas in west Lothian in the reign of Malcolm IV (1153-65) or a little later, is the first name recorded. From earliest times the Dundases played a prominant role in the affairs of Scotland, most remarkable was the legal dynasty beginning with Sir James, 1st Lord Arniston who died in 1679. His grandson Robert held the posts of Solicitor General, Lord Advocate and Lord President; he was succeeded by his son who, as Lord Arniston, was a judge. His son, like him called Robert, was a Solicitor General in 1784, Lord Advocate in 1789 and Chief Baron of the Exchequer in 1801. The statesman Henry Dundas was known as the "uncrowned King of Scotland" and " managed" Scotland for William Pitt. Through his offices, many estates forfeited after the 1745 rebellion were restored and the ban on the wearing of the tartan was lifted. Arniston House at Gorebridge is owned by the Dundas family. Dundas Castle near South Queensferry was built by James Dundas of that Ilk in 1424. In the 15th century the Dundas family garrisoned Inchgarvie Island in the Firth of Forth having been given special permission to do so by James IV. The present chief, David Duncan Dundas formerly of South Africa, now resides in England.

Information from www.electricscotland.com/webclans/dtog/dundas2.html

The statesman, Henry Dundas is the Dundas for whom Lord Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, now the province of Ontario, named a highway, Dundas Highway and the town of Dundas, Ontario. The city of Toronto has a Dundas Street, a subway stop called Dundas and a square called, Yonge Dundas Square. Many towns and cities in Ontario have a main street called Dundas Street.

Come one, come all ye Dundases of the Clan Dundas

2009-04-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

In 1823, my gr.,gr.,...grandfather Moses Dundas, 9 generations ago, left County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland to immigrate to Canada. He settled in a small community called Cavan, Ontario near Peterborough. Not long after he was joined by his half-brother Gustavus Dundas. Gustavus was granted a parcel of crown land, near Cavan, for his service in the British Army, the last few years of which were spent on the Island of Elba, serving as a cook for the contingent of British soldiers who guarded Napoleon.

Two years later in 1825, cousins John and William Dundass left Northern Ireland for Canada. They settled in a small rural community called Banner, Ontario. Shortly after Gustavus and Moses left Cavan and along with their families joined the cousins, John and William in Banner.

In 1909, the Dundases got together for a family picnic/reunion on the Sunday closest to July 1st. That picnic/reunion continued each year and this year we celebrate the 100th Dundass/Dundas family picnic/reunion. At 11 o'clock in the morning on June 28th, Dundases will gather at the church in Banner where a piper will be waiting to pipe us (Dundases) into the small church for service. The same church that David Dundas, Moses son and my gr.gr. gr. etc. grandfather helped build.

Attending the service and the family picnic will be our Clan Chief, David Dundas who is attending from the UK. David Duncan Dundas, 31st Head of the Dundas Clan, is one of the oldest, continuous, hereditary Scottish chieftainships still in existence today.

I am looking forward to having a great time and meeting a lot of new relatives. Afterall we are all cousins.

Chicago..Pictures of Kim's first trip to Chicago set to the music of Elvis, "In the Ghetto"

2009-03-12T18:58:00.001-07:00

From Movies

A scary morning...beginning with a telephone call

2008-08-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

At 4:10 a.m. this morning, my telephone rang...Kim was on the line...Mom, she said, is it thundering at home, is it a weird kind of thunder? No, I replied, but if it is thundering there it will probably head our way because we have had thunderstorms every day for the last couple of weeks. Kim said she couldn't see any lightning but she said at 10 to 4 in the morning, her cat woke her up when all of sudden there was a loud boom and her apartment building shook and the windows rattled. She got up and the noise didn't stop, it was continuous boom, boom, boom. Ten minutes into the conversation we concluded that it wasn't thunder because there was still no lightning and there was no let up in the booms. I suggested she call the police admin number rather then 911 which she did but kept getting a busy. She called me back 15 minutes later and by that time I was awake enough to turn on the radio and found out that a large propane storage plant was on fire and blowing up a couple of miles to the north and west of her.

Kim and her sister live in Toronto which is about 43 miles west of me. Many thoughts ran through my mind, the first was to get dressed, drive in to their place and bring them back home along with their cats. By that time, however, the police had closed highway 401 in both directions and the only alternative would be to take city back streets to get to where they live. However, everyone was being warned to stay away from the area. I continued to monitor the radio and heard that an evacuation order was being released and thankfully the perimeters of that order ended about a mile from where Kim and her sister live.

