#184

Elaine had a good night of sleep and made it through her three 30-minute arm stretch sessions. This morning, Elaine started her eye therapy. Staci picked her up and they headed to the doctor, not exactly sure what they were getting into. The doctor has named Elaine, "pussy cat." We don't know why but it makes us laugh.

She worked with the therapist today and they did some eye exercises. The good news is, all the parts are there and working. Her brain is awake and understands the messages, and her eyes are both working. The part they are working on is getting it to all work together. There are lots of moving parts, but they are not all in sync. In the first exercise, looking through some special glasses, Elaine held a pen in each hand. She would have two starting points on each side of the paper and would draw the lines until they would connect. The first few seconds were great, they you would see one hand stop working because one of her eyes would stop working, and the other eye would work overtime. She would suppress one eye because of information overload and one eye would shut down, sometimes the right, sometimes the left. The therapist would tap the paper in her line of vision with the eye that quit, and it would wake back up. The fact that she was quickly responsive with the reminder, is a very good sign.

Her up close vision is very good, its just the distance that it seems to be more of a problem. The therapist is very confident that she will be able to fix the problem. She was so impressed with how well Elaine did today. She had to modify her program to make the exercises more challenging. The last thing Elaine did was in front of a large touch screen. The program would run various programs that Elaine would do. The first one shows a bunch of jumbled letters rotating in a circle on the screen. Elaine has to put them in order as quickly as possible. Staci was especially impressed with the speed Elaine did it in while multitasking. What the results showed was that overall she did excellent. The area of concern was the bottom part of the screen. She would have a tougher time hitting the moving letters when they were at the bottom of the screen. If the screen was a clock, she had trouble between 4 and 8. Staci did most of the exercises with Elaine and was so impressed with how well Elaine was doing. It was exciting!

After therapy, Elaine went home for another round with the torture chamber and then rested. Tonight, we all went to the swim team awards banquet. Everyone loved having Fred and Elaine at the swim meets this year!

Tomorrow, Elaine has her injection in her arm. She has to let it rest for 48 hours after the injection, so no therapy for the next few days. Dr. Smith also gets a day off of his inoculation duties, but he'll back at it on Thursday for a few more days. Please keep Elaine in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow. We are very optimistic that this is the beginning of the end! She is already a little ahead, having been using the torture chamber for a week. She is one tough cookie!

#183

Elaine has been sleeping really well the past few nights, and that is really helping her in every way. She started a new sleeping aid and gave up some other medicines and right now, the combo seems to be working. We are so grateful! She started the morning by making Fred some eggs. She walked into the bedroom and said, "I put your eggs on the stove.  Can you give me my shot and then let's do my arm?"

Unfortunately, (and fortunately since that means we are making progress), the intensity was turned up again on her arm splint. She gutted out the painful 30 minutes, the worst part is watching her take her arm out. She grimaces in pain. She did have some comic relief during it though, which make the time pass a little faster. Fred went out to check on his eggs to find that they were in fact in the pot, with the stove one, however, there wasn't any water in the pot! You can tell her mind was on the Little Darlin's new nemesis, not on the eggs!

Elaine had a great therapy session with Paul. Fred, Elaine, and Paul are all really encouraged and excited at the progress in her shoulder and how much her range of motion is increasing. The pain is still very intense and we are so proud of how she keeps her days going and keeps on living. Fred and Elaine were supposed to visit Richie and Julie this week in Montana. They were really looking forward to seeing them and so sad that they had to cancel the trip. Elaine decided she wants to be rid of her arm pain and the only way that is going to happen is to go through all she is doing now. She starts therapy for her frozen shoulder on Friday. We are all encouraged by the progress so far and can't say enough times how proud we are of Elaine, and Fred, for their dedication. Elaine has had a rough few weeks, emotionally. Fred has been the most encouraging support for her, and she is such a strong person. They are an unbeatable duo! They refuse to give up and we know that this will all be worth it. She has worked so hard and come so far!

Fred and Elaine came to the Francois house for dinner. The girls were so excited that they set the dining room table (that NEVER gets used), wine glasses for their water, and picked flowers and put them in a vase on the table. They carefully selected which color napkin everyone should use (from the non disposable napkin collection). It was a fun night, complete with ice cream for dessert.

#182

Operation Brian Sleeps Over was a total success. He couldn't stop saying how much fun he had over there and Fred and Elaine survived the night. 

Everyone went to bed reasonably early last night and were peacefully sleeping when out of nowhere at 7:30 AM, Christi and her friend Lucy rang the doorbell. They had walked up from Big Canyon clubhouse after camping out on the fairway. It was an unexpected but welcome wake-up call, and Christi once again proved that she will go to great effort to see her grandparents. 

After the commotion died down, Elaine spent some time in the shoulder-stretcher. It is a difficult exercise, but she is happy that her shoulder seems to be loosening up. Once it was loose, Fred and Elaine headed over to the driving range for some intense golf practice. Elaine did manage to sneak away to the pool where the Francois and Gibilisco families were spending the day. Kendra and Frank both commented on how wonderful Elaine looks and how impressed they were that she was hitting balls and that she walked all the way to the pool. She truly never ceases to amaze anyone with whom she comes into contact. Kendra echoed the sentiments of so many saying how "inspired she felt" after seeing Elaine. Following some visiting at the pool, Fred came by to say hello. Then, they headed off for a date at pasta night - once again joined at the hip!

