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Wednesday, April 2, 2008 12:31 AM CDT
I have never wanted to go back in time as much as I do now. If we could just rewind back to be our normal family without any cancer. To have Brandon back with us not sick and running around like he should be. I have never wished for something so much in my life(except for a miracle for Brandon). Now back to reality that it has been 6months today that Brandon left us to go to heaven. It is so hard to think that for a 1/2 of a year we have not been able to see, smell, talk to or hold Brandon. Some days we are ok and somedays I would like to crawl under a rock and never come back out. It is just so hard and so unfair. I just miss him so much and miss what our family use to be. We are giving it our best to try and adjust to our new family now, but some days are just to hard to deal with. I still am asking the ? why and at this point I think I will until I am in heaven with him.
We have had to great events happen recently for Brandon. The first was his Birthday Bash. It was a very hard day on us, but also a good day. I have learned now that he is gone and after the first fundraiser without him here there is a lot of sadness with it, but also a lot of happiness with it. Thanks to everyone that made this happen and for still thinking of Brandon and our family. It means so much to us. The other event was this past weekend. It was out at the Mint Hill Ball Field. What a day it turned out to be. This is where Brandon and Brooke grew up playing baseball and softball. We have so many great memories of this place. They dedicated a baseball field in Brandon's name. It is called Elam-N8 Field in memory of Brandon Elam. They put this on the score board and there is also going to be a sigh with Brandons picture on the dugout. They also had the Hometown Heroes ride their bikes in on the field. Brooke rode in with them and she and one of the Hometown Hero kids threw out the first pitch. It was a great day. Scott and I know Brandon was there with us. As Stu (Brandons coach) was giving a about Brandon speech we saw this big bird fly over the field and had a few rain drops. We know it was Brandon and he was crying like we were. I have had this same bird around a couple times before and have to believe it is Brandon with me. We also keep getting pennies. So it sounds like we are getting some sign's from Brandon. I just wish I could feel him with me all the time.
Sat April 5th at 10:00am we are going to Marshville for a ceremony for Habitat of Humamity. They are building 3 new homes and one of them is in Brandons honor/memory. This was told to Brandon and us at the football night at Porter Ridge before he passed away. We are very excited about this and know Brandon is too. Some of the kids at Porter Ridge are helping to build the home if anyone would like to help you can get in touch with Chantelle Swanger at the school or Scott and I and we will try to find out info. You are also welcome to come out Sat if you would like. We have directions if you need them.
Thank you for still checking in on our family and for all your messages. We love to hear from you. It means so much to us. We could not go thru this journey without the love and support from our family and friends.
Love to all,
Anita, Scott and Brooke
The Proud Parents and Proud Sister to ^Brandon^
We love and miss you very much Brandon
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 8:52 PM CDT
HAPPY 17TH BRANDON!!!!
Brandon where do I start. I have put this off all day because I knew it would be very difficult. I just can't believe your 17th birthday is here and you are not with us anymore to celebrate. Last years 16th birthday was such a great time for all of us. We were so happy even though we knew what we could possibly be facing. I was told by Dr McMahon to give you a BIG party because it would probably be your last. We did give you a BIG party, but I just really never thought it would be your last. I just knew you were going to get your miracle. What a mistake I made. If you can tell I'm still upset about that. I have tried to make the best out of today. Most of it was all for you. I know you were with me today when I came to see you and let your 17 blue balloons go. I also hope you like the 2 that I left for you at your marker. How about your bench. That was a great birthday present for all of us. It is very beautiful. I hope you are very pleased with all the info and pictures we put on the bench. Everyone can now put a face with the name, but from what dad and I are learning everyone already knows you. We are known as Brandon's parents. You have become very famous and made us feel famous. I makes me very proud. You know I would change all of this if I could and have you back here with us as a normal family. We later went to Brookes softball game (they won) and then to Chili's for dinner. We all had the molton cake for you. It was very strange to hear the waitress's sing happy birthday to other tables. I wish we could have had them come to our table for you. With your birthday coming up I have done a lot of thinking and looking at pictures of you from the time you were born. It puts such a smile on my face to remember the wonderful years we had with you. We could have never ever asked for a better son. You have always had a way of putting a smile on peoples faces and that has not changed. This time 17 years ago you were only about 38 minutes old and we were so happy and proud. It is very strange that I just thought of the time you were born it was 9:37pm and you died at 11:37pm. I just never ever would have dreamed that you would be gone 16yrs later. I thought you would live to be an old man, have a wife and family. I thought you would give me grandchildren that would look and act just like you. I would have spoiled them so much. Look how much I spoiled you. I can only say I am so sorry we were robbed of all the dreams we deserved. I so wished for a different life for you. If I could have changed it I would. Always know how much I love you and can't wait to see your sparkling eyes and your big smile. I can't wait to hold you, talk to you and kiss you. I know you had a big party in heaven today. As much as you are loved here on earth I know you have that kind of love in heaven. I sure hope you liked Sat's Birthday Bash. It turned out great. It should have showed you how much you are loved and NOT forgotten. It was hard not having you here with us for the event, but we promised you that we would do this and that is what we are doing.
What do you think about Mint Hill Athletic Assoc. naming a baseball field after you. Dad and I are so honored. We have a lot of great memories of you and Brooke playing ball out there. It is going to be a great opening day for them and us. They have the Hometown Heroes coming in on the field with thier motorcycles. You know Brooke will be with one of them and Korey and Robin are planning on riding in on one also. So be around to watch everything on March 29th and keep good weather for us.
Happy 17th Birthday Brandon!!!
We love and miss you very much!!
Love,
Mom, Dad and Brooke
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Tuesday, March 4, 2008 8:40 PM CST
It is so hard to believe that another month has already come and gone. It does not seem possible that Brandon has not been with us for 5 months as of March 2nd. I really do not even know what to put in this journal entry. I feel like I say the same things every time. This website was never set up for me to talk about Brandon not being with us and it is so hard for me to do it. I never had any problems when he was sick. Scott and I went out to Brandon's grave on Sunday and both just talked about how we could not believe how our lives had turned out. It is just very hard to know that we both could still live for many years to come without Brandon.
Brandon's Birthday is March 18th he would be 17yrs old. I just wish he could be here and do what 17yr old boys do. I wish we could be planning some type of birthday party for him. I wish we could be making plans for college. I wish I could still watch him playing sports. I wish I could see him driving a car. The list could go on and on. I wish our family and all the other families that have lost a child would never ever have to go thru the pain we go thru.
Brandon's ELAM-N8 CANCER Birthday Bash is coming up soon. It is scheduled for March 15, 2008. We are hoping it is going to be a big success since it is the first event since Brandon has passed. For all the details please go to the links below and check on the first one that says ELAM-N8 CANCER.
Thank you for continued thoughts and prayers. We do not updated as often, but still love to hear from you. We could not go through this journey without the love and support from our family and friends.
Love to all,
The Proud Parents and Proud Sister to ^Brandon^
Brandon we love and miss you so much!!!
Hugs and Kisses until we are together again!!
Anita, Scott, and Brooke
Monday, February 11, 2008 6:48 PM CST
Well Brandon's 4th month anniversary has come and gone on Feb 2nd and I was never able to update. I sure do wish I could say as time goes by it is getting easier, but that is just not the case. It is so hard and I miss Brandon so much. I just never knew I could be so sad and have so much pain in my life. For me it is very hard to get thru each day. If I could have it my way I would just stay in bed and never face the world, but for Brooke and the promise I made to Brandon I do get up everyday and try to do something. Some days I do get stuff done and others I am lucky to just get a shower in for the day. It takes so much energy out of me for everything I do. I sure hope this gets better soon. I felt better when Brandon was sick and I ran on very little sleep.
We did finally get Brandon's correct marker in. It looks great and I made a flower arrangement in Brandon's Panthers colors. We are still in the process of finalizing his bench. They have promised that we will have it in by his birthday on March 18th. We should also be able to have his tree planted by then. I can't wait to see everything is completed. It will be beautiful. I never thought Scott and I would spend as much time out there as we do. I always feel I can talk to him from anywhere, but it just feels very different when you are there.
I know I have said it in other journal entries, but I need to say it again. I'm so glad that we have Brooke in our lives and that she keeps us going. It does help you take your mind off of it sometimes during the day. She brings joy and laughter to our family. We still feel very lost as three, but she is such a blessing to us. We are very proud of her. With everything we all have been thru she continues to do well in school and never gives us any trouble. I guess she knows we can't handle anymore on our plates. She went out for the school softball team last week and made it. I'm so proud of her and can't wait to see her on the field again. I also know Brandon is cheering her on from heaven.