At 5 a.m. I put the tv on to a 24 hour news channel and saw pictures of the fire and explosions...the first explosion at 3:50 a.m. looked like an atomic explosion, a huge mushroom shaped fire-red cloud..no wonder Kim and her sister felt their building shake..this propane storage facility is located in a residential area (the city of Toronto needs to have some answers ready), many residents were seen running down the street in their housecoats, some shoeless, some carrying their pets in their arms, houses with doors and windows blown out, just utter chaos. Residents were told if they didn't have a vehicle, then they had to walk, eastwards away from their homes and the scene of the fire. The first explosion Kim heard was at 10 to 4 in the morning, they were continuous, almost every minute until about 20 to 5 in the morning and then sporadic until about 6 a.m. Security alarms in buildings and on parked vehicles, some even in underground parking lots were activated...along with the sounds of the explosions, no wonder people thought a terroist attack had occurred.

As I write this the highway is still closed...it is difficult to get into or out of Toronto but at least the fire scene is a little bit more stablized. The concern is that there are 2 large railroad cars of propane on fire however, so far, the fire department has managed to cool the tanks off, keeping them from exploding. Unfortunately at the time of the explosions, there were workers at the plant. The latest news coverage says all but one are accounted for but the miracle is, so far there have been no fatalities.

Unlike the U.S. and Europe, Canada is very lax when it comes to where these propane fuel storage plants can be located. It is so unfortunate that it takes an accident like this to make our govenment wake up or at least I hope it will but I see an interesting time ahead this week with the City of Toronto trying to answer how this storage facility was allowed to locate in a built-up residential area 5 years ago.

...A story about pernicious anaemia being diagnosed too late and the resulting consequences

2007-10-29T14:10:00.000-07:00

On October 9th last, the Pernicious Anaemia Society and the Pernicious Anaemia forum reached a milestone...Joshua joined as the youngest member of the PA society and of the forum.

Joshua is a 13 year old boy who was just recently diagnosed with Sub-Acute Combined Degeneration of the Spinal Cord, secondary to PA (SACDSC). He almost died before this diagnosis was made. Joshua (JJ) became ill in January of this year. During the time leading up to his diagnosis he saw many doctors and many hospitals. His paediatrician knew there was something wrong but again because of his age did not think to check for B12. JJ saw a liver specialist at Sick Childrens’ Hospital in Toronto. The liver specialist diagnosed him with Wilson’s Disease after a biopsy, but did not do a follow up even refusing to return calls from JJ’s mother. In the meantime, JJ's condition was getting worse. He was turning a nice shade of yellow that made his father think that JJ was in the early stages of liver failure. JJ’s paediatrician contacted the liver specialist at Sick Childrens’ Hospital and got no satisfaction from that doctor. The paediatrician believed that JJ’s illness was a problem with his blood and he contacted a haematologist at Sick Childrens’ Hospital whom he knew personally to ask him to see JJ. An appointment was set up but before that happened JJ collapsed and was unable to walk.

It was through the efforts of the paediatrician that the parents were able to get JJ admitted into Sick Childrens’ Hospital within a very short time. This hospital is located in Toronto, about a 50 minute drive by car from JJ's home. His father carried JJ out to the car and along with his mother, JJ was taken to Sick Childrens’ Hospital, his father carrying JJ into the hospital upon their arrival. It did not take very long for a team of doctors including a paediatrician and a haematologist to diagnose JJ’s illness...a B12 deficiency. JJ’s parents were told that JJ made history because his B12 level was the lowest recorded, a level of 0.

JJ remained in hospital for a week and a half with further tests being done. These tests confirmed PA and a later test confirmed SACDSC. And JJ is only 13. With the diagnosis of PA, Wilson's Disease was ruled out. JJ returned home, confined to a wheelchair. His parents were taught how to inject the B12 and JJ was on high loading doses of cyanocobalamin and folic acid. He was put on 40mg of folic daily (8 tablets of the 5mg prescribed) and will continue on this amount until Oct. 30th when he goes back to Toronto to see the doctor. The doctor explained the high amount of folic was needed because JJ was not absorbing vitamins at all. JJ is also on high amounts of calcium.

Martyn Hooper, the Chair of the PA Society has the same form of Pernicious Anaemia as JJ. Upon hearing JJ's story and the fact that JJ was confined to a wheelchair moved him deeply, consequently he grabbed a flight from his native Wales, traveling to Canada to meet with JJ on our Canadian Thanksgiving Day, October 8th. We met up with JJ at a neighbour's home close to me, the very same neighbour who had alerted me to what had happened with JJ. JJ is slowly improving, he had graduated from a wheelchair to a walker with wheels. Martyn was able to answer some of JJ's questions, particularly why JJ was having trouble with balance and walking.

