Max Update! Feb 29, 2004

Feb29th

Time for another update on Max's progress!

First of all Max is doing really well, we see him getting a little
stronger, a little brighter and more like himself every day. The cards
and gifts he's been receiving really chear him up. It's great to see
that little smile after he reads a get well card - They really work!

Last Wednesday's surgery to put in the porta-cath and spinal tap went
just fine. It was definitely a hectic day and Max was kind of scared to
go into surgery again. We were too. It was especially hard because the
surgery was about 2 hours late but nobody could tell us what was
happening or where the doctors were. We just had to wait in the
induction room listening to the constant beep of the monitor measuring
Max's respiration for an hour. Max hung in tough while we were tearing
our hair out trying to figure out what was going on. Anyway it finally
happened and everything worked out great. Max was awake and alert a few
hours later. The "port" isn't very visible at all - completely under the
skin.

Also on Wednesday Max left Childeren's hospital for the first time in a
couple of weeks to go to meet some of the doctors in radiation therapy
at the UW. We were all a little nervous about it, but it turned out to
be a really positive experience . Doctor Douglas is really great. He
explained all the ins and outs of radiation therapy, what to expect, how
it works and side effects.. more than any 8 year old should have to
know, but we need to and we felt a lot better after talking with the
Doctor. He's really genuine and seems super invested in making kids
better. We go back on Tuesday to have some molds, masks etc made and
then plan to start Radiation therapy the following week. It will go on
for 6 weeks, every day.

Max's back got pretty sore from the spinal tap the next couple of days
but that seems to be better now. The doctors say this is normal
especially for someone that has strong back muscles as Max does. We
still don't know the results of the test they did, but expect to in the
next couple of days - Keep Praying!

Also on Wednesday Max had another CT scan. It's getting routine. This
was to see how his system is managing the drainage of spinal fluid. The
neuro surgeons told us that the results looked good and that Max's
ventricles appeared "slightly smaller". They also cautioned us though
that the word isn't really out on this yet. Max may still need a shunt
and we'll need to keep an eye on it - yep, more CTs.

During Max's recovery from the surgery, a really special visitor came to
his room! It was Shaun Alexender, Max's favorite Seahawk! It was kind of
too bad Max couldn't meet him, he was still being revived in a recovery
room, but Shaun did sign Max's Seahawks jersey (number 37 of course!),
and we got a picture of him holding Max's teddy bear, named Shaun
Alexander - (really)! Max thought this was very cool and we're hoping
that sometime Shaun might be able to come back and meet Max in person.
They'd get along really well.

The last couple of days have been great. It really seems like Max has
started to become more like himself. Everyone has noticed it. No sharp
corners on this road but still a noticeable and welcome improvement. He's
laughing more, using more words on his own becoming more animated - Just
looking and acting more and more like Max. Today (Sunday) we went
outside and found a toy bat and a ball. At first Max didn't want to
play. When I started pitching to him he couldn't help himself. He was
sitting their in a wheelchair, using just one eye (he still wears a
"pirate patch" over one eye to keep from seeing double), and he was
doing it - yep, Max can still hit a ball! He was so proud of himself -
you could see it in his face and the way he sat. To me it was astounding
- I have no idea how he could do it, - Don't you really need 2 eyes to
figure out when to swing? So we just hung out, pitching and hitting
just like we always do, just like we've done since Max was 2.

The support Max and our entire family is getting is so unbelievable -
You are all angels. Today Max got a visit from a friend who had setup a
lemonade stand to earn money to buy toys for him. She's in 4th grade and
goes to Max's school. Together with a few friends they earned $32
selling lemonade (remember - it's February). They bought Max a cuddly
spotted leopard, pokey, (he's holding him right now), and a battery
powered air hockey game. Absolutely perfect. Max's class is also making
a weekly "news report" video for him to watch at the end of the week to
help him keep up with what's going on at school.

You are all so wonderful - the love we feel in this difficult time is
inspiring. This is hard for everyone and we have all been changed by
this. - Maybe most profoundly we recognize how deeply we care about each
other and how much we need one another. We live in a beautiful world.