It is so hard to believe that Brandon's birthday is a month away (March 18th). I can't believe a year has gone by. This time last year we were deciding what we should do about his 16th birthday. I wanted to make it big, but I was torn about his chemo. He was do for a round of chemo the week before his birthday, so that would mean he would have been sick with no counts for his birthday. We had just done scans and a lot of the tumors were gone, which we never thought would happen. Dr. McMahon told us to delay the chemo and give Brandon a huge party. He told me that was more important then the chemo and I was having a very hard time with what to do. Why delay if it is working. At that time he had told me that Brandon would probably not be here for his 17th birthday and by the start of the new school year (Aug/Sept) he would be very sick. Which all came true. This was something that we never told Brandon and that Scott and I just put it in the back of our minds. I trusted Dr. McMahon and he usually had everything correct, but I always told him I hear what you are saying, but Brandon is going to get a miracle. He would say i have had others that have gotten miracles and Brandon could be one too. He said that is what he needs and that is what we all wished for. I still have a very hard time to think Brandon didn't get the miracle. There were so many people praying I just new whatever God's plans were he would change them and let us keep Brandon. That is not what happened as you all know. I just can't believe this time last year I was so excited about planning his big surprise party. From the time Brandon got sick and especially when he relapsed we did everything big just in case it was the last. I'm very thankful we did. It is just very hard to think he will never be here for another birthday. Everybody says the first's are hard, but I think they will all be hard. You are supposed to celebrate your child's birthday every year. We are planning on having a celebration for his birthday. Last year we did a Bike Ride for his birthday and we are going to continue them from here on out. When this was planned last year it was going to be an annual event with the hopes to getter bigger every year. That sure does look like it is gonna be that way. The name has changed to Brandon's ELAM-N8 CANCER Birthday Bash scheduled for Sat March 15th at Porter Ridge High School. We have added a lot more events this year. Some of them are a Bike Ride, Running, and walking with other still in the works. Please go to www.ELAM-N8CANCER.com for all the details and to also get registered. You can also go to the bottom of the page under links and click on it. Even though it is going to be very hard to have our first event without Brandon there we are very excited and hope you can join us and be a part of his celebration.
As many of you know our friend Bobby who was battling cancer passed away in Jan. a lot sooner then they thought. I have to think Brandon greeted him at the gates of heaven and is showing him all around. What touched Scott and I the most is that Bobby's request was to be buried by Brandon. He had made that choice after going to Brandon's funeral. We are so honored. I always visit both of them when I go out there now. If you could please keep his family in your prayers I know they can sure use them.
Thank you for continued thoughts and prayers. We do not update as often, but still love to hear from you. We could not go thru this journey without the love and support from our family and friends.
Love to all
The Proud Parents and Proud Sister to ^Brandon^
Brandon we love and miss you so much!!!
Hugs and Kisses until we are together again!!
Anita, Scott and Brooke
Brandon I'm still waiting for some type of sign or visit from you.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008 10:14 PM CST
I know I said I would try to do better at updating, but the last time I updated was Brandon's 2 month anniversary and here I'm updating today and it is his 3 month anniversary. I can't believe that I have not been able to see, hear or talk to Brandon since 10-2-07. What I would do to be able to do all of them again. I thought as time went by it would get easier, but that is not the case. The pain is so real and life is so hard without him. We go thru each day like we are supposed to, but it is just not the same. There is so much sadness in my heart and in our family. We are all trying to adjust to a family of three, but it is so hard on us. I find my self all the time still including Brandon in things that we do. Just like tonight I was setting the table for dinner and got 4 forks out to put on the table.
The holidays have been very sad without Brandon. We made it thru them, but it was very hard. For Christmas Eve we did the shopping spree at Walmart with Hometown Heroes. They want us to continue that every year and give the toys to the hospital in Brandon's honor. This is what Brandon had done with it in the past. We had a good time. Brooke helped this year to pick the toys out and I think she had a good time. For Christmas we stayed at the house and my mom and Scott's family came over for a early dinner. My mom did all the cooking, which was very nice for me. We all later went to Brandon's grave and spent time with him. Scott and I also went on Christmas eve. We left on the 26th to go to Disney. It was very nice to finally get away. It was also very strange and sad feeling not having Brandon with us. We had a good time, but we were all ready to come home. Disney is so packed at Christmas time. We were so tired of being with thousands of people. We got home about an hour before the New Year. We stayed at Jordan's house with friends until the ball dropped and then went home to bed. I was not in the mood to welcome in a New Year and still having a very hard time with it.
Thank you for all your continued support and prayers. I know I don't update the web as much as I did in the past, but it is so hard on me. I get so upset everytime I do it. We still check it all the time and love hearing from you. Please still keep us in your prayers we can use them. We could not go through this journey without the love and support from our family and friends.
Love to all,
Scott, Anita and Brooke
The Proud Parents and Sister to ^Brandon^
Brandon we love and miss you so much.
Brandon my buddy as I always called you. I miss you so much. Life is so hard without you. For the past three years we were together all the time. My day was planned around you and I would have not changed it for anything. It was my job to take care of you and do anything you needed. I know I'm being selfish, but I would have you back in a second and still be happy planning my day around you. I'm just so lost now without taking care of you. I get up everyday and sometimes get stuff done and others days I do nothing. The days are just not the same without you in them. I'm keeping my promise to you to go on with my life, but I'm not going to lie to you I hate it. You just made our lives so much happier and what I would do to have that joy back instead of the pain and hurt I have now. Thank god I have your sister because she has helped your dad and me with making ours days have some joy in them. Both of you our my life and I sure do wish you were still here with us. I'm so sorry that you got sick and had to leave us, but I know you are in good hands and living life like you should. It still does not make me miss you any less. I love you and miss you so much. I can't wait until we are together again and my heart is finally healed from the pain. Be sweet like always.
Love,
Mom
PS Come visit me in my dreams I LOVE YOU!!!
Wed, December 12, 2007 10:31 PM CST
WED UPDATE AT 10:00AM
We did just find out that they are doing our channel 9 news interview in the 6:00pm hr today 12-13 it should be around 6:15 or before.
Tomorrow Thurs 12-13 thru Sun 12-16 is the Lite 102.9 Radio telethon that Brandon and our family have been a part of for the past few years. If you can please tune in and listen. Scott and I are going to be answering phones on Thurs from 4pm to 7pm and we think sometime in that time they are planning on doing a live interview with us. They also could be playing Brandon's last interviews thru out the whole time from Thus to Sun. We are just not sure about any times or since he has passed if they will play them or not. Just wanted to let everyone know. Tony and Jen that do the show every year have become such good friends to us and have been there for us throughout Brandons battle and just love what they do for the kids and families.
Also Jim Bradley with channel 9 news did another interview with Scott and I on Tues afternoon and they are going to be airing it possible Thurs 12-13 or Mon 12-17. As soon as I know when and what time I will post. He did a really good job with the interviews in the past and wanted to do a follow up with us since Brandon passed away.
Sunday,December 2, 2007 10:31 PM CST
Two months today without Brandon. I never thought this is what I would be typing on his sight. We miss him so much and as the time goes by it is becoming very real that he is no longer with us and no longer coming back. Scott and I are both being very selfish and wishing him back even though we no that is not the life he would have wanted. I have always heard it is so hard on the ones left behind and that is so true. The pain is so hard to deal with sometimes. We know Brandon is in heaven having the best time of his life and no longer feeling sick, but I still wish over and over to please let me have him back. I miss his smile and how he just made our life complete. He was the best son I could have ever asked for and I still question why him, why our family. I sure wish God would give us our plan in life, because I really still can't understand why.
We made it through Thanksgiving. We were with some friends, which is different for us. It was nice to do something different. It seems like everything we do now is different and always will be. We all went to Brandon's grave and spent time with him first and then went back to our friends house for dinner. She did almost all the cooking and made it very easy for me. Christmas is so hard already. We have the house decorated because that is what Brooke wanted and we feel we need to make things as normal as possible for her, but it is just very hard to see everything and know Brandon will never be with us again on Christmas. It was one of his most favorite holidays. Him and I were always watching Christmas movies in the hospital and at home all year long. We have not made final plans for Christmas eve or Christmas day yet, but we have told all our family and friends to please not buy us gifts this year because it is going to be to hard for us to do any shopping or exchanging. We are just doing for Brooke only and she is making it easy on us. We are leaving on Dec 26th thru Jan 1st to take Brooke and her friend Jordan to Disney World. We wanted to leave town and do something different. Brooke is very excited and that makes us feel good.
