I am Tammy Craik.
I have always been a very active individual. As a child I spent a lot of time outside. We climbed trees, rode bikes, went hiking and always found new adventures outside.
Growing up, I had a few trips to the hospital. When I was about 5, I got a terrible infection in my left leg. I fell off a swing and got a large sliver in my knee. I pulled it out and didn’t tell my parents. After about a week I convinced my Mom to have a doctor look at my leg. My leg was so badly infected that we were told if it went untreated it could lead to amputation. I spent the next few days in the hospital hooked up to an IV.
When I was 10, I had another trip to the hospital. I fell over a railing from the second floor of our house and landed on a tile floor. I stopped breathing for a period of time and was unconscious for around 30 minutes. I only spent 1 night in the hospital and I was miraculously released the following day with no reported injuries.
Our family moved around a lot. When I was 11 we moved to Vancouver Island. We no longer had a forest to explore, but I joined every sport I could. I was not the most athletic player, but I was enthusiastic and enjoyed being part of a team. I also joined student council committees in high school and university. I have always loved working on computers and as I was working toward my Bachelor of Arts and Education degrees at Malaspina (now VIU). I also took a Distance Education program through BCIT to learn Web Design. While attending school, I met the love of my life.
After receiving my degrees in 2003, I got engaged. I taught grades 9-12 at an Independent School in Vancouver. I worked 12 hour days, teaching from 9-3 and tutoring from 3:30-9:00. I also started my own web design business which I did in my spare time.
I was married in 2004 and in October 2005 my son was born. I stopped teaching but I continued web design and tutored a few hours a week. I was an active parent and signed up for many programs. In 2007 my daughter was born and shortly after, I gave up tutoring. We bought a house in 2009 with a nice yard next to a school. In 2010 my youngest son was born and my oldest started Kindergarten.
In 2010, I joined the School PAC Executive. Over the next 5 years I took on various roles on the Executive, including Co-President, Treasurer, Secretary, and SPC Exec Rep. I also continued with my web design, juggled my kids various extra curricular activities, and still found time to enjoy biking, hiking, geocaching, and being outside. I have always welcomed neighbourhood kids at my house and I enjoy the chaos.
In 2012, my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. After a long 18 months of chemo and radiation treatment she was finally cancer free.
In 2013, we not only celebrated my Mom’s health, but my sister was expecting her fist son and my brother was engaged. We went on a family Caribbean cruise and a Disney vacation. This is when I learned the importance of family vacations.
In October, we built a treehouse in an old tree in our backyard for our kids to enjoy the outdoors that way I did as a child. In 2014, I began regular workouts on our xbox and I also started walking every Wednesday with a friend. I started to get a bit more tired than usual but I figured it was because I was doing more physical activity.
I have a great network of family and friends. We help each other out and listen to each other’s frustrations. I have always believed that the best way to deal with a problem is to talk about it.
On April 29, 2015, I began to experience unexplainable symptoms that eventually landed me back in the hospital for 10 days.