God Bless, your prayers are felt

Max Update! Feb 24, 2004

Feb24th

Wanted to send a quick update to everyone before tomorrow as we start the next step in Max's recovory. It's a big day.

Tomorrow, Wed, Max is going to a radiation treatment simulation. This is where they model Max's face, head and other stuff so they can build the proper setup for when radiation actually begins in a few weeks. This takes place at the UW at 9am pst.

Right after that we have to hustle back to Children's for another surgical procedure (2 in 1 actually ). One is a spinal tap, we're told this is standard procedure to make sure no cells from the tumor are found. They've told us that usually in cases like Max's they don't find anything, so we're optimistic but, still concerned, please join us in praying that this will come back with good results for Max.

The second procedure is the insertion of a porta-cath. This basically makes it easier for him to get chemo meds so the don't have stick an IV in his hand all the time. It's under the skin and won't really impact his ability to do anything. These procedures start at 11:30 pst.

Then, it seems they're going to try to slip a ct scan to confirm the status of Max's ventricles (pray for no swelling :)). Whew! Maybe we can find time for him to have that nagging wart removed too :) (not really!).

So it's a very busy day and of course we have worries, concerns and sometimes can't help feeling scared. We appreciate so much the great effort everyone has been making to keep Max in their prayers.

"Prayer is the medium of miracles".

Also want to update everyone on Max's progress in rehab. Very briefly he's really doing well, according to the rehab team. He's getting closer to walking on his own every day and his strength continues to improve. Speech is still tough, it's just a lot of effort and work but it seems to be getting easier. It's fun to watch him try so hard and have success, even if it's just peddling a stationary bike or shooting a ball into a 5 foot basket from 5 feet away.

We're meeting with the rehab team on thursday to get a progress report so we'll send more info after that.

Thanks again for your help and support with cards, meals, emails, gifts. We are so grateful and completely blown away - you are making such an enormous difference!

God Bless

Max Update! February 20, 2004

Feb20th

More news about Max's progress since Tuesday -
First we want to express our continued thanks to all of our family and friends for their wonderful help. Words can't express how your love touches us every moment of the day. Most of all we thank you for your prayers. We're hearing stories about people praying for Max all over the country and now around the world!

On Tuesday we met with oncology doctors at Children's Hospital. They confirmed that Max's treatment will include both radiation and chemo therapy and that the protocols they've developed have produced a high rate of cure. As hard as this is to hear, we should all feel really thankful because the prognosis is so good for Max.

On Wednesday the doctors decided that Max was ready to have his ventric. Removed! This is a big step forward. It means that, so far at least, Max is managing the drainage and pressure in his head on his own. Doctor E told us that he may still need a shunt, but that for now things are looking good. He also said that this was one of the "slicker" recoveries he'd seen! That's saying something - Dr. Ellenbogen has seen a lot.

On Friday the neuro surg docs decided Max was ready to be "discharged" from recovery and move to rehab. This is the next step in getting him ready to go home. After a lot of assessment from occupational, speech and physical therapists the determination was made that Max was a good candidate for in-patient rehab. That's because he was really responsive, cooperative, tried super hard and has shown a good improvement already. He's just being Max!

One of the therapists told us Max did "phenomenonaly well" after one of the speech sessions!

We moved down the hall to a new room near the re-hab "gym" on Friday. Moving looked a little like a parade because of all our balloons, stuffed animals and pictures! It was great-thanks again to everyone for making pictures, sending buddies for Max and the "balloon forest" - Max loves all of it!

Max started rehab therapy on Friday and it's really a lot of work for him. His spirits are good though and it's fun to watch him work and keep improving.

We all should feel very blessed about how things are going so far. It really has been remarkable and we know that everyone's strong connection, love, prayers and loving energy has contributed greatly to Max's progress. Thank you everyone - we continue to be overwhelmed.

