She is amazing.

So this past weekend was the first time I had to explain to Jake more in detail about Ellie brain tumor.  I have gone over a year without having to go into detail but today he started to ask questions.  I tried to be as vague as possible.  It all started when I told him we had to rush because we had to pick Ellie up so she could take her Chemo Pills on time. He asked me why she was taking pills.  I then proceeded to tell him the pills were to help her bump from not growing.  He said “but what if her bump grows?”  I was a little stumped at this point.  I knew the day would come when I needed to explain more in detail to him but I never prepared myself for this.  So I stuttered a little and said “well that is why she is taking medicine so it doesn’t grow.”  He then proceeded to say, “If it grows will Ellie die.”  I wasn’t sure how to proceed from there, my heart sank I then tried to end the conversation with  “we are doing everything to make sure it doesn’t grow” and kind of brushed him off a little. 

This this past weekend began Ellie’s second six weeks round of Chemotherapy.  It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year.

Ellie was a rock star with her Chemo this round.  She took every pill with ease.   I couldn’t of been prouder of her.  She is one incredibly strong resilient little girl.  Yesterday the Chemo hit her pretty hard.  She was throwing up and lethargic.  I’m happy to say today she was feeling better.  She went to school, came home and even did her homework.  I noticed she has been crying and tired quit a bit the past week or so.  Even sometimes talking back to us.  It’s such a difficult situation because I would never put up with this attitude if Ellie wasn’t going through what she is going through.  I am finding a hard time balancing discipline with Ellie.  I guess this must be an issue that all parents with children that are terminally ill face. 

Yesterday was also a challenging day because I received a phone call around 6:30pm informing me that my father was being rushed to the hospital to have surgery on eye. His retina was detaching and they had to do surgery immediately.  My sister and spent the evening at the hospital.  The Doctor said he was extremely lucky.  He had two spots his eye had already detached and three holes in his retina.  The Doctor believes he was able to save his eye.  We got home around midnight but was so happy that my Dad’s eye should be ok if everything heals properly.  Not a dull moment in our lives.  But we have to count our blessings.  It seems like we have been extremely lucky in many ways. 

Exciting updated information on the Fundraiser coming up for Ellie.  One for the Kids on April 28th.

Coopers Hawk will be doing wine tasting, a very popular artist will also be doing some art on the spot and auctioning the pieces off, and of course the band is suppose to be out of this world.  If you have yet to get your tickets please make sure you order them.  We are looking forward to an awesome evening.  We also have some pretty good auction items.  A stay in Hawaii, A week stay in a cabin in Wisconsin National Park, an autographed Bears football, a night stay at Indian Lakes Resort, and much more.  Follow the link to get your tickets.  You can also purchase raffle tickets online at this link.  Or if you happen to run into me you can purchase them from me.  This evening sounds like tons of fun.  Please don’t forget the tickets to the event include all you can drink, appetizers, entertainment, and desert.  http://oneforthekids.org/cocktail-party/

Also I wanted to mention the new video to the left of Ellie singing.  She had no clue I was recording, this just makes Dave and I smile so much we wanted to share it with Ellie supporters.