Chris Lesanko.com

Let me start off by thanking all the individuals that made the tournament in Regina and Bracebridge a huge success once again.  Blaine / Darlene / Brian /Britney / Nick were the  organizers in Regina.  And believe it or not, Mary was the only organizer for the Bracebridge tournament.  I cannot thank you guys enough for all the hard work, valuable time spent and frustrations that you spent into this year’s event to make it even more memorable than the previous year. 

Also a huge thank you goes out to all sponsors for each tournament.  It is truly amazing to see all the support from local businesses and even businesses that are across the country.  Thank you so much for all the door prizes and hole sponsors.

Thank you so much for all the participants who took part in one of the two golf tournaments this year.  Once again it is truly amazing to see all the support from my close friends and family and even from complete strangers that I have not even met.  It truly is special to see all the people who came out to the events in Regina, I am definitely going to make that one in Bracebridge next year you can count on that.

You guys really do not know how much this means to me to see everybody’s continuous support.  Unfortunately the recovery is not very quick but it takes years and years of consistent and intense exercising to recover.  It truly does keep the fire lit with inside of me for another year to keep fighting.. once again thanks a million

please do not hesitate to give me an e-mail is always good to hear from other individuals.  As for me, the rest of my summer consists of trying to get a facility opened up in Regina Saskatchewan, coaching the under 16 provincial lacrosse team, finishing up my correspondence, getting ready for my brothers stag and his wedding, and preparing to be the MC of a close friend’s wedding……. hopefully I really want to try fishing for the first time in 3 1/2 years with my father.

The total amount of money that was raised from the two golf tournaments exceeded the amount of money that was raised last year from three tournaments.  This money goes directly towards my rehabilitation and the prices that come with the intense and consistent training.  Also maybe if I am very lucky, another trip down south to project walk.  I will keep everybody posted, but as you know the summertime nobody wants to be around a computer.

Thank you to all the sponsors from the Regina tournament

 Systems Scaffolding Company – Mr. Don Bell

 Briash Holdings Ltd. – Mr. Darcy Paul

Performance Marine – Mr. Jeff Lorch

These three individuals contributed to the hole-in-one, Mr. Bell also contribute a Ron Lancaster framed autographed jersey which went for $1300- thanks once again 

 

HOLE SPONSORS:

Briash Holdings Ltd.

CEG Energy Options Inc.

Clear Tech

Fast Athletic Sports Training

Harvest Land Investment Education

Macpherson Leslie & Tyerman

Morris Industries Ltd.

Mosaic Potash Ltd.

NHLfactory.com

Park Avenue Builders (1991) Ltd.

Rusnak Kachur Balako Rusnak Law Firm

SARCAN Recycling

Soaring Ostrich Productions

Systems Scaffolding Inc.

Tan-FX

Thee Lingerie Shoppe

 

PRIZE SPONSORS:

Artistic Painting

Aspen Links Country Club

Beaver Ridge Lodge

BMO Nesbitt-Burns

Boston Pizza

Brewsters

Broken Rack

B-Sharp Music

Calgary Flames

Curves

David Mitchell

Fit Zone

Future Shop

Great West Brewing Company

Harvest Meats

Heavenly Feet Reflexology

Independent Living

Jane’s Skin Care and Day Spa

Marks Work Wearhouse

Minnesota Swarm

Morris Industries

Moxies Restaurant

NHLfactory.com

Press Box

Provincial Hydraulics

Regina Marine

Regina Pats

Regina Rams

RONA

Saskatchewan Association for Resource Recovery Corporation

Saskatchewan Association of Rehabilitation Centres

Shear Symmetrics

Soaring Ostrich Productions

Systems Scaffolding Company

Tan-FX

Tourism Regina

Uni-Select

Wolseley Waterworks Group

 

 

Just wanted to thank all the individual sponsors from the Bracebridge tournament

Hole Sponsors –

·        Greavette Pontiac Cadillac & Garnet Johnson

·        Myraton Industries, Tom and Jill Ryan

·        Trifecta Canada, Doug Pelletier

·        Cottage Country Family Health Team

·        Direct Energy, Harris Hunter

·        Sublime Graphics, Jeremy Cleland

·        Tropical Dream Destinations, Michelle O’Brien

·        Creighton Rock Drill, Jim Creighton

·        Culver & Henderson Building Design, Cynthia Henderson

·        Erborn Electric, Aaron Back

·        BDO Dunwoody, Paul Taylor

·        Digirolomo Greenhouses, Mike Digirolomo & Barb Curry

·        Dave Samborski Realtor

 