Scott and I went to the hospital and Dr. McMahon's office the other day. It was very hard, but we got thru it. We had made something for them and wanted to deliver it. As usual everyone was so nice and still treated us like family. We also finally ordered Brandon's marker and bench and they hope to have them in by Christmas. I can't wait to see them. They should look really nice. My friend Kim and I decorated a Christmas tree in the theme of Brandon's colors and team (Panthers) and took it out to his grave. I know he loves it. We also went to the school this past week for the winter sports awards. They wanted us to present the award that was put in place last year from the football team. It was given to Brandon last year and will now be given to a football player every year. It is called The Brandon Elam Most Courageous Award. It is so hard for us to do these things, but we do it for Brandon and are very proud and honored that Brandon is not forgotten.
I will try to update again before Christmas, but if not have a good one and please keep us and all the other families that have lost a child in your prayers. Holidays are just not the same anymore and a very tuff time on us.
I want to thank everyone for all your love and support. It means a lot to us. We could not go thru this journey without our family and friends.
Love to all,
Anita, Scott, and Brooke
The Proud Parents and Sister to ^Brandon^
Brandon We love and miss you and can't wait until we are all together again.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007 11:23 PM CST
It is so hard to believe that Brandon has been gone for 6 weeks today. What I would give to turn back time. Life is just so hard without him in it. We stay busy (not really sure with what, still working on Brookes room), but everything we do never feels right. We have an empty void with us all the time. Our house feels so different and our life feels so different. This is not the life we planned. Scott and I planned to be a family of 4 and now we are just a family of 3. We had the perfect family 1 boy and 1 girl. Most peoples dream family. Brooke had a brother and now she is an only child. It is just so hard to understand why god only let us have Brandon for such a short period of time. I understand that he has plans for him in heaven, but I sure was not done with him here. I would really like to know what the plans are. I just never new my heart could hurt so much and that I could feel so sad. I also never thought I would visit a gravesight so much. Scott and I went to a teenager's funeral the other night in the same church where we had Brandon's. It was very tuff. It just made me think a lot during the funeral about now this girl was in heaven with Brandon and did he meet her at the gates and show her around. It just made me think so much why. Why did Brandon have to go thru three years of fighting for his life, giving up being a teenager, and so much more. For what, he still lost the battle. Then you have this girl that seemed like she had everything going for her. She was in her last year of highschool and now she is gone. On the way home I said to scott I think there should be a rule that when a parent looses a child no matter how. That they should be able to go to heaven for 10 minutes to see what they look like, what they are doing and just make sure they are ok. I don't know if it would make the hurt any better, but it could answer a lot of questions you ask youself over and over.
I'm not looking forward to the holidays at all. I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week. Christmas will be here before you know it. They say the first's are really hard, but I have not even got use to Brandon not being here and we are already having to deal with them. I'm just not really sure how we will get thru them. If I had my choice we would not celebrate at all, but with having Brooke it is very hard. She seems like she wants life to stay the same. This time last year we were planning our trip to NY for Thanksgiving. We had so much fun and made so many memories. I sure do wish we could have Brandon with us this year to do that again.
I wanted to let you know about this Sat Nov 17th. There will be a tree planting in celebration of Brandon from 8:30am to 10:00am at The Divide golf course. If you would like to come, please feel free to do so. If you need additional info, please contact Kurt or Nicole Pearson at 704-882-4127 or
I want to thank everyone for all your love and support to our family. It means a lot to us to know that so many people still care even though Brandon is no longer with us. As you can see it is very hard for me to update the site. I always used this for letting people know about Brandon and how he was doing. It is very hard to put out here how we are doing. It seems like I say the same thing and it is always sad thoughts that I know get people down, but thank you for still checking Brandons website and leaving the messages they still mean a lot to us. I will try to do better about more updates. Have a great Thanksgiving and please say an extra prayer for us that day. We will need it. Please say extra prayers for all the families that are going thru thier 1st's without thier children. There are a lot of them and they were all dear to us and can use the prayers also.
Love to all,
Anita, Scott and Brooke
The Proud Parents and Sister to ^Brandon^!!!
Brandon we love and miss you so much and can't wait until we are all together again.
Wed, October 31, 2007 11:45 PM CDT
This updated is going to be very different, but I need to do it.
Thanks
Brandon,
What a day it has been for me. I know a lot of people don't make Halloween big, but we always have and always have had so much fun. In the past three yrs Halloween has been tuff, but we still made the best we could of it. In 2004 you were in pic-u and finally got off the ventilator and later that day got to move to step down. I know you didn',t remember any of it. In 2005 we were home and dressed up and had fun giving out candy and hanging out with our friends. In 2006 we had just learned 1month earlier that you relapsed and were in the hospital getting transfusions for the day. We came home that night and all of us dressed up and hung out with fiends, gave out candy and made a lot of memories. I never thought it would be my last Halloween with you. I'm sure glad we had fun, but this one in 2007 has been very tuff for me. I made the best of it, because I know that is what you would have wanted us to do. It seems like everything we do we always have a piece missing and that is you. I can't believe you have been gone 1month now and I already had to celebrate a holiday without you. It is just not fair and I sure do wish you could be back here with us. Before dad and I got dressed up today we came out to your gravesight to spend Halloween with you. It is so very hard to do that, but I guess that will be my way from now on. Brooke went with her friends to lakepark and dad and I hung out with friends here. When Brooke got home we all hung out at Kim and Ron's with a bunch of others until about 11:00 and you came up a lot like always. I hope you had fun up in Heaven with all your friends and PaPa. I hope you watched over us and saw I have stuck to my promise that we would be sad when you were gone, but would still move forward. That is what I'm trying to do. I have never typed like this before on here except for your birthday and special times with the hopes that one day when you were better you would sit down and read everything. I just felt like I needed to type this tonight and I know you will read all of it. I love you very much and so proud that you were such a great son and person. I know you are still loved by so many people here on earth and in heaven and will never be forgotten. I LOVE AND MISS YOU SO MUCH. I can't wait for the day that we are together again.
Love Mom
Sunday,October 28,2007 9:08 PM CDT
It is so hard to believe that about this time 4 weeks ago my front yard and house was filled with so many people holding candles and praying for Brandon and our family. It is so hard to believe that after almost everyone had left and gone home Brandon had his first seizure ever. It was so bad that Scott and I thought he was passing then. After that point there are so many things that happened good and bad that I keep playing over and over in my head. I sure do hope in time the bad will go away and I only remember the good. It is so hard to believe on Tues it will be 4 weeks since Brandon passed away. Sometimes it seems like forever and sometimes it seems like yesterday. I still have so many times that I start to say I need to check on Brandon and then I remember he is not here anymore. I think that will happen for a long time. For the past 3yrs Scott and I made all our plans around how Brandon was feeling and if he could go with us. We always had him with us and now a lot of times it is just Scott and I. We still have Brooke, but she was always off with her friends and still is doing that for the most part.
This past week was a very tuff week for us. On Mon 10-22-07 it was Brandons 3yr anniversary from origanal dx, Tues 10-23-07 was 3weeks since he passed away and Thurs was Brandon's 1st big brain surgery to remove his tumor. It is really tuff to think he will not be here for anymore of these anniversary dates and now we will have another anniversary date of his death. I never thought this would happen. I always thought he would beat it. Scott also went back to work on Tues and that left me home by myself. It is very tuff to make yourself get up and go when what you have been doing for 3yrs is gone all of the sudden.
I had one of the writers from the Charlotte Observer call me on Thurs to do a story on Brandon and I always did these in the past with no problem. I lost it why I was on the phone with him. We also went out to his school on Sat to a band competion they were having. They wanted us to present an award in Brandons honor. They called it the Brandon Elam Spirit Award. We felt so blessed that he is not forgotten and things are still happening in his name, but it was very tuff to here the words in memory of Brandon Elam and not to honor Brandon Elam. I'm just glad I had my sunglasses on when we gave the kids the award.