Last week, his mom called me to tell me he was trying to use crutches. Good for JJ. He cannot go to school and the doctors think it may be January before he can go back. In the meantime, three schools have asked Martyn and I to go in and speak to them about Pernicious Anaemia. JJ’s school has asked for our help to let the students know what pernicious anaemia is and how they can help JJ when he returns. The other school is where JJ’s father is employed. What irks me most though is JJ needs a laptop, he is unable to hold a pen or pencil in his hand (an early sign of PA neurological damage is not being able to make a fist) and the school board is unwilling to provide him with one. Shame on them!!!

The haematologist and paediatrician at Sick Childrens’ Hospital who diagnosed JJ are writing a paper about JJ...they were astounded that, although Juevenile Pernicious Anaemia (JPA) is rare, a simple B12 test was not done.

I think everyone should have their B12 levels and Folate level checked on a yearly basis. This blood test could save your life or the life of your child.

Adoption:...finding my mother

2007-07-15T12:25:00.000-07:00

Clayton Ruby, a well known and respected lawyer in Toronto is launching a court challenge to the Adoption Information Disclosure Act, 2005, which will come into effect late this fall in Ontario. Mr. Ruby believes that parents and children involved in adoption have the right of privacy and if they so wish, should have the right to restrict that information contained in their files so no one can access the personal information.

I so disagree with this. ( I will explain why I disagree in my father's story, the dundas side). Thank Gawd for Marilyn Churley who has led the fight to make Ontario open its adoption books. I am a foster child, I was never legally adopted. I was six months old when my maternal grandmother brought me to a farm in rural Whitby and left me with a family with the understanding that it would be for a short period of time. That short period stretched into 19 years. Now, I consider myself fortunate that I was never legally adopted. That means my birth certificate was never changed. What bit of information that was available to me was found quite by accident one day when, as a child of 12 years, I was rummaging through an old trunk in my foster parents' home and discovered a letter that had been written to my foster parents from my maternal grandmother. I had always known that I was "adopted" from an early age because my two older foster brothers would bring up that fact quite often when they wanted to be mean and nasty to me, in the sense that "you are adopted and you don't belong, you are not one of us".

I held on to that letter (it was never missed by my foster parents) because where I came from and how I was raised with this family, was never discussed. At a young age I knew not to ask my foster parents any of those kind of questions, knowing that I would not get an answer. Perhaps I was afraid that the answer would be what my foster brothers always said to me.."your mother did not want you so she gave you away".

When I was nineteen, I was no longer living with my foster family. It was 1959 and I was employed at Bell Telephone as an information and long distance operator. It was very easy for me to take the letter, written by my grandmother, and locate a telephone number for her. I did not think at the time about how shocked my grandmother would be when she got the telephone call from me. I have to give her credit though because not once did she scold me for calling or tell me that my mother would not want to hear from me, instead she asked me some information about myself, told me that I had a brother who was a year older than I and took my telephone number, promising me that she would give this information to my mother.

I left work that afternoon, going home to my apartment, waiting with a feeling of trepidation for the shrill ring of the telephone. The telephone did ring and on the other end was my mother. She began by asking me questions and then telling me why she had been unable to keep me. I discovered that my mother and father had been married, that my father was in the army and that my mother left him when I was a couple of weeks old because she said he had been physically abusive to her.

We agreed to meet the following Sunday and so with my boyfriend whom I had asked to accompany me for support, we drove to Cooksville, Ontario... to the restaurant where my mother and her common law husband were waiting..I walked into the restuarant, it was mid-afternoon but inside it was dark and gloomy (not a good sign). My mother saw us and immediately left the booth where she had been sitting and came up to me. I saw a stranger.

All those years of growing up, living with a family who were the complete opposite in looks to me...they were fair-skin, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, whilst I had jet-black hair, green eyes but I did have a fair skin (from my celtic ancestors, I later discovered). I looked at this stranger standing before me, looking for similarities but finding none, only in the shape of our body. My mother had a dark swarthy complexion, black hair and black eyes. This was not the mother of my childhood dreams.

We left the restaurant and followed my mother and her partner to a trailer park in Cooksville. They lived in a large trailer on a well-kept little street within the trailer park. Masses of climbing roses hung over the fence that bordered their corner lot and and competed for colour with scarlet geraniums that were planted in flower beds around the trailer.

