Tuesday, September 30, 2008

sick part II

We are all still sick, see the 2 comments on the last post for more info from Suanne.
Jasper is getting better, Elise is still barely responsive, I'm worse than yesterday and Suanne has been here daily to be supermom.
This is definitely a hard time.
-cameron

Sunday, September 28, 2008

sick

Jasper. Elise and I have gotten some nasty sickness. I had to call in the big guns to help out, Suanne.
She came as soon as she could and took care of Elise and Jasper since I was having a hard time keeping up while sick. So a huge thank you to her.
My job as caretaker and Father can be overwhelming as it is, but when we are all sick it's near impossible, I couldn't have gotten through today without Suanne. She even did dishes.
-cameron

Thursday, September 18, 2008

home again

She is home and resting.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

random pics

Here are a couple random pics.
The start of my new sleeve dedicated to Elise.


Elise at home


Jasper and his best friend playing video games

small update

Elise just passed her swallow test and is enjoying a cup of soup and a latte until we can get lunch ordered for her. Now, we just need to find out about the Avastin infusion and I believe she'll be ready for discharge. What a long couple of days. Suanne (Elise's Mom)

hospital update thursday

Elise is still in the hospital, hopefully she will be coming home very soon.
The MRI showed some new edema (swelling) causing the seizures I believe, currently she has finally stop having seizures because they finally got here anti-seizure med level to a therapeutic level. She was suffering from in simple terms continuous seizures, the Latin for it sounds much more scientific. Although the seizures have stopped she still is suffering in other ways. Her speech has improved and she can now hold a conversation pretty well but her thoughts are still a bit jumbled. Because of her seizures she couldn't eat or drink without choking so it's day three without food or drink for her. She is having a really hard time with that, hard to not give her stuff too.
She is hoping to come home today, but they won't let her go until she can pass the swallow tests.
Also she has her scheduled chemo today which they are continuing with.
We fell into our old hospital groove without missing a beat, Suanne stayed last night and I did the night before, it's surreal how familiar everything has been, same faces and some of the same patients around.
I don't know when she will be home but I hope it's really soon, in the meantime she is in room 4240 at the UW Medical Center.
More later
-cameron

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

overnight

So Elise was admitted overnight so they can do a MRI in the morning to figure out exactly why she is having such severe seizure issues.
She is back to talking again but is still struggling to get out words.
Post again tomorrow when we find out more.
-cameron

back in the hospital again

After spending half a day home Elise got worse again and was rushed off to UW in an ambulance. Since last night she has been suffering from an almost constant seizure, her speech is affected, so she is having trouble talking.
They are trying to get a hold of her doctor to come down, until then hopefully she will get a MRI so they can better see the situation.
All this does come as a shock since she was supposed to be getting better. Even with the tumor shrinkage she didn't get better. We were supposed to see an improvement of her symptoms but there was none, which had me worried for the last little while.
Hopefully they will figure this out soon so we can get her home again.
-cameron

hospital update

Elise is more responsive now and has calmed down a bit.
She went into something similar to a gran mal seizure and didn't come out of it for a couple hours. She could barely speak at all.
After they gave her some anti-seizure she has mellowed out and is speaking again. Something has happened and we don't know what.
Waiting is one of the hardest parts of this hospital game.
I just heard that we will transfer down to the UW, still a mystery, she is supposed to be better.
-cameron

back in the hospital

don't know whats going on yet she barely responsive, more later.

Friday, September 05, 2008

good news

Yesterday Elise went in for her bi-weekly chemo treatment, an MRI and usual stuffs. Her mom Suanne takes her to all her appointments, giving me a break to focus on other things, like housework and the like. I got to say quickly that she drives an hour to get here then drives to Seattle and back for Elise's appointments then drive an hour back home. She has been truly amazing and dedicated to making sure Elise is where she needs to be when she needs to be as well as making sure all the right questions are asked of the doctors. I can't thank her enough for all she does.
So yesterday I got a call from them. Elise said, "Good news!". She went on to explain that her new chemo treatments are working and there has been some shrinkage of her tumor. If the treatments continue to work it could add six months to her life expectancy. As long as the the chemo works they will continue to give treatments.
I was so excited I ran and told Jasper and he was excited too, he let out a yell of triumph, followed by Yay, Mama's tumor shrank!!!
Later I told Elise of his zest and Jasper said, yeah I was so excited.
Good news is savored and celebrated in these parts.
In other news I am working on a tattoo with an artist at Sunken ship Tattoo in Everett. The Tattoo's centerpiece is a drawing I did for Elise as a symbol of what our love means to me, I am very excited about it.
-cameron


Random Pics

Jasper was a preemie, through a month and a half in the hospital Elise never left his side.


A great picture of Carma and Jasper at a M's game.


On a trip to the Seattle Science Center Aiden and Jasper give me their tough guy faces for a quick pic.


Pre-Jasper days, Elise and I at my cousin Justin's wedding in Salem, OR.