Brooke seems to be doing very well. She did not like our house at all after everything happened, but seems to be a little better with it now. Her friend Jordan is still staying with us, which I know is helping her. I think it is great that she has a friend like that. She is like a daughter to us and a sister to Brandon and Brooke. She also watched everything happen to Brandon as well as Brooke. I think them being together helps each other. Thank you to Pam and Chris for allowing her to be here. I know they must miss her. I have been keeping busy finally painting the bonus room that we promised Brooke for her birthday back in June. We are going to let her have that as her bedroom. Our upstairs was set up for just Brandon and Brooke, so we have a lot of spaces not being used and thought it would be nice to give her a bigger space to let her and her friends hang out in. Please pray after all my hard work that she will not be scared and move in there.
As always thank you for your prayers and concerns. It means so much to us. Please continue to pray for our family we could us prayers to keep us going.
Love to all,
Anita, Scott, and Brooke
The proud parents and sister to ^Brandon^ !!!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007 1:01 PM CDT
I feel like I need to update Brandon's website, but not really sure what to put in here. This website was set up to let you know how Brandon is feeling and what is going on with his treatment's. That all has changed now and it just makes it more real for me when I type out that Brandon is gone. It is so hard to believe that Brandon passed away two weeks ago today. I know he is cancer free now and running around playing like a 16 yr old boy should be doing. I don't question that he is happy and in a wonderful place, but I do question why my Brandon. I should still be able to see and talk to him when I want and take care of him like a mom should do. I just miss his bright eyes and smile. I miss how he made our home complete. If I could only have a little more time with him.
Brandon's service was everything that Scott and I wanted it to be. It was very beautiful and we know Brandon was so proud of everything that was done for him. I know he had all his friends and his PaPa sitting with him and watching it all. I know he was amazed at all the motorcycles and police cars that led us to everything. He really liked that his sister Brooke was on a motorcycle and leader of the pack. The rest of us were in a Hummer Limo and he would of not wanted it any other way. We new that Brandon had touched so many people, but his viewing and service comfirmed how many lives he has touched. The funeral home told us it was the biggest they ever did and as Brandon's parents that makes us so proud.
I want to thank everyone for caring about Brandon and our family. It is so amazing to see how much people care. Thank you to everyone that came to the house and hospital and shared the last hours with Brandon and our family, for everyone that came to Brandon's services,for the memorial that was in our front yard and street when we came home at 4:30 in the morning from the hospital, for all the donations made in Brandon's name, flowers, cards, gifts, messages on his website, calls, dinners, cleaning our house, and for anything else that I forgot to list. It means so much to us to know that we are loved so much.
We made a promise to Brandon that we would keep his name going and he would never be forgotten. We have big plans for his slogan ELAM-N8 CANCER and we are asking that people will respect us and not do anything with the slogan. We know that people want to do things just because they care, but for ours plans to work we need you to respect us and let us get thoughts together and our plan working and you will see his slogan everywhere.
As always thank you for all your prayers and concerns. It means so much to us. Please continue to pray for our family we can use all your prayers to keep us going.
Love to all,
Anita, Scott and Brooke
The proud parents and sister to ^Brandon^!!!
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 3:17 AM CDT
Visitation will be Friday, October 5, 2007 from 6:00pm until at First Baptist Church of Indian Trail
732 Indian Trail, NC 28079.
Funeral service will be Saturday October 6, 2007 at Noon at the church. Burial at Forest Lawn East
3700 Forest Lawn Dr
Matthews, NC 28104
Heritage Funeral Home, Weddington Chapel has been entrusted with the arrangements of Brandon. 704-846-3771
Brandon passed away at 11:37pm on Tues 10-02-07 very peacefully with his family by his side. We know he is in a better place cancer free and running around like a 16yr old boy should do. We are so proud to be his parents and his sister Brooke is so proud to have him as her brother. He was such a blessing to have him in our life and will never be forgotten.
I will update with funeral arangements when they are completed.
Love to all,
Anita
Tuesday, October 2, 2007 11:35 AM CDT
I wanted to update and let everyone know that we are now in the hospital and Brandon does not have a lot of time left. We had to bring Brandon in last night because we could not make him comfortable at home anymore. His is now very comfortable and we are ok with being in our home away from home when the time comes. Scott and I feel that Brandon needed to be here to say goodbye to his other family and that is why he gave us such a hard time at home.
Please watch channel 9 news (WSOC) tonight from 5:00pm to 6:30pm. They are doing a story on Brandon and our family.
Thank you for all the love and support. It means so much to us. We could not go thru this journey without the love and support from out family and friends.
Love to all,
Anita
Sunday, September 30, 2007 9:05 AM CDT
I wanted to update and let everyone know that Brandon has started the process of passing away. We noticed changes in him yesterday. We have been working with Dr. McMahon and the hospice nurses on getting him comfortable. I just got off the phone with Dr. McMahon and he thinks it could be a few more days, but not sure. Please say some extra prayers for all of us. It has been a really long and tiring 24hrs already. We still have a long hard road ahead of us with so much of the unknown.
Thank you for caring so much about Brandon and our family. It means so much to us. We could not go thru this journey without the love and support from our family and friends.
Love to all,
Anita
Monday, September 24, 2007 10:59 PM CDT
How great was Friday night. We never ever thought it would be as big as it turned out to be. I know Scott and I had just as big of a smile on our face as Brandon did. The helicopter ride was so awesome. When we got to Porter Ridge and landed it was amazing. From that point on the whole night was just great. I want to thank Drew Boggs and all the people that were involved with the helicopter ride. I need to thank The Hometown Heroes, all the police officers involved, the Porter Ridge School and students, the community, and all our family and friends for making this night happen. This will be a night we will charish forever. All the media was so awesome to get Brandon's story out there. Thank you everyone. I hope I have not forgot anyone if so sorry and I thank you.
Now to how Brandon is doing. Everyday gets harder on him. His pain is just taking over and everything he try's to do is such a struggle. I have to up the dose on his morphine pump everyday and sometimes I up it more then one time in a day. He is just so tired of living in pain and wants it to go away. It breaks my heart that it has to be this way. We are very limited to getting him out of the house, because it is to hard on him. He had a Dr. appt today and he needed to get platelets. His body is just not able to keep them up anymore. They were very low (8,000 normal is 150,000 to 350,000). They are going to have the nurse come out Wed and check his counts again. I'm sure he will need another transfusion before the week is over. I will update later in the week if anything happens. While we were in the clinic getting platelets we had a good time thanks to some great people. Thank you Lannette for stopping by and the great gifts. Thank you Sherri for stopping by and hanging out with us. It is always good to see you. We had some fun with the childlife staff also. Thank you Sharon and Laura for making the hand sculptures with us. I love the one we have and can't wait to see the other one. We also got to see Brigette, Katie and Jack. Also thank you to all the staff for always spoiling us. You all our famiy and we love you all very much.
We are still ok with having visitors come by and see Brandon and our family. As usual please call first so we can work around Brandon and all the rest he needs.
Thank you for caring about Brandon and our family. It means a lot to us. We could not get thru this journey without the love and support from our family and friends.
Love to all,
Anita
Thursday, September 20, 2007 1:04 AM CDT
I wanted to let everyone know about a couple of things that are going on for Brandon's big night. Molly Grantham with WBTV news is going to interview us on Thurs 9-20 and it will be played back on the news that night. It will be on the 10:00pm news that is on channel 8 WJZY and 11:00pm news on channel 2 WBTV (this is for time warner cable). Tune into lite 102.9 radio on fri morning 9-21 starting about 7:45am to about 8:15am to hear Brandon's interview with Tony and Jen.
We did have an appt with Dr. McMahon today and Brandon needed to have a platelet transfusion again. His blood was still ok from Fri. He is still having a lot of pain and we continue to increase the morphine to try to make him comfortable.
Please remember to come out to Porter Ridge High School football game Friday night they have a lot of stuff planned for Brandon. Make sure you get there early.
Love to all,
Anita
Monday,September 17,2007 0:07AM CDT
Hello everyone! Sorry I didn't update sooner. Life is just crazy all the time. Brandon did have to have a blood and platelet transfusion on Fri. His counts had dropped a lot. This is one of the things that Dr. McMahon had told me would start to become a problem. Please pray that they will not get any worse, because I'm not sure how long we can do the tranfusions and without them Brandon will get very sick. We got to the hospital about 12:20pm on Fri and did not get home until about 10:00pm that night. It was a long day and very tiring for Brandon. They did put us in a hospital rm with a bed so Brandon could be more comfortable. We do not go back to Dr. McMahon until Wed. Please pray things will be good. Brandon is still having a lot of pain, but we are keeping it more under control with the morphine pump. He is getting a lot of morphine for such a tiny body. He is having a very hard time with standing and walking. He is in the bed or in his Panthers Room. If we go anywhere his is in his wheelchair.