Donations

Joyce Waterman; Scott Hackney; Jen &Vic Steane; Ethel Smith, Jody Smith; Paul Robertson; Harris Hunter; Garnet Johnson; Lockie Wye; Chris Stockwell; Rana Samborski; David Hou; Michelle O’Brien; Jen & Tyler Allair (Inn on Bay);  Robbie and Alain of North Restaurant; Tana D’Amico; Elmer Olsen Model Management; Mariola & Danny Andrusky; Joeffer Caoc; Shirley Farmer; Donalda; Ryan Chatwin; Taboo Golf Course; Silver Lakes Golf Course; Muskoka Stone and Garden; Shine; Conquest Tours; Sue Ferguson; Signature Tours; Paul Robertson; Orillia Floors; Windermere Golf& C.C.; Jeremy Hymers; Tim HortonsGravenhurst.

 

Special Thanks to :

Don MacKay and his staff including golf pro Darrick Harrop for their help in making this a spectacular day! 

As you can see from both golf tournaments amount of sponsorships is unbelievable, thank you to everybody who contributed something towards the event 

 

 

I have been back in Saskatchewan for a couple of weeks finally getting back into the routine of thing.  Started up my personal trainer last week and also have been working out with brian ever since we got back.  We have picked up a couple of new things to try which we have been working on to improve my overall stability within my hips and my abdominals.  Last Thursday my brother and Tyler M. managed to get me up on my feet with very little assistance while I was standing straight up.  Which is pretty impressive given the fact that no physiotherapy place has ever tried to do that-except for project walk. I am still doing the usual three hours a day - four days a week workout routine.

For anybody who is interested-we are having our first general meeting to discuss opening a facility which would be project walk certified in Regina Saskatchewan.  This meeting will be held at my apartment on the 27th of May at 7:30 please send me a e-mail if you are interested in attending or if you would like to be put on the contact list for further information regarding this facility. www.chrislesanko12@hotmail.com

We are starting to get down to our final preparations for the golf tournament which will be held on June 14 in Regina, Saskatchewan formerly known as Emerald Park golf and country club.  Information regarding registration and sponsorship are listed on the left hand side of my website -golf tournament 08  

I am still taking a small business management class through Athabasca University, which sadly to say, has been left on my computer desk for some time.. I do have a couple more months to complete this course, so we things will start to slow down so I can start getting smarter once again -hehe

anyways that is it for now-I will try to send off another update but it may be a little while because of the hectic schedule-

It definitely has been one of the most beneficial / memorable trips-I have done a lot more things than I could ever imagine up on my feet… it is really kind of funny, because when I stand up seems like second nature once again.  During my time here, I also managed to be a guinea pig for a couple of exercising machine.  The machine that I liked the most-it is a trendmail that hangs you up from a lift.  You have two individuals that moves your legs.  The beauty thing about this machine-is you can allocate how much of your body weight you want on your feet, you can choose to stand statically and do different exercises while weight-bearing…….. awesome.  Besides that-I also tried out a mechanical walker.  It will stand you up from sitting which is pretty remarkable because you do not need any assistance.  I have not spent too much time on developing my upper body, I have spent a lot of time on trying to figure out my hip.  I still tend to lean a lot to my left side-it probably will take some time to correct…………

I also had a few visitors last week-my brother ended up coming down-Nick and also my trainer from back home-Rod.  It was very cool to have them down.  Both of them gained a lot of experience and seen how I was doing.  We also managed to hit up  sea world for one day, which is always a great time.  I have put up a lot of videos on my facebook account, if you get a chance  please check them  out.  Also, do not forget to register for this upcoming years golf tournaments.  All the information should be posted on the website-I look forward to seeing you there, I will fire off one more e-mail hopefully before I leave project walk.

