Brenda's Brainstorm & Trevor, a T Man Production 2009 - 2022

Hi, it's Trevor, The Tell Tale Dog, here once again, to share many wonderful things, that happened to Brenda this year.  We are going to be doing some big plugs for some wonderful organizations, all for the purpose of arthritis awareness and hope.  Neil Sedaka is one of Brenda's favorite singers and one of his songs "Calendar Girl" could certainly be applied here.  Almost every month this year, something good happened to Brenda.  We start out with January.  As some of you know, that is her birthday month.  She had an event, for brain tumor awareness, as she is also now a four-year meningioma brain tumor survivor.  A page was set up on Facebook by one of her brain tumor buddies.  People were invited to share their pictures involving their own brain tumor journeys.  Almost 100 people participated, which was just awesome.  She also received many birthday wishes, which was just wonderful.  It was also 50 degrees that day in January in North Dakota, which

Hello fellow readers, it's Trevor, The Tell Tale Dog, here once again, to share another story,  This is really going to be different, because we will be reflecting, this time around. It has now, been almost 2 years, since I came to live with Brenda.  I was actually, staying with her and her Mom, as Brenda, was still recovering from her first carpal tunnel surgery.  I moved in with Brenda, after her Mom got sick, and had to be put in a nursing home. It was really a sad time for her and I am so glad, I was there, to keep her company. Not long after that, I started to help out Brenda with her blog.  That is how, Trevor, The Tell Tale Dog, was conceived.  It was first called Trevor's Tales, but it was later changed, as I actually became a storyteller.  Brenda's Mom, made me a wonderful dog collar, right before she became ill.  It is purple, the awareness colors for meningiomas, along with 2 dog bone charms and TT, representing my work.  Trevor's Tales or no

Well, it's Trevor, The Tell Tale Dog, here once again to share another story of Brenda's life.  This time, we are going to be doing some venting.  Brenda recently went through a terrible time, of being without phone service for nearly 5 days, which is just too long in my book. We will take you back, when she was forced to change services for her ISP, as her local one was no longer offering DSL service, as they just couldn't keep up with the offers of the competition with bundling, etc.   Now, let me just share with you that bundling, is not always a good thing, at least in this instance it hasn't been.  The first thing that happened, when she made the switch was she couldn't send any emails, she could receive, but that was it.  That doesn't make a lot of sense now, does it?  She worked on this for almost a week with local ISP, who were so wonderful in trying to get her help, even though she would no longer be their DSL customer. That just shows

Hello, it's Trevor, The Tell Tale Dog, to share a very inspiring and uplifting story, that happened while shopping for a new pair of tennis shoes. As you know, Brenda has lived with Rheumatoid Arthritis for over twenty-one years now, and last year she was diagnosed with tendonitis in both of her feet. Her podiatrist recommended that she get a good pair of tennis shoes, with good support.  She has been wearing the Brooks brand for over a year now and really likes them, but along with that, she also has orthotics in each shoe, which were made especially for her, from a mold which fits perfectly in each shoe and also has a heel lift, in the left shoe. That is a lot to go through just to have comfort while walking.  So yesterday, Brenda went to Scheels, where she always gets her tennis shoes, but this time, she wanted something a little more funky and not just the basic black or white, that she usually gets.  They just happened to have some really cool colors on the s

Well, it's Trevor, The Tell Tale Dog, here once again.  We think you are really going to enjoy this installment very much.  Brenda, has been sharing with me, about how music, has had a big impact on her life.  She came from a musical family.  Everyone of her family members, were singers.  Some played the organ and piano for church, while others, sang in specials.  Brenda's mom, played the piano all by chords.  Now, that is a great talent. There was a lot of natural talent, because you see, Brenda does not read notes, but she has a great ear.  She can hear something once and pretty much pick it up.  She did take voice lessons and her teachers helped her a lot with learning how to breathe properly when singing and also, developing her first soprano voice.  She was very active in music in high school, with being in the choir, several groups, but her favorite was the swing choir. She sang solos for their annual variety show, which she enjoyed very much.  Her s

Trevor, The Tell Tale Dog, here again to share another adventure in Brenda's life. This week again, for the third time, she experienced an outbreak of shingles.  For those of you who have had them, you know how painful they can be.  They can also wear on your nerves, which this time they certainly are doing that for Brenda. The first outbreak was the worst, all because she really didn't know what she was facing.  By the time she went to the doctor, he was suspecting shingles, but wanted to be absolutely sure what he was dealing with.  He popped one, so he could send it to the lab.  They were on her right upper thigh and boy did that hurt, when he did that.  Three days later the lab test came back positive for you guessed it, Shingles! He had put her on an antibiotic, so she would not experience infection.  Since she was on a biologic for her RA, that meant no injection for that week or possibly the next.  This was over the 4th of July in 2009.  Not really a way to

Well, it's Trevor here again, to share another tale of Brenda's life.  This time, we are going to do something really different from the norm.  We are going to be sharing something that few people know about Brenda.  You see, her career as a stunt person, pretty much ended on that fateful day, when she decided to jump from a snow bank.  It was, when she was in the third grade.  She was going to show some people how brave she was, but when she hit the bottom, the excruciating pain she felt.  Her left knee was all swollen by this time.  Her Mom and sister came with a sled to take her home.  She went to the doctor the next day and was told that she tore some ligaments.  Was told to ice it.  She was also told it was called a jarred knee.  Some people, thought that was so funny to call it that.  To this day, when she moves it back and forth it will actually move out of place.  Some people actually got their jollies watching that as well.  She was also told, that when