Brandon is a big Panther fan as most of you know. He still amazes us. When he wants to do something it does not matter how much pain he has, he does it. He went to the game today and stayed until there was only 6min left in the game. Scott Brandon my brother and myself all went. Brandon sat with my brother in a spot where he could stay in his wheelchair and Scott and I went with my friend Kim and her husband Steve. We had a good time and it felt great to put a smile on his face. I forget how sensitive his skin is and Brandon looks like a lobster from the sun. We put a hat on his head, but he got fried in a lot of other places.
I wanted to let everyone know about something going on at Brandon's High School (Porter Ridge) this Friday Sept 21st. The school is recognizing Brandon and the Hometown Heroes at the varsity football game. The game will start at 7:30pm. You will want to get there early enough to see Brandon's arrival at 7:00pm. (it is a surprise as to how he will show up, but you do not want to miss it) Last year there was such a big turn out that a lot of people were not even in the stadium for the start of the game and missed everything. So give yourself enough time. The first play of the game was prepared by Brandon, per the coach at Porter Ridge, it will be called the Brandon Elam play. If you can make it we would love to see everyone.
We were interviewed Wed by channel 9 news. They had interviewed us when Brandon had relapsed and they were doing a follow up to everything that has happened. As soon as I find out when it is going to be on I will post.
I want to thank everyone that has stopped by the house to visit with Brandon and the rest of us. We have really enjoyed seeing everyone. Also thank you for all the calls, cards, gifts, food, emails and entry's in the guestbook. Visitors are still welcome. We ask that you call ahead so we can give Brandon time to rest and have are own family time.
Thank you for caring about Brandon and our family so much. We could not go thru this journey without the love and support of our family and friends.
Love to all,
Anita
Thursday, September 13, 2007 11:37 PM CDT
Quick Update:
Check out this site it is info about Brandon's logo and armband that is going to be on the No 21 Wood Brothers/JTG truck this Sat Sept 15th. It is the Bush Truck Series on the speed channel. The progam starts at 2:30pm and the race starts at 3:00pm. They are going to talk a little bit about what Brandon is going thru.
http://www.truckseries.com/cgi-script/NCTS_07/articles/000125/012516.htm
I will try to update tomorrow after the nurse does Brandon's labs and we have the results. He is still in a lot of pain, but hanging in there.
Love to all,
Anita
Monday,September10,2007 9:26PM CDT
Hello everyone! Brandon had an appt with Dr. McMahon today and he was pleased with his progress so far. Brandon is still doing well except the pain. We continue to increase the morphine rate to try and keep Brandon comfortable. We also added a steroid pill(decadron) 2x a day to help with the pain. Between the two of them they are helping to make him a little more comfortable and able to let him move around a little more then he was. We are going to have the nurse come out on Fri morning to have Brandon's counts checked again. His platelets and hemaglobin have dropped a lot since last week and he might need to have a transfusion. Dr. McMahon feels like this is going to be a issue for Brandon. As long as he can get out of the house and go to the clinic we will continue with the transfusions. At some point it will be to hard for Brandon to get in the car and go to the clinic. At that time we will not be able to do the transfusions anymore, because that is something they will not do at home.
We were able to get Brandon to the Hometown Heroes event on Fri morning. He had a good time. Brandon, Scott and I went in the Sheriff's car with the Hometown Heroes to take Spencer Griffin to school. It was another great time with everybody. Thank you to everyone that came out to support Brandon and our family and also thank you to everyone from Porter Ridge Highschool that helped out with the event. A big thanks to everyone with Hometown Heroes for doing this for us and all the children. You guys are great. I hope you all had a great trip. We were also able to get Brandon out Sat night to a party for a friend of ours (Bobby) that is also battling cancer. It was great to spend time with him and his family. We also got to see a lot of others that we have not seen in awhile. It was a lot of fun with everyone.
I wanted to thank everyone that has stopped by the house to visit with Brandon and the rest of us. We have really enjoyed seeing everyone. Also thank you for all the calls, emails, cards and entry's in the guestbook. Visitors are still welcome. We ask that you call ahead of time so that we can still allow Brandon to rest when he needs to.
Thank you for caring so much about Brandon and our family. We could not go through this journey without the love and support of our family and friends.
Love to all,
Anita
Wednesday, September 5, 2007 1:04 AM CDT
Hello everyone! I wanted to give everyone an update on how things are going. There has not been a lot of changes with Brandon, except his pain. It is getting worse everyday. He is having a very hard time standing and walking, because the pain in his legs is so bad. We did start the morphine pump, but we are still trying to get it at a rate that will not make him sleep all day, but ease the pain. Besides the pain he is the same Brandon that we love.
We are not due to go back to Dr. McMahon's office until Monday. I will update if anything changes before then.
We had our preacher come over to the house on Fri and he baptized Brandon and answered questions about heaven and let Brandon know that when the time comes Brandon would go there to live life like he should be living. He will have no worries, no pain, and no cancer. He can be the boy he was before CANCER. It was very nice for all of us and made Brandon feel better.
We have been very busy with a lot of people coming by to see Brandon and us. It has been very nice to spend time with everyone. It has kept us busy with little time to think. The offer still is open for visitors to come by, but please call first to make sure Brandon is feeling well enough to visit.
Hometown Heroes is having their big bike ride this Fri. morning. This is the one that they escort a child to school. Last year was Brandon. We are planning on going. Please pray that Brandon feels well enough to go.
With everything else that has happened. I think I forgot to mention that we have another dog now. We adopted another Chihuahua from a friend that didn't want him anymore. He is a 1 1/2 old and is named Tiki. He looks like the Taco Bell dog. He has been really good and has become Brookes dog. With everthing that has happened he has been good for her. So you know he is here for good. I know I have to be crazy.
Thank you for caring so much about Brandon and our family. It means a lot to us. We could not go thru this journey without the love and support from our family and friends.
Love to all,
Anita
Thursday, August 30, 2007 9:45 PM CDT
Hello everyone! I want to start off first by saying thank you to everyone for all you kind words, for all of the phone calls checking on us and for the ones that have asked about coming by to see Brandon. It is just amazing to us how many people have followed Brandon and our family through this journey for 3yrs. We could never give all the thank you's that we should.
As for how we are doing. We are hanging in there. It has been a long week, but we are getting thru it. I had a talk with Brandon on Tues and let him know about everything. It was a really good talk for both of us. Dr. McMahon had told me on Monday that there is another chemo treatment we could try, but it was the first time he did not reccomend us doing it. He didn't think at this point it would make a difference. Brandon, Scott and I also agree with him. Brandon told me he was tired and he didn't want to have anymore chemo. I cannot tell you how proud I am of him. He has done everything possible to beat this and he is just not winning. I also let him know that and told him not to feel like he is giving up, because he didn't. I also had a talk with Brooke and she know's what is going to happen. I have to say I'm so proud of both my children. They both seem to be handling it very well. We are not sure what kind of time frame we are dealing with and what we are going to be faced with next. That is the hardest thing for us right now.
Brandon is in a lot of pain and from what we are told it is going to get worse. We have tried some things this week to make him more comfortable, but they are not working. We have agreed to put Brandon on a morphine pump that should make him more comfortable. We have an appt with Dr. McMahon tomorrow to get him hooked up on this.
We know a lot of people would like to come out and visit with Brandon and our family. We have talked to Brandon about this and all of us are ok with it. Please call ahead of time to make sure he is up to visitors.
We know this is just the next step to this journey and we have a lot of hard times to come, but with the love and support from our family and friends we know we will get thru it. Thank you for everything. It means so much to all of us.
Love to all,
Anita
Thursday, August 23, 2007 10:52 PM CDT
SCAN UPDATE Monday,August27,2007 11:10PM
This is very hard for me to even type, but I feel you guys should know. The PET Scan was not good today. Not sure of next plan, but things do not look very good. I will give more details later when I have the energy and time to process it myself and with Brandon and Brooke. Please keep all of us in your prayers. We need it.
Love to all,
Anita
Hello everyone we made it home from the beach. We had a really nice time with our family. It was so nice to take a few days away from everyday life. We were able to have fun and make some great memories.
Brandon is a trooper. It amazes us how he keeps going no matter how he feels. He was not able to do everything that he likes to do when we go to the beach, but he still had a good time. He has been a sleep most of the evening since we got home and is already in bed for the night.
