wheelchair and stuff

Elise got a wheelchair today and managed to be upright in it for a full hour. It was a lot of work for her and you could tell she was exhausted. She did great on her speech therapy and continues to make good progress daily.
It is a long hard road for recovery, but she is giving every little bit she has, she wants to be able to come home.
Suanne continues to be a priceless advocate for Elise really hustling for the second opinion. Looks like it'll happen.
My sister Carma is also someone helping out a great deal, taking Jasper almost every other night, so big thanks to her, she is amazing.
My other sister reproduced a woobie(blanket) that I had as a child and carried with me everywhere, so Jasper is the proud owner of Woobie 2 - the sequel, which he asked for tonight as he went to sleep.
My mom sent up some beautiful handmade hats and a wig for Elise just in case she might want one.
There is a lot of people helping, doing what they can, and it really touches me how many people out there care, so I can't thank you all enough, Thank You.

4 weeks?

That is their estimate at this point, it may change depending on how the various therapies go. Today we talked to her insurance company about coverage on a second opinion and they said yes, so Suanne has been on top of UCSF hospital one of the best on the west coast for what Elise has going on.
Elise is doing well with the therapies and shows some improvement from day to day.
I'm getting better over the hump on that cold, so I am back with Elise tonight.
all for now,
cameron

good morning

Elise started radiation treatment yesterday and today she has the assessment. From what the therapists overheard it's looking like it's going to be more like 3 weeks. We will have confirmation and a target discharge date.
With the therapy Elise is learning to do everything one handed while building up the other hand, so all the bases are covered.
We are also learning about how her brain is functioning and ways we can help her communicate better, i.e. knowing where she has difficulties retrieving the correct words, and working around that for now. The Speech therapist said it would improve with time and because she is young her brain might just remap some pathways.

I wanted to take a minute to thank Suanne for all she's done publicly. She hasn't only been there for Elise but for me as well. Also she has been doing a great deal of the behind the scenes work such as acquiring paperwork for services and even filling them out for us. She has been amazing! So Thank You Suanne!!!

Also I want to thank you again for all the donations we received, they have enabled us to do some wonderful things and some everyday things as well, like gas and food.
I appreciate continued donations as well, it's a long hard road ahead with a lot of unknowns. Our bill for the four days at Harborview alone was $33,000, no word yet on how much her insurance is covering yet.
That's all till later today.
-cameron

By the way, today marks four weeks in the hospital.

Busy Times Ahead

The Rehab staff posted Elise's schedule. So, I thought I'd share it with you. After breakfast she has physcial therapy from 10-11, occupational therapy from 11-12, lunch from 12-1, speech therapy from 1-2, transported to a different location in the hospital for radiation therapy from 4-5, and then dinner. This schedule is Monday through Friday. Weekends include additional rehab therapy sessions but the schedule will be a bit different. No radiation therapy on the weekends. Elise will be one tired puppy. When I asked her tonight what she thought of rehab so far she said she hoped it was going to be short because she wanted to go home ... I call that motivation!
(Monday night by Suanne)

scheduling

So Elise a daily schedule of therapy and radiation treatments tomorrow. Wednesday they will assess her and come up with a target discharge date.
I still have a nasty cold but am masked up and spending time with Elise down here at the hospital. I am really excited about knowing a target discharge date. Seems like forever since she's been home.
-cameron

Suanne's Sunday Evening Update

As I start my 5th full night/day with Elise, I want to thank my hubby John for taking such good care of me ... making meals and bringing clean clothes to keep me well stocked and cared for. Cameron and Jasper are still home sick and are getting better. They've come in and spent several hours with Elise during the past two days, with masks over their mouths to stifle the spread of germs. Elise's Uncle Glen (my brother) came up from California this past weekend and gave some wonderful support, as well as a Thai Yoga Massage for Elise. In fact, Elise has had lots of nice visits from many family and friends this past week ... they really do her heart good.

On Friday, the doctors got the final pathology report that confirmed that Elise has a grade IV glioma, called a glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). It is in a part of her brain that makes it inoperable. If you want to learn more, the UW Medical Center has a good web site about brain tumors at http://depts.washington.edu/neuroonc/. Other good sites include the American Brain Tumor Association at www.abta.org and National Brain Tumor Foundation at www.braintumor.org

Elise is working very hard in her occupational, physical and speech therapies. Improvement from day to day is very noticable. The physical therapist mentioned today that she thinks Elise will do very well when she gets to rehab. We are expecting to get her moved to inpatient rehab tomorrow. Once there, she'll work three hours each day doing various types of therapies. She'll also finish the last part of the preparation for radiation therapy tomorrow. The actual radiation treatments start on Tuesday.

Elise can't wait to get home to her family.

PS: When you visit, please avoid bringing treats with sugars as Elise is temporarily diabetic due to the steroids she is taking. Thanks much, Elise's Mama.

busy girl

Elise continues to be busy with therapy. It looks like Monday will be he day she is moved to rehab, but she is still doing it in her current location.
I on the other have gotten Jasper's cold and am now snotty, coughing sick so I am still housebound although Jasper I did get to go for a visit today.
Suanne is pulling double if not triple duty at Elise's side and her Uncle Glen is also bedside up from California.

Here is a couple more pics of people showing their love. I can't thank you guys enough, she loves to see these pics!


Elise's Uncle Gary, who actually was the first to shave his head for Elise.








Our good friend Robert






And friend SooZie