My mother thought it best to have a talk first so she and I went into the trailer to the spare bedroom where we both sat down. I listened to what she had to say, again she placed all of the blame on my father, saying he used to beat her up all the time which was why she left him (I found my father 28 years later and my very first look at him convinced me that what my mother said was a lie, even thinking that just maybe it was the other way around, she beating my father). Now at 19, I was not that wise but I thought it very unfair of her to defame my father when he was not present to defend himself. I did not say this to her of course but that figured greatly in making me withdraw and not allowing myself to be open with her. It also prevented me from having any kind of deep feeling for her. She told me about my brother, a half-brother, named Larry who was one year older than me. She told me she was pregnant with Larry when his father was accidentally killed, racing a speed-boat on the Detroit River. She also told me she married my father to give my brother a legal name but then became pregnant with me right away.

We kept in fairly close contact from 1959 to 1972. I married in 1962 (the same boyfriend who accompanied me on my first visit to my mother), we had two daughters, born 1963 and 1966. My mother did visit quite often and our daughters called her nan. Our third child, a son, was born June 9th, 1970. He had a severe birth defect (a hole in his diaphragm) and lived only for three hours. From 1970 to 1971 we saw very little of my mother and in 1972 our second son was born on January 13th. I asked her to visit to see her grandson but she always put it off. In November of that year she sent me a birthday card, wishing me a happy birthday but said she thought it was best for her if she did not visit but did want to stay in contact by means of a yearly birthday card. I chose not to reply. I have not spoken to her or contacted her since that date.

I will admit the relationship was very one-sided. I tried to give more but could not, a hangover I think from being abandoned because that is and has always been the way I look at what both of my parents did to me, they equally abandoned their responsibility to me. Consequently, to this day, I am close only to my husband, my daughters and my son and his wife.

Finding my father (the Dundas side of that story) will follow.

Happy Canada Day

2007-07-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Canada.

As I write this blog, I hear the sound of firecrackers that my neighbours are letting off, celebrating Canada Day. There are some small children running around and I wonder what they are being taught in school about our country's history. So many Canadians do not know who was the first Prime Minister of Canada. Nor do they know the names of all of our provinces and territories. Will our children in today's schools sing the words to the Maple Leaf Forever...In days of yore, from Britain's shore, Wolfe the dauntless hero came,... I am certain they do not have a clue who Wolfe was, what the Plains of Abraham are or what the Seven Years War meant to our country. How sad they are missing out. I enjoyed taking history in school, I enjoyed learning about this beautiful vast country of ours and reading about our dauntless heroes who went before us.

Memories

2007-06-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

My early childhood was spent on a farm. I was born in 1940, abandoned by both of my parents at the age of 6 months. My grandmother brought me to a family who lived on a farm. It was supposed to be a temporary situation but it was 19 years before I saw my mother again. I grew up in a family of roughhouse boys and I was 6 years old when a foster sister was born to my foster parents. We lived on a farm in a very rural area, no running water, no hydro and a wood burning cookstove and a coal burning heater were used to heat the old farmhouse. We had very little money but we never went hungry. I remember attending a one-room school comprised of grades one to eight and walking home in the winter during a blizzard over frozen fields of snow, to come home to the smell of supper and the heat of the kitchen, finding a corner behind the cookstove to sit and warm up and yes to day-dream. The kitchen was lit by a coal-oil lamp which we were never allowed to touch. Other lamps were placed throughout the living room and the upstairs bedrooms.

In the winter time, the mailman delivered the mail using a horse and cutter. The road was never plowed during winter and it would be late spring before we could ever get our car ( a model T) down the road and eventually down the lane to our farmhouse. To get groceries in the winter, my foster father would hook up a team of horses to a large sleigh and we would all climb on board for the trip into Blackstock, about 5 miles. Once we got onto the main road, a narrow road, we would sometimes encounter a car and although horses are supposed to have the right of way over vehicles, my foster father would always take the initiative and back up the team to a place where the car could get around us. Not easy to do, backing up a team of horses attached to a large sleigh.

