End of Summer update

I have taken a break from blogging for the last couple of weeks. As what is starting to feel like normal for me, there have been some more big changes; new job, family visiting, learning to walk and oh yeah getting used to our beautiful baby.

When I moved to Portland four years ago I found what was the perfect company for me at that time. I am in the mortgage business, and what I needed most at 25 years of age in a new location was an employer that would not only direct me well, but also educate and respect me. Last year the company that filled that expectation opened a mortgage banking side and I moved away from loan origination to work as an Account Executive. As an AE I worked directly with loan officers and quite frankly got sick of educating them on how to best do their job and take care of their clients. Because of the changes in the Mortgage industry, my growing family and the desire to work more directly with homeowners and buyers, I am going back to being a Mortgage Originator.

While making this decision I also determined that I needed a different company. I have for the last couple of years been looking for a way to incorporate some of my personal philosophies of community into my professional life. A friend of mine, Tony, has been working with a partner, Jared, successfully for over three years and after a couple meetings with them we were all convinced that we would be a good team. The two of them already have a good system of educating their clients in place and is really easy to fit me in. The last couple of weeks have been so refreshing. Having people around me that hold some of the same values, in a professional setting, is so hard to find. In this market, the system that we are setting up is very exciting and I have no doubt will be efficient.

A few days after Xander was born my parents came into town from Mexico City to be with their first grand-baby. Just after that Tara’s mom came from Florida to see the boy. In a couple days Tara’s dad from New York will be here as well. It has been a welcome assistance to have them here. Mostly it helps with the feeling that we are not just dropped off with a newborn. Our boy is a great baby. He sleeps through the night, eats well and poops like a champ. The new grandparents I am sure did not come close to their fill of Xander time but, they will see him again soon, we are all spending Christmas together along with my brother and his wife.

Through out the last month I have also been learning to walk again. I am working on a video but my abilities in that area are slow and will have it soon. Things are going ahead of schedule in the process, as normal I am pushing it. From day one with the new leg I have been walking with a cane, I hate crutches. It feels great to walk regardless of the fact that it is not going as fast as I want it to. I will blog more about this as it progresses. Right now we are still working on getting the socket to fit correctly and once we can get that dialed in I’m sure I will have some stories of breaking something soon.

We need your pics

We are working on a new website for shirts for limbs. One of the pieces that we are looking for is an interaction with the process, a way to show that everyone is a part of this venture. To fill this piece we are asking that if you have received a shirt send us a picture of you wearing the shirt. We are going to have a slide show, of sorts, showing off all those that have contributed to the cause.

So please, wear your shirt.

Take a picture.

Then email the picture to me. tarverh@gmail.com

If you have a Fickr account you can add it to our pool here.

Here is a picture of the Saturday Market booth we do when daddy has gotten enough sleep to be able to enjoy a Saturday with Portland finest.

Keep the picture clean, but send in pics of you doing what you do while wearing the shirt.

Tarver, Walking?

It is getting so close I can taste it. Last week I took my first step on a prosthetic leg. Through the process of what we created with Shirts For Limbs and some of the press that we have received, I was donated a knee.  Here, is the full story of how that came about.

The socket needed some adjustments and tomorrow it should be done. This is the piece that is so crucial fits just right. I am going with a suction type socket and over the last month I have been working on the strength of the stump, with that the shape has changed. Aside from all that I was able to walk on the leg. In a matter of minutes I figured out how this knee works and how to control it. When straight, and with heel pressure it locks. Then, when you put pressure on the toe it unlocks and bends for a step. Over about a half hour of walking back and forth between parallel bars, stopping to tweak here and there, I was able to walk! Half way through the process my prosthestist suggested putting my full weight on when stepping and not using the bars for support. I said I have been doing that the whole time and then he started paying attention to my hands.

It felt so good. I still have a decent amount of nerve pain in the stump but when I was in the leg and moving around there was no pain at all. I was so close to tears, I have not been able to walk with out pain for fifteen years. Tara said that if I would have had pants on she wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference from before.

This is by no means the end of the need to raise $$$ though. This knee that was donated will work as a great knee to learn on and possibly use as a back up. We still have the goal of $40,000, and I am still amazed at what has come in so far. Thank you to all of you that have donated and are keep up with the progress. There have been some cool things happening with legislation in Oregon that will help out in January. I will write more about that soon, but it is still going to leave gaps for amputees and I would love to be of assistance to help pick up those out of pocket costs, let alone what mine will are now. So please keep spreading the word.

Here are a few pictures of the process.

Oh yeah, have I mentioned how adorable my son is. Here is a classic picture of Xander and Daddy taking a nap.