bye for now

Over the last month I have seen improvements in my overal strength and conditioning.  Almost every day trainers at project walk have me doing all sorts of exercises while I am standing on my feet-not by myself but with a little bit of assistance. For the first time last week I managed to get myself up in a walker-of course with a lot of assistance-and I made a couple loops around the facility.  This was a unbelievable feeling.  The feeling and sensation that I felt was like no other.  Although I had people moving my feet ahead of my body I felt a very strong connection that was relaying back to my brain.  Trying to duplicate a walking pattern will only take time because it takes hundreds and thousands of repetitious movements before the muscle and the nervous system can connect-also you must build a muscle mass in order to support your upper body.  I am not getting to sore and tired anymore which means my body is adapting to the intensity of the workouts.  We are still working on my abdominals and trying to stabilize my hip flexors.  This will allow me to stay on my feet longer without being strenuous.  The weather down here hasn’t been all that good, we have made a journey to the beach only once since we arrived.  I will be returning to Saskatchewan on May 2 so I have very little time to try to make the best use of the time down here as possible.  We also made a little journey out to Las Vegas.  This was a pretty cool experience given the fact that I always wanted to go.  We also made a trip out to Hoover Dam this in itself was worth the eight hour trip that took us to get back, instead of four hours because of traffic.  I am still plugging away at my education down here. We also have been working on details for this year’s golf tournament which will be held on June 14 in Regina at the old Emerald Park golf and country club in White city.  I will post more details in my next update.  It also has been really troublesome down here because we do not get too much NHL on the television down here, I know that my Bruins will become successful when they beat the Canadians………..

I will post another short update in a couple of weeks-so long for now

Sorry for such a delay on the update, my website was down for a little while but it is back……….

we arrived in San Diego on March 2 early in the morning one o’clock to be exact, we did not arrive at our place until shortly after two o’clock.  The flights and everything were good-no delays.  When we woke up in the morning we did not realize how close we were to the ocean.  We are within 1/2 block to the ocean and can view the ocean from a sliding door in our condo.  After a few days of settling down I finally got to go to project walk once again after two years .  It was definitely good to be back but I did not see a lot of familiar faces.  A lot of the trainers, moved to different locations or started up their own facilities.  The first day that I rolled in to project walk they automatically had me up on my feet.  During my couple of weeks that I have already been attending-I am doing a lot more gait training-this is where they train you to walk-then I was last time I was attending project walk.  Also since the last time I was down I have regained a lot more feeling and  Sensation.  This is definitely a very good thing but unfortunately the side effects are pain and soreness.  The one area of weakness that I have definitely noticed is that my hips have become extremely weak due to the fact that I sit in a wheelchair for a very long time.  Whenever I go to stand up my hips always fall for one side or another-this has been my biggest challenge and probably will be for the next two months.  I definitely have learnt a few different exercises and will continue to strengthen them as much as possible…………….. last time I was down it was my upper body that was weak and this really restricted what I could do when I stood up when I least that is working its way down and my hips should be the last part to strengthen.  Other than working out we really haven’t done too much-next week and we are getting the boot from the landlords because another individual is moving into the Condo.  So we are going to make a trip to Las Vegas and see what trouble we can get into.

On another note-we are starting to organize this year’s golf tournament I will post some information on the website once we get a few more things finalize but until then I will keep on putting posts on this site to provide some updates on how things are going……… so long for now

I hope all is well in 2008, I guess we can’t really complain about the weather it is the middle of January and it is raining.  Back into the full swing of physiotherapy-pretty excited the first day back in a swimming pool is on this Friday.  It should be an interesting adventure, I believe that I should probably be able to swim without any assistance.  I was in the pool when I was in my physiotherapy in the hospital, but I really couldn’t do too much except float.  I guess that is better than sinking.  I will keep everything posted on the link on my website that is listed as physiotherapy progress on the left-hand side.  It is that time again to hit the books, I registered for one more correspondence class through the University of Athabasca but I will still get my degree from Bishops University.  After this class I will only have four more, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.  We are going to start planning this year’s golf tournament in the next couple of weeks-I cannot wait for another summer like the one last summer.  The golf tournaments were amazing and a lot of fun.  I still want to try to get down to San Diego before this year’s golf tournaments……… so long for now