#181

It has been a long day today. Elaine and Fred are both tired from minimal sleep, hard therapy, and ever present pain. Well, their day is about to get longer! They have a special guest tonight. Brian is staying over with Nammie and Ampa while the rest of the Francois family camps out on the first fairway of Big Canyon (we know, it is not exactly roughing it).

Today is just another example of life getting back to normal for Elaine. We are so proud of her! Brian is ecstatic about his sleepover. He has been asking all day, "Nana. Ampa. House. Nana. Ampa. House." We wish them luck chasing the little guy around the house.

As for therapy, it was another step forward for Elaine. Paul commented that he could see a real difference in the flexibility of the shoulder joint after just a short time with her shoulder stretching contraption. She used it again today three times for 20 minutes per session. The pain in her shoulder is equally as intense as it has been - no better but not really worse! Elaine is really fighting through the pain with an eye on the light at the end of this tough tunnel. She continues to impress as she battles through what is unimaginable to the rest of us!

#180

Just call him Dr. Fred! He officially learned how to give a shot today, and he actually gave Elaine her Lovenox injection this morning and is prepared to do so for the next week! Elaine said she didn't feel a thing either. He really does wear many hats these days!

Elaine joined Staci and her kids, and Jaimie and her boys, at the pool for lunch and to watch the kids swim. They had a fun afternoon and Elaine enjoyed catching up with Jaimie.

They then headed over to Elaine's to see her house. The kids were especially excited to raid the lazy susan that Elaine has loaded with goodies. We managed to escape the house without breaking anything or turning the carpet orange from little cheeto hands. Jaimie was so happy to see Elaine and loved seeing how well Elaine was doing. This was the text Staci received this evening from Jaimie. "It was so great to see your mom! It was very therapeutic for me to see her and see how far she has come. I know she had a hard day, but she still got out of bed and faced it. Which is more admirable that she realizes. She still looks stunning too:)"

Fred and Elaine are enjoying a quiet night at home and hopefully Elaine can rest. She did her arm splint for 25 minutes, three times today, and the intensity (stretching her shoulder back) was turned up. She can definitely feel the difference, especially after. She is sore! She continues with Paul tomorrow for more therapy, and a visit from her new, and favorite, doctor,  Fred!

#179

The day began with more doctors appointments. This morning Fred and Elaine went to see the neurological ophthalmologist. She did another evaluation of her eyes. She said she needed a different type of glasses, so she now has two new pairs. In addition, she signed up to work with a therapist twice a week for the next month. Fred and Elaine aren't sure about this process and think it might just be a racket, but they are going to give it a try.

After they met with the doctor, they went home to meet with the nurse that gave them the splint. It hasn't been fitting properly on Elaine's little elbow and arm. She gave them a new pad and it is fitting better now. Elaine worked up to twenty minutes today, three times. She said she was sore today from it, but a good sore and feels like its already helping! Here is a picture from her session first thing this morning!

Staci and the kids picked up Elaine for lunch and shopping at the mall. The girls conned Elaine into all sorts of trinkets, and ice cream. There is no question that all three of the kids have inherited both grandparents knack for shopping. Here is Christi with her new glasses, Taylor with her snap watch, and even Brian trying on new glasses (which Staci did draw the line, Brian getting teen glasses:). The girls waltzed through the mall, each with Nammie's hand. They were so excited, while Brian was saying, "hold you Nammie, hold you." That means hold me in Brian language. 

Elaine started to taper off the Coumadin today. Tomorrow Elaine and Fred go to the doctor for Fred to learn how to give Elaine blood thinner injections! We have decided its a very good thing Fred is retired!

#178

Elaine had an informative day of therapy today. They made some changes to her session. Fred sat in for all two hours today as his job over the next 6-8 weeks is equally as important as Elaine's. She has to do some new exercises for her frozen shoulder, 2-3 times a day. Most importantly, they have to be done correctly! Additionally, they have decided to add a mental and multi-tasking challenge. She now is going to count her reps. It is also being incorporated into her daily routine, for example, when she is brushing her teeth with her right hand, she is going to hold the toothpaste with her left and hold it in the air. Today, as she was doing it, after about 8 seconds, it falls to the ground. If prompted, as her arm is starting to fall, she remembers to pull it up. Simple things like this will continue to wake up her brain and improve her cognitive skills. She is working so hard and not giving up!

Fred is really committed to helping her through her frozen shoulder. The more we learn about it, the most consistent message we hear is how incredibly painful it is. It has been compared to child birth without medicine, but for weeks and months rather than hours. Unfortunately the worst is ahead. Next week the therapist will begin to literally break the scar tissue. Elaine's toughness is truly unimaginable. At a time when she could sit around saying, "why me? why do these things keep happening? when is enough, enough?" She doesn't! Her attitude is as strong as ever and it does seem there is light at the end of the tunnel. We are in awe of her determination and so proud of her! She truly inspires us every day.

Fred deserves so much credit too. He is by her side every step of the way. He continues to break down doors and push for answers. While he doesn't feel her physical pain, his heart breaks for her and together they are going to overcome this challenge. The love he has for her is displayed so clearly by his actions and words. As they saw all the time, they are attached at the hip! We are reposting this picture because it is Olympic time and its one of our favorites and it always makes us smile. They are proud to be Americans and literally dressed head to toe alike, like they are 8 year old best friends, and they are!