In the summer time, we kids would always go barefoot, (see picture at top right) shoes were expensive and it wouldn't be until school started up again in September that we were faced with having to wear shoes again and go through the agony of blisters. The only time I injured myself going barefoot was when I ran down the middle of our laneway and stepped on a wasp's nest in the ground that was covered up by long grass. I did get stung quite a bit but my foster mother just took me down to the barnyard and packed mud on all the stings. It must have worked because I can't recall any adverse reaction to all the stings other than they were sore. During summer we kids had to help out on the farm, particularly during haying season and threshing season. When the oats and wheat were ready to be threshed, a team of workers hauling a thresher would go from farm to farm until all the farms had finished bringing in the wheat or oats. This meant preparing three large meals per day beginning with breakfast, not unusual to have to cook for 10 additional people, lunch was called dinner and consisted of potatoes, meat, vegetables and home-made pies. Dinner was called supper and consisted of the very same assortment of foods as for dinner (lunch). But all meats prepared came directly from the farm, same as the vegetables and fruit for the pies. The odd vegetable may have come from a can but most of our food was produced on the farm. We did not have a tractor so our fields were plowed using a team of horses, a matched dapple grey, called Prince and Tiny. Hay was raked and stooked using a pitchfork and I hated this job because oftentimes a big old garter snake would fall from the stook as I tried to pick up the stook to put it on the haywagon. The only way to get the hay into the barn was by using a pulley with a rope attached to a fork, then you would pull on the rope, once the fork had sunk into the hay wagon and up the hay would go, through the trap door near the roof of the barn and then once in the barn, you would release the fork by pulling on the rope and the hay would drop into the mow. The hay mow in the barn would be piled high with hay and I would watch in awe and a bit of fear as my foster brothers would ride the pulley fork across the top of the hay mow from one end of the barn to the other. They always got into trouble for doing this.

We had another horse on the farm who was old and blind so didn't do much work. He was very gentle and we would hook him up to a stonebolt (a contraption resembling a sleigh by using 2 logs as runners and then tying a heavy stone at each end of the runners and placing planks between the runners) and he would take off down through the fields as if the devil was chasing him, bouncing us kids off the stonebolt. The horse, although blind, always seemed to know where he was going...waiting for us further on down in the field like he was laughing at us.

The battling Persians

2007-06-27T13:20:00.000-07:00

My two daughters have two Persian cats, a Red Tabby called Saffy with very orange eyes and a Smoke Tortie called Salem with very orange eyes . Salem is your typical Halloween cat and Saffy is a smaller version of Garfield. They are now 11 years old but still act like kittens. They will stand up on their hind legs and box each other.

Pernicious Anaemia...Pernicious Anemia

2007-06-26T07:35:00.000-07:00

My daughter was diagnosed with pernicious anaemia and folic acid anaemia in 1994 when she was 27 years old. Our family doctor was very frank with us in admitting that he was not that familiar with the disease. The technology of the internet at that time was not as advanced as it is now and the only place I could find any information on this disease was at the library.

The course of treatment varies world-wide. It is not consistent and differs from the type of serum used in the B12 injections to the guidelines that are used when dispensing treatment. Most of the world uses Hydroxocobalamin B12 injectable serum. Canada and the United States use Cyanocobalamin, while Japan uses Methylcobalamin. The U.K., Ireland, Holland, Australia, New Zealand use Hydroxocobalamin. Hydroxo has a longer retention period in the system whereas anywhere from 50 to 90 percent of an injected dose of Cyanocobalamin may appear in the urine within 48 hours after the injection. Every country has a different reference value for what are accepted lower and upper reference values for B12 levels. Again inconsistencies. This is where there is a definite need for further research. Many P.A. sufferers are unaware that they can self-inject. My daughter was unaware because that fact is not promoted by the medical profession in Canada and elsewhere. Teaching P.A. patients to self-inject is a positive way of decreasing health costs.

With the discovery of B12 in the early 1950's, pernicious anaemia has become a "forgotten disease" because it is mistakenly believed that with the injection of B12, the disease is now cured. That is not true. B12 injections can only control the disease in much the same way that a person with diabetes injects insulin to control their insulin level.

Fact or Myth:
The injection of B12 cures Pernicious Anaemia.
Wrong: There is no cure for Pernicious Anaemia but with injections of B12, the disease becomes controllable, much in the same way as diabetes is not cured by insulin but becomes controllable.
Pernicious Anaemia afflicts only people over the age of 60.
Wrong: Pernicious Anaemia can develop at any time of life, particularly if another member of your family such as a parent, grandparents have also had PA.
A person with pernicious anaemia can also have other autoimmune diseases.
True: Thyroiditis can co-exist with pernicious anaemia. Folic Acid Anaemia as well as IDA, (Iron Deficiency Anaemia) can co-exist as well.