We have to go to the hospital on Monday morning and have a PET Scan done. This will scan his whole body so we can see what we are dealing with and if there is anything else that we can try to get the tumors to go away. We already had an appt. set up with Dr. McMahon at 1:30 on Monday to start his next round of chemo, but I'm not sure what will happen. We will plan to go to his office after the test and see what he says. Please keep praying for us that Brandon gets a miracle and the tests come back good.
I will be busy for the next couple of days getting Brooke ready for school. We have not done anything yet. It is so hard for us because we need to keep things as normal as we can for Brooke, but then it is so unfair to Brandon. Here is another school year starting and he is still sick and not able to go. It is so hard to believe that we have been fighting this Beast for almost a year since he relapsed. This time last year Scott and I were so happy because Brandon was able to start school and go full days for the 1st time in two yrs. We all felt like life was getting almost normal for us. As you all know that did not last long at all. Now it is so hard to believe that we are running out of options and time. We should be sending both of our children off to school on Monday, but we are only sending Brooke and taking Brandon for a test that will tell us how bad the cancer has spread.
Thank you for all your prayers and concerns. It means a lot to us. We could not get thru this journey without the love and support from our family and friends. Please sign the guestbook we love to hear from you.
Love to all,
Anita
Friday,August 17,2007
We got the results from Brandons scans. They are not what we were hoping for. Dr. McMahon said it has spread again. We are gonna go on our beach trip. The week of the 27th when we come back we are going to have a PET scan done to see how the tumors are in his whole body. Please just say some extra prayers for us, because we are running out of drugs and time.
Love to all,
Anita
Monday,August 13,2007 11:19 PM CDT
Hello everyone I wanted to give you a update on how Brandon is doing and what our next plan is. He is finally starting to come around after this round of chemo. With his weight loss it has been hard for him to bounce back. We did see Dr. McMahon today and Brandons counts were good. His weight has not changed since last week. We need to get some weight back on him because it is effecting the way he feels and looks. Dr. McMahon said he is malnourished and you can really notice it in his face and eyes and also in his body (very skinny). He has not looked like this since his first time fighting this beast. You start to wonder how much more can his frail body take. It is hard to believe, but in Sept it will be a year since he relapsed. That is a long time to keep putting poison in your body and don't forget this is the second time he has had chemo and radiation treatments.
Brandon will have a MRI on Wed on his hip/pelvis and legs. I should have the results later that day. We are hoping that the chemo has started working and shrinking the tumors. Dr. McMahon said if the chemo has done anything he would like to give him another round of chemo at the full dose again. He is still wanting us to delay the chemo for 2 weeks and go on our beach trip. He hopes by then we will have been able to get some weight back on him. It would really help to recover from the chemo. We will make our final desision after the MRI. He feels two weeks will not make a difference and it is more important to take Brandon on the trip. I'm still looking for my crystal ball that will give me all the answers I need to make my decisions easier.
I'm still giving IV medicine around the clock to help with the pain in his legs and back (that seems to be a little better) and his headaches that he has almost everyday and to help with the naushea.
It is just not fair for a sweet and kind 16yr old boy to go thru this battle. He has been so strong and brave for 3yrs now. He should be out with his friends, driving, playing all the sports he loved playing and planning to go back to school (11th grade) like everyone else. I just will never understand as his mother and a human being why this is happening. No one should ever have to go this.
I will update later in the week when we know what we are doing. If Brandon has it his way we are going to the beach no matter what.
Thank you for all your prayers and concerns. It means a lot to us. We could not go thru this journey without the love andd support from our family and friends. Please sign the guest book we love to hear from you.
Love to all,
Anita
Tuesday, August 7, 2007 10:07 PM CDT
Brandon is still having a hard time from his last chemo treatment. He is not able to keep much on his stomach. He is not getting sick as much as he did in the beginning, but the colitis is still bad. Everything goes thru him. We had to get fluids a few times last week because he was dehydrated. He has not had to get any transfusions as of yet. All his counts look good except his hemaglobin (blood). Dr. McMahon is having us come back on Wed to check Brandon again. He started him on a antibiotic on Monday that we hope will stop the colitis and he can start gaining some weight back. He did gain 1 pound back as of Monday. If he is not any better by Wed he is going to have to go on TPN (IV Nutrition). We will also check his counts and if his hemaglobin has dropped he will have to have a blood tranfusion.
Next Wed Brandon is going to have a MRI of his pelvis/hips and leg area to see if the tumors look any better. He is still having a lot of pain which could mean that it didn't do anything to the tumors. It is going to depend on what the tumors look like before we decide if we will do another round of chemo or not. It is making him very sick and week with a lot of weight loss. Please pray things look better.
We are talking about going to Myrtle Beach for a few days the week before school starts. My cousin and her family are going to stop there on their way to Fl. If we do go that means we will have to delay Brandon's chemo again. Dr. McMahon has told us to go and delay the chemo. He says at this point being late a week or two will not matter and we need to take any trips that we want to take . We will see how he is doing by next week. I'm not sure how he will handle the heat at the beach and he can only get in the water up to his waist. The kids want to go and see their cousins. Brandon has not been to the beach in 3 years since he got sick.
We did get Brandon to go Sat night to the bike race downtown. The money raised goes to help research on brain tumor's in the Carolinas. It is the wrap up to the 24hrs of Booty also. Brandon's team came in third place for the most money raised, but Chuck Cullen who is on the team raised the most money as a individual. He won the Booty cup and presented that to Brandon. I always say Brandon is a trooper and he is. We stayed for the whole thing and it was very hot. He had been sick and on the toilet on and off all day and still lasted all night. Thank you again to everyone that made this happen. It means a lot to us.
My computer is getting fixed. When I get it back I will updated with pictures from NY and the bike ride.
Thank you for all your prayers and concerns. It means a lot to us. We could not get thru this journey without our family and friends. Please leave a message we love to hear from you.
Love to all,
Anita
Tuesday, July 31, 2007 10:21 PM CDT
Last week was very busy going back and forth to the hospital everyday for chemo. Brandon was a trooper and was able to get the full dose. He even went out to the 24 hrs of Booty bike ride on Fri night. Sat was the day that it really started to hit him. He is very tired and just does not have a lot of energy to do anything. He is having a lot of stomach cramps and is very naushish. He also woke up Sat with a really bad rash on his body that is very itchy.
He had to go see Dr. McMahon on Monday. Brandon looked really bad by then. He has not looked this bad in a long time after chemo. I thought by the look on Dr McMahon's face when he walked in the room that he was going to admit Brandon in the hospital. He did have to stay and get fluids because he was dehydrated. In one week he had lost 5 pounds. Dr. McMahon said if he gets any worse as the week goes on or if the rash get's worse he would have to admit him in. Dr. McMahon is not sure what the rash is or how Brandon got it. So far he seems to be a little better since the fluids and the rash is a little better.
The nurse is coming out on Wed and Fri to check Brandons counts. Hopefully everything will be fine or we will have to go in for a transfusion. We do not need to go back in and see Dr. McMahon until Monday unless Brandon gets worse.
Brooke and her friend Jordan are going to fly to NY on Thurs by themselves. They are going to Jordans grandparents house. They live in upstate NY. They will be back on Tues night. She is very excited. This will be the first time that both of them fly without their parents.
I will update if anything changes with Brandon or if he ends up in the hospital. Please pray the worse is over and that he starts to get some energy and an appitite for food and drink back.
Thank you for all your prayers and concerns. It means a lot to us. We could not get thru this journey without the love and support from our family and friends. Please leave us a message we love to hear from you.
Love to all,
Anita
Tuesday, July 24, 2007 8:32 PM CDT
We are back from NY City. We got back Sat. night and have been none stop since. We had a great time. We did a lot of shopping and walking, we did a tour of the NBC studios, walked thru Central Park, did a lot of sight seeing on the double decker buses, went to Chinatown and Little Italy for one day and of coarse went to a Yankees game. Brandon had such a good time. He sat in the dugout during the practice and got to meet a lot of the players and get a picture with them and an autograph. He got a tour all around the stadium and we had awesome seats. His favorite player is Derek Jeter and he did not get to meet him. That was a bummer. I guess we will have to go back to another game and try to meet him. We did not go to Cooperstown. We just thought it would be to much on Brandon and there was still things that he and Brooke wanted to do in the city. We told him we will try to take a small trip just to Cooperstown. The Marty Lyons Foundation did a really nice trip for us. We made a lot of fun memories. I will post pictures when I have more time.