At the same time we need to remember that it's not going to be easy or quick. This is very hard. Just sitting upright is a workout. Imagine going from being the star basketball player of the second grade to not being able to even stand up on your own. Max just keeps moving forward. He's trying sooo hard, but sometimes it's really hard for him to keep trying. He's brave beyond anything most of us can conceive of, but sometimes he just wants to lose himself in a cartoon. Mostly from us, Max just needs our love and hugs.

I told Max yesterday he was the toughest guy I knew and that all the players in the NFL had nothing on him. He cried and told me not to make fun of the football players.

He can't yet walk on his own but his grace is overwhelming.

We'll send another update soon. Your prayers are working. Bless all of you.

Please forward to anyone you think would want to learn about Max and how he is doing.

With love

P.S.
We know that many of you would like to visit Max in the hospital. We'd really appreciate it if you'd give us a call at the hospital to find the best time. Max is very busy with rehab and also needs time to rest. Thanks so much!

Max Update! Feb 17, 2004

Feb17th

We realize it's been a while since we updated all of you - it must be so hard wondering what's going on after receiving such shocking news about our dear Max. So here's an update after surgery. We'll send updates more regularly going forward.

Max's surgery went very,very well! His surgeon told us the tumor had not spread to the spine, and that they were able to get all of it. He said the MRI looked "wonderful", "clean", and "fantastic".

Thank you to the many of you - family and friends, who came to Children's Hospital during surgery on Thursday. We literally took over a large waiting area! We are so grateful- sharing this scary time with you helped us so much.

We spent thursday thru saturday night in ICU and Max was amazingly tough. It was hard.

Dr. Ellenbogen, chief of neurosurgery at children's, told us that Max was recovering "remarkably well". Dr. E is an inspiring, amazing person, and the best at what he does in the country, if not the world. We are so blessed to have him.

We moved out of ICU on Sunday afternoon and into our own private room. Max is now eating, a ton! He can sit up in a chair for 45 mins or so at a time and has walked a little with lots of support. Today he laughed a couple times and played a couple games with one of the therapists.

We're hopeful about Max's progress with the ventriculostomy and await a decision about whether or not he'll need a shunt tomorrow (wednesday) . That's neuro-surg speak - just pray for and visualize "drainage" :).

We also expect to get news back from the "tumor board" tomorrow (wednesday) on exactly what the tumor was, and what the plan is from here.

It's a big day tomorrow.

Max still still has a lot of pain - He's got to carry around what amounts to an 8 pound bowling ball on his poor little neck which feels like it's just been hit with a baseball bat. He's getting over being on morphine and assorted other pain killers, muscle relaxers, steroids, anti-nausea meds and who knows what else without stop for 3 solid days. You have no idea.

He's a hero.
We are in awe of him.
He is beautiful.

We all have to keep remembering that this was a very big surgery. It is going to take a lot of very hard work and time from him and his family and friends to get him back to himself.

He will, with all our help.

Thank you and God bless all of you for your prayers and meditations. We can feel them and the energy of your love overwhelms us. Together with God we are overpowering.

Thanks to all of you who have sent gifts to brighten Max`s world, and for the many meals and snacks that have been delivered to us at the hospital..we are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends.

love and God Bless

P.s.
Please forward on and (cc ericha1@msn.com) to anyone that would want to get news about Max!

A bit of background on Max

Max Hanson is an awesome kid from Seattle! He's 9 years old and loves sports of any kind, doing art projects (especially drawing), playing with his little brother Beck and big sister Robin and just being a kid!

Max was diagnosed with a medulloblastoma (brain tumor) in February of 2004. He had a successful surgery at Children's hospital and has completed six weeks of chemo and radiation treatment and is well on his way to completing maintenance chemo therapy (finished in the end of October).

Max's surgery has given him some challenges, especially when it comes to doing the sports he loves so much. His balance was effected as well as his right side coordination for throwing and running. He continues to work hard though and is looking forward to being done with his treatment at the end of October 2004!

Despite all this Max is back in school full time (3rd grade), is learning to play golf, regularly practices hitting baseballs in the yard and is assistant coach for his school's soccer team!

As his surgeon said - Max has an indominable spirit!!!