Trevor, The Tell Tale Dog, here once again, to share another story of Brenda's life.  She has been going through some real deep things as of late.  She recently experienced a real eye opening experience, that really threw her for a loop. You see, Brenda not only lives with Rheumatoid Arthritis, but is also a three-year meningioma brain tumor survivor. She has tried her hardest to bring awareness to both, as she personally feels, that they go hand in hand with coping.  The hardest thing that she is experiencing right now, is that some people are just not willing to think outside the box.  They are only focused on their issues and not willing to branch out and see the big picture. This is particularly hurtful to Brenda, because all she has ever been is supportive in both of these areas,  She is willing to at least, look at the other side and make her decisions accordingly.  She kind of feels like she has been preaching to the choir, but when she asked for a little

Hello, Trevor, The Tell Tale Dog here, to share with you another inspiring tale of Brenda's life.  This year has been anything but dull for her.  She has had many wonderful things happen and I couldn't be more proud! This has also been a tough year for her as well.  She just recently passed the one-year anniversary of her Mom's passing.  That was very difficult.  She has shed a lot of tears over the past couple of weeks.  She had a really nice thing happen to her though the day of the anniversary.  She heard from both Seth and Nam, the two guys she had the pleasure of working with, on her advocacy day.  Now, that is what I call true friends in my doggy  book.  It was really great to be thought of, especially that day.  She has also had some friends that are going through some rough times and that prompted her, to recently write a poem.  I would like to share it with our readers. If I Could I Would If I could take away your pain, I would. If I could wipe aw

Hi, Lil' Biscuit, here to introduce myself to you.  I came to live with Brenda and Trevor, last November.  Trevor takes great care of me, while Brenda is at work.  I have a nice cozy bed, as I am still a puppy and sleep a lot. Trevor is helping me with this, as my paws are still too small to reach some of the keys.  He is a great help and inspiration to Brenda.  So with that, I will let Brenda continue to tell this wonderful tale.  Thanks Lil' Biscuit, that was wonderful.  It has been an amazing year to say the least.  My passion has been to help others and to be an encouragement to them.  That dream was realized in so many ways this year.  We have to actually back up to last December, when I got involved with a great project called, Show Us Your Hands! poster project, along with an interactive collage.  A poster was released with 483 pictures of beautiful hands.  Since this was such a big hit, why not try to make this a 1,000 pictures of beautiful hands.  This g

Hi, Trevor, The Tell Tale Dog, here to share another great story of Brenda's life. Before we go on, some of our readers have been asking about Lil' Biscuit.  She is doing well, we continue to bond quite nicely.  She really is a sweetheart and not much trouble at all.  Thanks for asking. Now, on to our tale.  As you know, Brenda has lived with Rheumatoid Arthritis for the past 21 years.  Yesterday, April 20th, marked the 11th anniversary of her first injection with the Biologic drug Enbrel.  To help her commemorate this special day were 2 people from The Global Healthy Living Foundation, Seth Ginsberg, Co-Founder and President and Project Manager, Nam Pak.  I will post a couple of links here, so you can check out these wonderful sites. http://www.GHLF.org   and http:/www.CreakyJoints.org The day after she found out Seth and Nam were coming to Bismarck, she received another surprise. She was asked to be a guest blogger for the CreakyJoints newsletter.  She would actu

Trevor, The Tell Tale Dog here once again, to share with you a story of inspiration and hope. It has been a sad time in Brenda's life once again, as she lost yet, another family member.  Her brother-in-law Larry, who passed away last week.  He was married to her sister Bev, who passed away in 2003 from colon cancer.  Brenda has written a wonderful story about her.  It's called "Remembering My Big Sister" and you can find it here, as it was before I came along. She had a chance to share this story with Larry, as she gave him a copy.  She received the nicest thank you card from him.  This is what he wrote.  "Thank you so much for that beautiful writing you wrote about Bev. I can tell when I read it, it came totally from the love of your heart." I had the pleasure of meeting Larry myself once, and I have to say, that he seemed like a pretty neat fella. Brenda had a few lunches with Larry a few months before he passed.  After they went through her mom

Well, it's Trevor, The Tell Tale Dog here again, with the first blog post of 2012.  I have been bonding quite nicely with Biscuit, as she is getting used to her surroundings.  Brenda found an old quilt that her mother had made for her doll crib, when she was a little girl and thought that would work out perfectly for the little darling and it does.  Brenda is doing pretty well these days.  She had another birthday recently and she was just so touched by all your birthday wishes on Facebook, cards, and phone calls.  She decided that this year for her birthday, she would do something different and that is where the event comes in.  She thought it would be cool if she could think of a way to spread brain tumor and brain cancer awareness, but at the same time make it informative and fun.  She wouldn't have been able to do this without the help of a special brain tumor bro, named Brian, who offered to make up an event page for her.  From that point on, they started inviting pe