I do not know how Brandon made it all week long. We were non stop. He is a trooper. He is still having a lot of pain. It has gotten a lot worse in the past 2 weeks. He is really having a hard time walking on his one leg. I have been giving him morphine every 3 to 4 hrs to help take the edge off.
Brandon also had a surprise on sunday when we got home. I had to wake him up around 12:30pm when he had a visit from Donnie, Jackie, Chris, Kelly and their kids from the Hometown Heroes. Why we were gone they took his golf cart and put a sterio and speakers in it. He was very excited and surprised to them and what they had done. He loved it. He never noticed that the golf cart was even missing on sat when we got home. Thank you guys again. Hometown Heroes also gave Brandon and Brooke spending money to take to NY City before we left. We cannot thank you enough for everyting you have done for Brandon and our famiy. It means a lot to us. Also thank you for always thinking about Brooke too. You guys are the best.
We had to go back to Dr. McMahon on Mon. He decided to xray his leg to make sure there was not a break because the pain is so bad. Everything was fine. They also checked his counts and they were good except the platelets. They were a little low but still ok to start chemo. Dr. McMahon wanted to still try another round of the same chemo. He did not give the full dose the last time and said we needed to see if it would make things better with the full dose. We started chemo yesterday and will get it for 5 days in a row. He is giving the full amount. We are going to the hospital everyday to get the chemo. It takes about 2hrs to run and then we get to go home. So far Brandon is feeling ok with the 2 treatments. Please pray that he continues to handle the chemo and we don't have to be put in the hospital. Also pray that this time it starts to work. We are running out of chemo drugs to give.
Thank you for all your prayers and concerns. It means a lot to us. We could not go thru this journey without the love and support from family and friends. Please leave us a message we love to hear from you.
Love to all,
Anita
Friday, July 13, 2007 9:35 PM CDT
Hello everyone! Brandon has done ok with this chemo. He has had some side effects, but not real bad. I just hope things stay good next week why we are away in NY. We had to go in to the clinic on Thurs and get a blood transfusion. This should keep him juiced up for the trip. All his other counts looked good. He has lost 4 pounds since chemo and can't afford to loose any at all. I know when we go back in on Monday Dr. McMahon will not be happy. He has been gone our last two visits and doesn't know about the loss. The biggest problem we have had with the new chemo is the colitis. I feed him at night in his feeding tube and that is when he gets a lot of his calories. Since the chemo we have to stop the feedings during the night or cut them back, because he is vomiting and having the colitis issues. It has gotten better this week. Hopefully he will eat good on our trip.
We are leaving on Sunday for our trip to NY City. The Marty Lyons Foundation is the once that is sending us on the trip. They have done such a great job. A limo will pick us up at the house and take us to the airport. When we get to NY a limo will take us to our hotel that is in the heart of the city by Time Square. We will have Sunday late afternoon and evening, Monday and Tues to tour the city. On Wed a limo is picking us up at the hotel at 3:00 taking us to Yankees Stadium. We will get a tour of the stadium before open to public. Brandon gets to go on the field with players during their warm up and then our seats will be behind home plate. If you get the baseball channel watch for us on TV. When over the limo will take us back to the hotel. On Thurs we are taking a rent a car to Copperstown and will spend the night. We will drive back to the city on Fri when done in Copperstown. We will have a limo pick us up late Sat afternoon and take us back to the airport in NY and when we get back in Charlotte we will have a limo to take us home. They also gave us spending money. This will be such a great trip. We are all very excited. A lot of my family lives in NJ about 45min from the city and my cousin and her kids might come meet us one day.
When we get home Brandon will be due for chemo starting Monday. Dr. McMahon did say he was going to give him the full dose this time. Please pray that he can and Brandon does well with it, because he is still having a lot of pain and some new issues. This means that the chemo is not doing what it should. After the chemo we will repeat all his tests again and see what the next step will be. Pleas pray that Brandon does not get sick in NY and we don't have to visit any hospital why we are gone.
Thank you for all your concerns and prayers. It means a lot to us. We could not get thru this journey without the love and support from our family and friends. Please leave us a message we love to hear from you.
Love to all,
Anita
Monday, July 2, 2007 7:44 PM CDT
Just call me slacker. What else can I say except life is always crazy without enough time to get stuff done.
Brandon got the chemo for the 1st 3 days in the hospital and did well, so we did the last two days in the clinic and were able to sleep in our own house. It was nice, but a long week.
Dr. McMahon decided to cut the chemo in 1/2, because the chemo he is giving Brandon a report had come out the week before about a gene that very little people have that can make the side effects worse then normal. Go figure he decided to check to see if Brandon has the gene and he does. I was not thrilled to have to start out this way with a new chemo. We did decide to have a MRI done on his hips/pelvis and legs when we were in the hospital getting the chemo, because Brandon is having so much new pain. It did look like the tumors have spread and the chemo we were on had stopped working. We just pray that this chemo does the trick without a lot of side effects.
Brandon has done pretty well with the chemo so far. He has had some of the side effects, but not real bad. This week and next week can be bad from what we were told. I hope he continues to do good. We saw a different Dr. today, because Dr. McMahon is out and he said Brandon looked like he was doing good. Some of his counts have started to drop and we wil check them later in the week to see if we need a transfusion. He also lost 2 more pounds. This usually happens during chemo and then he puts it back on later.
We just found out today that Brandon got a second wish trip granted to NY City. They will fly us all up to NY City. We will go to a Yankees game in a limo and he will get to to out on the field with the team during practice time and hang out in the dugout with the players. He can get autographs and his picture made with them. They also said our seats will be behind homeplate. We will also stay in NY City for the week and go two days to Cooperstown. He is very excited. We are planning to go the week of 7-15 to 7-21-07. Please pray that Brandon is over this chemo and feels good. We will do another round of chemo the week we get back and then repeat all his tests.
Thank you for checking in on us and for all your prayers and concerns. It means so much to us. We could not go thru this journey without the love and support from our family and friends. Please leave a message and let us know you were checking on us. We love to hear from you.
Love to all,
Anita
Sunday, June 24, 2007 10:15 PM CDT
Hello everyone sorry I have not updated sooner. Sometimes it is to much to deal with and I just wish it would all go away. By updating the info then it just makes me deal with it more then I want to.
We are going into the hospital on Monday to start two new types of chemo. Dr. McMahon was not able to tell us if the cancer was any better or worse since this last round of chemo. He just knows that the bone marrow came back positive in more then one place. He feels it is time to introduce something else and hopefully it can get the rest of the cancer gone. The plans are to do two rounds of this chemo and then repeat all the test again.
Brandon is still having really bad headaches and he is also complaining of back and leg pain again. He is walking with a limp. This is how this all started and it is very scary to think what is going on. I will let Dr. McMahon know about this tomorrow and he possibly will do some more testing to see what is going on. Please pray that it is nothing.
The chemo he is going to take can cause very bad colitis during the treatments and again later. It also has a lot of other side effects. Please pray that these do not effect Brandon very bad. The chemo is for 5 days in a row. We are not sure how long we will be in the hospital. It depends on how well he does. Dr. McMahon is concerned about the colitis due to his chrones disease.
We are trying to plan the trip to NY in between the two rounds of chemo. It is scary since we do not know how it will effect him. I have to tell you everytime we change the chemo it feels like we a starting over with all of the unknowns. Is it going to work and is it going to make him sick. This all stinks and the longer we do it the harder it is getting on everyone.
Brandon and I did get to go on Thurs to an event at Dakota's house. It was the first annnual party on the lake to honor Dakota's memory and life. They have a great place and had a lot of kids that have or had cancer came. They were able to swim, go out on the boats and go tubing. Brandon did get out one time on the boat and got in a 3 seat tube with his nurse Kristen and I. He payed for it later, but had fun. They also had food and great fireworks at the end. It was very nice to spend time with Lannette and her family and friends.
Monday is Brookes 13th birthday and I feel bad, because once again we cannot be together as a family for a special day of hers. We have been doing this for almost 3yrs now and have had a lot of special days not together as a family. Cancer sucks for Brandon and our whole family. My Uncle Dale came in from NJ on Wed and the whole family and Brookes friend Mia went out to eat to Nakatoes on Fri night to celebrate her birthday. I also took Mia and Brooke on Fri for a pedicure and to the mall shopping Sat. We do not have to be at the hospital until 1:30 on Monday, so we are all going out to eat lunch for Brookes birthday and then Brandon and I will go to the hospital and Scott is off for the day and will be with Brooke. We are also trying to plan a party for her at some point. She is either wanting to rent a limo and go out riding for the night with girl friends or if I can get it worked out to rent a boat for the day go out on the lake and go tubing. Can you see how tired I am. Oh and also we are moving Brooke from her room to the bonus rm and making her rm the home office/Scotts office. We must be crazy.