I am going to head back to the farm for a week so I will not have Internet access, just would like to take the time to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a happy new year-thank you once again for a tremendous year with all the support.  One of the major highlights in this year, was the success of the golf tournaments and you cannot forget the championship which the Saskatchewan Roughriders WON.  I believe  2008 will be a great year -I am raising expectations of myself for this upcoming year.  Number one thing is completing my degree and commit even a stronger commitment to my exercise program.  The program that I have in place took me nearly a year and a half to get all the right pieces together.  This program that consists of numerous different activities and exercises would not be possible for myself without the support from family, friends and even strangers.  I cannot thank you enough and I bring each and every one of you warm wishes for this upcoming year.  Hopefully I will be able to post another message after the new year-do not forget that you can always leave messages on this website as well. I also have added a couple of new pages -they are located on the left side on the home page.  One is called physiotherapy and the other one is stem cell research.  Feel free to add any comments that you would like

Scientists have made a startling breakthrough that allows them to “reprogram” ordinary skin cells to act like embryonic stem cells.
Stem cells are considered the body’s ultimate master cell, able to become almost any other kind of cell, such as heart or lung cells. They have thus been called “pluripotent,” meaning they have the ability to differentiate into other cell types.

Until now, the best source of stem cells has been from cloning cells from discarded human embryos. But the use of embryos has been fraught with ethical questions. Now, two new studies suggest there may be an easier way.

On Tuesday, it was announced that laboratory teams working on two continents have both been able to publish landmark studies on the use of skin cells to create pluripotent stem cells that look and act like embryonic stem cells.

They call the cells “induced pluripotent stem cells,” or iPS cells for short.

Dr. Janet Rossant, chief of research at Ottawa’s Hospital for Sick Children, said the findings are a “very important step forward.”

“You take the cell that has become quite specialized, making skin in this case, and by changing the genetic environment you can take the cell and make it think it’s back in the embryo and it has the full potential to make every cell in the body,” Rossant told CTV’s Canada AM on Wednesday.

She said there are still major questions about the research and how it will effect treatment for serious diseases such as diabetes or Parkinson’s, noting it needs to be clear the cells will not create tumours or disorganized tissue in patients.

Rossant said some cancer-related effects were detected in the testing, and the process still needs to be fine-tuned.

“On the other hand, this whole process already tells us we should be able to make cells we can study in a petri dish, cells from people who have serious disease, and be able to understand the biology of that diseases in a petri dish and develop new drugs and treatments right there in the dish that you could later test in people.”

The findings may have political repercussions in the United States, where President George Bush rejected bills that would have funded embryonic stem cell research.

He had said that medical breakthroughs were possible without destroying embryos. Democrats had said that because of Bush’s ideological beliefs he had blocked research that could have uncovered cures to diseases afflicting millions of people.

The authors of the study note that iPS cells are similar — not identical — to embryonic stem cells and differences have been noted. But more research is needed to determine what those differences mean.

The two studies are published in two journals: Science and Cell. The Cell paper is from a team led by Dr. Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University; the Science paper is from a team led by James Thomson and Junying Yu of the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Both studies detail a “direct reprogramming” recipe that includes just four ingredients to transform ordinary skin cells, called fibroblasts, into iPS cells.

Yamanaka’s team introduced the genes OCT3/4, SOX2, C-MYC, and KLF4 to get their iPS cells. The Thomson team used a slightly different cocktail: OCT4, NANOG, SOX2 and LIN28.

Yamanaka’s team reports that they were able to use iPS cells to produce cardiac muscle cells. After 12 days of growth in laboratory dishes, the clumps of cardiac muscle cells actually started beating.

Technique far from perfect

But neither Yamanaka’s nor Yu’s recipe is perfect. The technique involves using a retrovirus to deliver the genes into the skin cells, which in turn disrupts the DNA of the skin cells. That creates the potential for developing cancer.

But the DNA disruption is just a byproduct of the technique, and experts say they believe it can be avoided.

Thomson, who also produced the first successful human embryonic stem cell lines in 1998, admits that a lot more research is needed on this new technique, “but these methods should be useful for developing disease models and for drug development,” his team wrote.

Ian Wilmut of the Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, who helped clone the first mammal in 1997, Dolly the sheep, said the findings are hugely significant.

“We can now envisage a time when a simple approach can be used to produce stem cells that are able to form any tissue from a small sample taken from any of us,” Wilmut said in a statement.

“This will have enormous implications for research and perhaps one day for therapy.”

The therapeutic implications of the research are likely years away. Besides overcoming the DNA disruption obstacle, scientists still have to answer basic questions about these cells.

In the short term, these cells would probably be used first for lab studies to create artificial human tissues to test potential drugs.

