#115

Elaine continues to achieve new milestones! Today she walked up their flight of stairs at home without help or holding on to the rails! This is very impressive and really helped Elaine build confidence. It wasn't long ago that she got "stuck" upstairs and had to wait until Fred could help her down. Here she is walking unassisted!




After therapy, Fred and Elaine went to see her doctor. He was so thrilled with her progress. An even bigger surprise, her neurologist, who is quite tight lipped, had called him to talk about how incredibly well she is doing and what a fighter she is. That made us all smile! She truly is incredible. A funny story. They were checking out and scheduled her next appointment:

The nurse said, "ok July 6th, you are in the book."
Elaine said, "now wait, what day of the week is that?'
Fred burst into laughter and said, "Elaine are you busy that day? Why does it matter what day of the week it is?"

A glimpse into the daily laughs of Fred and Elaine:)

They came over to the Francois house for dinner. Its always  an argument as to who gets to sit by Nammie and Ampa. We had a nice dinner and enjoyed the company, as always and are so grateful we are so close and get to see each other daily.

They are heading to the desert tomorrow. Their stem cell treatment was moved up to first thing in the morning Wednesday. We continue to hear great things about the results and are very excited. The doctor put Elaine at ease today, reassuring her that everything will be fine. She is the perfect candidate for the procedure. We are optimistic for both Fred and Elaine! They both deserve it great results!

#114

Elaine was exhausted after a busy Saturday. That didn't stop her from doing therapy though. Paul came over and they had a great session. He even had her playing badminton. She isn't comfortable with it, yet, but she will be. She rested a little this afternoon and then Staci, Ben and the kids came over before we all went to dinner together.

Elaine was exited to wear jeans for the first time since her stroke tonight. She looked adorable. She dreads wearing anything other than her workout clothes because she has to wear tennis shoes. Elaine has always preferred style to comfort, and was willing to sacrifice at any measure. After last New Years Eve, she couldn't walk for 2 days and had to call for an "emergency" foot massage because her feet hurt so badly.

Elaine is looking beautiful and anxious for the stem cell treatment Wednesday. She is a little nervous about bleeding because they don't want to take her off the Coumadin, but it isn't a huge concern. She is going to see her Physician tomorrow for final clearance.

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner together and the kids all fight to hold Nammie's hand. Staci helped Elaine get ready for dinner tonight and is always amazed to see what Elaine goes through to get ready and how difficult it is for her to simply get dressed. We put on her shirt tonight and realized she needed a tank top under and it. Again, the things we take for granted but for Elaine, not only is it difficult to put a shirt on but also extremely painful moving Little Darlin' around. She is so amazing and didn't complain once. She is pushing herself every day to get better, and she is accomplishing that goal!  She is our walking miracle!

#113

Fred and Elaine had a social Saturday. They went to Randall's memorial service this morning to celebrate the life of a great man and to support Cece, a dear friend. They both said that is was an exceptionally nice tribute to an exceptional man.

After the service and the reception that followed, Fred headed to the club to play golf. Elaine went home to get some rest. After all of that, they reconnected for dinner with Ron and Joannie and Ron and Michelle.

Here's hoping for a very restful night of sleep for Fred and Elaine tonight.

We hope everyone everyone who reads this will keep Randall and Cece and family in their prayers.

#112

Elaine had a nice quiet day today before a busy weekend! She has not had much time off her feet this week and today, with a day off therapy too, seemed liked the perfect day!

She is feeling good and knows that rest is an important part of her recovery. She has had an incredible week, filled with lots of marked progress and some exciting things ahead.

A therapist said to us yesterday, "a day without laughter is a day wasted." We are sure if you are in the Newport area, you might even hear  Elaine (or any of us with her, its contagious) giggling!

Happy Friday!

#111

Elaine had another great day! The morning started off well, she and Fred laughed a lot. Ben dropped off Starbucks, and then Staci picked Elaine up for therapy and a visit to the neurologist. When Staci arrived, Elaine was walking around holding a red piece of paper:

Obviously, Staci knew exactly what Elaine was doing. Since the minute she arrived at the ER, as a part of the series of neurological questions they ask, they ALWAYS ask to spell "world" backwards. She was bound and determined to get it right! They arrived at the doctor's office. After the nurse asked her questions and said, doctor will be in to see you in a few minutes. She hadn't even finished shutting the door before Elaine reached for her purse to study!

She put the paper away just in time. He came in and smiled to see her looking so beautiful and clearly doing even better than when he last saw her. She was telling him about the pain in her left arm and in leg, especially her foot. Her left foot and toes cramp up and her toes scrunch up, causing her a lot of pain. We will sneak a picture of the tape job she does on her foot each morning. He explained that it is the brain sending too much energy to specific spots (her upper shoulder as well as her foot). The brain is still trying to figure out how to compensate for what was lost. It is doing a remarkable job because of Elaine's hard work, forcing her brain to work. He prescribed a new medication to try and help alleviate some of the pain. He also encouraged her to give massage another try. She is much stronger now than she was a few months ago and he believes it would be very beneficial. He continued on with his evaluation and was impressed with her arm mobility, as well as strength. We knew the time was coming and here it goes:

D: "say no ifs ands or buts about it."

