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!