Scientists also say it’s still important to pursue the strategy of using cloned cells from embryos.

The hope is that one day, scientists can use stem cells to treat a variety of diseases, including creating brain cells for Parkinson’s disease, pancreatic cells for diabetes and nerve cells for spinal-cord injuries.

The new iPS techniques would likely qualify for federal research funding in the U.S., unlike projects that extract stem cells from human embryos for which funding has been strictly limited.

The iPS cell work would also likely win the approval of bioethicists and religious leaders.

R. Alta Charo, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of law and bioethics, says this research alters the debates surrounding both human embryonic stem cell research and human cloning.

“This is a method for creating a stem cell line without ever having to work through, at any stage, an entity that is a viable embryo,” Charo says. “Therefore, you manage to avoid many of those debates with the right-to life community.”

I know that it has been awhile since my last update, there have been quite a bit of stuff going on lately.  I recently just finishing up my last class in my minor in my degree which is education I have already completed all my courses in my major which is geography, I only have a few electives to finish off my degree I am planning on being done this time next year.  This Saturday I am also moving into another apartment within the same building, the plus of it all it is a two bedroom apartment and it is a little bit bigger in the overall space, which I need because my gym equipment is filling up my entire living room.  On the physio side of things, things are looking very promising.  I have been working on transfers that only involve a transfer board instead of using a sling, forgetting somebody to lift me overall this will be really beneficial to everybody -it will definitely save back pain, it will develop more upper body strength for myself, and I will be able to get out of my chair more often. I also have been in contact with the individual that has been in a similar situation than myself, he had recovery and is to a point where he is now turning professional athletes -I see this individual a few times a week, I will definitely keep everybody posted on how things develop within the next couple of months.  We also have a rugby tournament which is taking place that second weekend in November.  I finally received my rugby wheelchair from the fundraiser that the Andersons sports and medicine therapy did for myself…….. this is definitely going to improve all aspects of the game for myself which hopefully over time, with a lot of practice-I really mean a lot of practice I will become faster and become more of a strength to our team.  If you guys are interested, let me know if you want more information on wheelchair rugby it is a really competitive and interesting sports…… is definitely a lot more aggressive sport than any that I have played before even including lacrosse.  That is all for now do not forget to post any comments that any of you guys have-so long for now

Just wanted to introduce a fundraiser that was developed by three individuals in the Glass family - Audi,Matt & Gordan.  While I was attending Bishops University I became close friends with the Glass family - their two sons were on my lacrosse team.  When my accident first happened, the Glass family accommodated my family with open arms - they stayed at their Grandmas bed-and-breakfast…………. Ever since then they have provided me with tremendous support and they are always trying to find ways to help. Because they could not attend one of the golf tournaments they came up with another great idea to raise funds for my rehabilitation - which is a continuous process probably for the long run.  If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me, call me or you can also get a hold of one of the Glass family members at their following e-mails to get more information.  Thank you to everybody for all the support and to making this year’s golf tournaments a huge success……Wow!

Gordon gg@gatewayhardwood.net

Matt mglass02@gmail.com

 Audi audiglass24@gmail.com

     TAKE CHRIS GOLFING          

What: Take Chris golfing to one of the prearranged courses below, or take him for a round at your own personal golf course. 

When: Chris is at the range stretching and will be ready to play ASAP. Who: Enjoy a nice twosome or introduce him to some of your friends. 

Prearranged Courses:Dufferin Heights – Stanstead, Quebec - $50The Links at Crowbush Cove – Morell, PEI - $90Angus Glen Golf Club – Markham, Ontario - $140The Fairmount Banff Spring Golf Course – Banff, Alberta - $150The Boulders Resort - Boulders, Arizona - $175St. Andrews Old Course - St. Andrews, Scotland - $250 Augusta National Golf Course - Augusta, Georgia - $275Pebble Beach Golf Links - Pebble Beach, California - $475  If you would like to invite Chris to your own personal golf course, please fill in said amount in the Green Fees section at the bottom. The 19^th Hole:Water - $2Gatorade - $3Beer - $4Hotdog - $4Hamburger - $4Sandwich - $5 

Green Fees
19th Hole
Total

Please Send Donations To:Chris Lesanko Rehabilitation FundSturgis Credit UnionPO Box 238Sturgis, SK. CanadaS0A 4A0