E: "no ifs and or buts about it."

D: "say the word world and spell it backwards"

the moment she has been waiting for all morning and...

Elaine gets the giggles and can't stop long enough to even get the "d" out. Staci goes on to explain why she is laughing so hard, and how Elaine frequently gets the giggles and laughs uncontrollably. We all agree is much better than crying! Needless to say, this got a slight laugh from even the doctor (who doesn't laugh). Elaine even gave him her pink bracelet! He will see her again in 8 weeks. He is thrilled with her progress and hopeful that the medicine will help ease the pain. 

They quickly hurried off to therapy for the next two hours. She spent most of PT walking on the treadmill and working on walking. Her hip has been hurting her and they think its because of the way she is walking. It seems like every time she goes there, someone is telling her a different way to walk. They all fight to work with her and it seems they all want to take credit for her progress. We know, without a doubt, that Paul is the one responsible for her progress and without him, she wouldn't be doing nearly as well. 

After PT, she had OT. They decided on some stretching for Little Darlin' and a neurology test today since her arm wasn't feeling very mobile. The therapist took her in a quiet room to eliminate all distractions today. As you can imagine, Elaine wasn't pleased. When you walk in there, she knows everyone's story and why they are there, and not just because they personally have told her:) Her radar is as strong as ever! 

She gets ready for the test, and this is her least favorite part of therapy, and it goes very well! Staci has been there for many of the tests since the beginning and was so proud of Elaine's improvements. A brief overview of the test. They give you 5 words (increased from 3 last time) at the beginning and then you are asked to remember them by the end. Elaine remembered 3, remembered that there were two more and with very small hints, remembered the other two. This was a HUGE improvement from last time. 

They ask you to remember a series of numbers and sentences (intended to trip you up) and she did excellent on that as well. The hardest part for Elaine is the math. They start at 100 and ask her to subtract 7 each time. Its tricky, try it! Again, it was the best she has ever performed! We all got a good laugh when she was asked to come up with as many "F" words in 1 minute, as she could. No proper nouns or numbers. Her first word, "fart." You can imagine the look of surprise on the therapist face coming from little Elaine. You can also guess that the giggles were soon to follow. Even with that diversion, she still was able to get 4 more words than she did last time. Her score went up by 3 whole points, which doesn't sound like a lot, but by the way its scored, it is a drastic improvement since April 5, which is when she took her last one. 

After therapy, Staci and Elaine met Fred and Taylor for lunch. They had a wonderful lunch together and continued laughing! Fred and Elaine then headed to the bookstore and then to pick up Elaine's new medication. They relaxed at home the rest of the afternoon after a very busy morning. 

We are so thrilled with Elaine's improvements. It has been such a great week and even Elaine can see a difference in herself. She is always her toughest critic. If for one minute she could look at herself though our eyes, she would be moved to tears and be in complete amazement. Keep it up Elaine!! We are so proud of you!

#110

Elaine had a great day. She is still excited from the noticeable progress from yesterday. She was very excited to share the news with Paul. She gives him almost all of the credit for helping Little Darlin' come back to life. He was thrilled to finally see her excited, too. He has been telling her how well she is doing, though its hard for her to see. She had a wonderful session and continued on her advanced course. Everyone is very excited for the stem cell procedure next week!

She rested this afternoon and then Staci picked her up to come watch the kids swim. The weather has been beautiful and she is enjoying the vitamin D, as well as watching the kids play. Staci noticed a major breakthrough today. Today was the first time that she saw Elaine pick up a drink with her left hand. Elaine was on the phone and picked up her water with her left hand. Not only was she multitasking, but incorporating Little Darlin' into her life without thinking about it. This was something that Staci clearly remembers Paul saying several months ago, that once Elaine starts incorporating her left arm into her life, we will know things are getting even better! Staci's heart started beating faster! It was a memorable moment. It is the little things we look for and we are so thrilled to see continued progress!

Elaine and Fred had dinner at home and are getting ready for a solid night of sleep. Elaine has therapy and a visit to her neurologist tomorrow. You remember, the one that told her she would never walk again. Wonder if he wants to watch the videos of her on the treadmill or putting?

#109

Tuesday was all about progress. Elaine had therapy at Hoag and went incredibly well. She kicked ass at every task they there at her. The therapists all stopped to watch her amazing effort!

Here are some of Elaine's accomplishments from today (some of these are on video at the end of the blog).

1. Throughout this process, the therapists have been measuring Elaine's grip strength looking for improvement. Two weeks ago, Little Darlin' squeezed out 9 pounds per square inch (psi) of pressure - not bad. But today, LD put 26 psi on that meter. That is an 88% increase in pressure. To put in perspective, her right hand applied pressure of 52 psi - meaning her left hand is at 50% strength. Pretty remarkable progress.

2. Remember the exercise when Elaine was putting the pegs in the holes? Elaine previous best time to complete the task was more than 2 minutes. Today she completed the task in 58 SECONDS.

3. Take a moment to watch the third video of Elaine walking on the treadmill at high speed with no hands. Unbelievable profess from where she was just weeks ago.

We are so proud of Elaine and her hard work. We are not at all surprised that Elaine has come so far. She is the bravest and most determined person we have ever met. We are so proud of her and her effort!