Thank you for checking in on us and for all your prayers and concerns. It means so much to us. We could not get thru this journey without the love and support from family and friends. Please go to Brandons guestbook and leave us a message. We love to hear from you.
Love to all,
Anita
Saturday, June 16, 2007 1:47 PM CDT
It was a very busy week. We had all of Brandon's test done except for the spinal tap. They were 3 1/2hrs behind in the MRI unit. it was going to be around 7:00pm when Dr. McMahon could get in there to do the MRI and he was gone. We got to the hospital about 12:00pm and did not get home until 10:00pm. Very long two days.
Brandon is very sore still from the bone marrow test. They went in 4 different spots. He has been just resting and watching TV.
We did get a call from Duke on Fri and got a package of info today. They wanted to see us next week, but I talked to Dr. McMahon late Fri and he said we need to cancel our trip to Duke for now. Brandons MRI of the head and spine is clear. Not sure where the headaches are coming from, but the bone marrow is not clear. They did not have all the results yet from the 4 spots, but what they had so far was not clean. He should have everything by Monday.
Our plan now is to go in Monday and we will go over all the results and what our next game plan is. We are gonna see if we can take a break and take Brandon to a Yankees game and to Cooperstown in NY (it is the baseball hall of fame). This is something Brandon has been asking for and he deserves it. We are going to do what we can to make it work.
I will update with more info when we have it. Thank you for all your prayers and concerns for Brandon and our family. It means so much to us. We could not get thru this journey without the love and support from our family and friends.
Love to all,
Anita
Monday, June 11, 2007 6:28 PM CDT
Brandon and I had a very busy day today. We had to go to his gastro. Dr early this morning to have him look at his feeding tube. He finally agreed with me that it is broken and we need to replace it. He wanted me to replace it at home and I told him no. I have never done that and the site is so sore and infected that I would not want Brandon to have that kind of pain. We are going to have it done on Thurs by the ped. surgeons nurse.
When we were done we had an appt. with Dr. McMahon. Brandon has gained a pound. We need more, but better then loosing weight. His counts are still trying to recover. They are not bad enough to have a transfusion, but not good enough for more chemo yet. We did have to stay and get his monthly antibiotic infusion.
Brandon is still having headaches, so I called the surgeons office last week and they were no help at all. He is also complaining of pain in his back again. I told Dr. McMahon and he wants to go ahead and do a full MRI of his head and spine and also do a spinal tap. We need to rule everything out before we go forward with the stem cell.
They are now working with the people at Duke and they have Brandons paperwork. So hopefully we will be going to talk to them soon. We also got the results from Scott, Brooke and my blood test and none of us were a match for Brandon. We just need to pray that he has his own stem cells.
Brandon is going to have a very tuff week. On Wed he is going to be put to sleep for a bone marrow aspiration in 4 different places. On Thurs we will go back and he is going to be put to sleep again and have a full MRI of head and spine and a spinal tap. They are also going to change his feeding tube. He is going to be very tired and sore.
Please say some extra prayers for him to heal well without a lot of pain. Also we need your prayers for good results. These test will determine the next step in his treatment. If all clear we will have a petscan done and if that is clear we can move forward with the stem cell transplant.
Thank you for keeping Brandon and our family in your prayers. We could not get thru this without the love and support from our family and friends. I will update with info when I can.
Love to all,
Anita
Monday, June 4, 2007 8:29 PM CDT
Hope everyone had a good weekend. We just hung out at home. Brandon was not feeling very well and had zero counts.
We had to go to the hospital Fri. to have a blood transfusion. They also cultured Brandons feeding tube site, because it was not looking very good and not feeling good. I was not even able to use it to feed him.
Brandon had an appt with Dr. McMahon today. He did not loose or gain any weight. The feeding tube culture came back positive for yeast and a bunch of other germs. He is now on IV and mouth antibiotics for the next week. We are also going to see the gastro Dr Monday to have him look at it and see if we need to put a new one in or not. Brandon also had to get platelets today. Needless to say it was another long day at the hospital, but at least we know why he was feeling so bad all weekend long.
He is also still fighting the headaches. They are still about the same. I'm gonna see how he does this week now that his counts are trying to recover. If they are not better. I'm gonna get him back in the surgeons office next week.
The nurse will come out to the house Wed to check his counts again. Hopefully we do not need anymore transfusions. Brandon is scheduled next Wed to have another bone marrow aspiration done. Dr. McMahon wants to see what this last round of chemo did. He still has not heard back from Duke and was going to work on that his week. Hopefully they will get things worked out so we can go there and meet the doctors and go over everything about the stem cell. He is trying to get this done before the next round of chemo. That is in two weeks. We will see.
Thank you for all your prayers and concerns. It means so much to have the love and support from family and friends. We could not get thru this without you. Please leave a message. We love to hear from you.
Please remember all the famlies going thru this and say an extra prayer for them too. Also please remember our friend Bobby and his family. He is having a tuff time and they are all having to deal with a lot. They can use your prayers.
Love to all,
Anita
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 6:57 PM CDT
Hello everyone! Not much new to report, but thought I should give an update. Brandon saw Dr. McMahon on Monday and has lost more weight. He is now at 71pds. That is not good. I'm trying to up his feeds at night. So far he has done good with them. His counts had not even started to drop yet.
The nurse came out today to check his counts and they have dropped a lot. He still did not have to get a transfusion, but they will check again on Fri and he will probably need platelets and blood.
He has not felt that great yesterday and today. This usally happens when his counts are dropping. It just wipes him out. He is still having headaches pretty much everyday all day long. I can imagine this does not help with everything else. I'm giving him medicine all day long to try and help with the headaches and naushea. Hopefully they go away soon or we will have to come up with a answer to why he is having them. It just breaks my heart to see him in pain all the time.
We still don't have any info on the stem cell transplant at Duke yet. It has been very frustrating. I hate to have to work around insurance.
Thank you for your prayers and concerns. It means so much to us to have the love and support from family and friends. We could not get thru this without you. Please leave a message. We love to hear from you.
Check out these websites about 24hrs of Booty. Brandon's team was in the lead.
www.active.com/donate/Booty2007/CCullen11
www.active.com/donate/Booty2007
Love to all,
Anita
Friday, May 25, 2007 10:10 PM CDT
Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay. We came home from the hospital late Wed night. It looks like the chemo is finally kicking in. Brandon has not had a very good night. Please pray this does not get any worse for him and that it will pass very quickly.
He is still having headaches. Some days he can handle them and some days they are very bad. We are hoping they get better soon.
We will go to Dr. McMahons office on Monday to check his counts. Hopefully they will still be ok without having to get any transfusions.
Have a great weekend and holiday. We are hanging at home since Brandon is just starting with all the effects from the chemo.
Thank you for all you prayers and concerns. We could not get thru this without the love and support from our family and friends.
Love to all,
Anita
Monday, May 21, 2007 5:32 PM CDT
Things are still up in the air about the stem cell transplant. Dr. McMahon had everything set up with Chapel Hill and we were gonna go there this week to go over everything, but my insurance does not let us go there so he is now checking on Duke and trying to get things set up there. It will be a longer process and not sure when we will go. Because of the delay we were admitted in the hospital today for another round of chemo. We are doing the same kind for now. We will be here until Wed night or Thurs.
One of Brandons chemo's can cause hearing loss, so he has to have a hearing test done often. We did one today and it showed change in his hearing. He already had some loss in both ears from the first time we did chemo and the test showed that it has gotten a lot worse with the chemo we have been doing. Dr. McMahon still wanted him to have his chemo today because it is working and if we change to something else it might not work as good. This is what I hate about all of this. You work hard to get the cancer gone, but have to worry about the damage the chemo does to everything else.
Brandon is still having really bad headaches. We went to the surgeons office last Thurs. and they did a CT scan and didn't see what would be causing the headaches. They changed the shunt # back to what we had it at to see if they will get better. So far it has not worked. We will just have to give it more time with the hopes of things getting better.
Thank you for concerns and prayers. I cannot tell you how much it means to us. We could not get thru this journey without our family and friends.
Love to all,
Anita
Monday, May 14, 2007 9:35PM
Just wanted to let everyone know we did meet with Dr. McMahon today about the bone marrow aspiration. His bone marrow is not clear, but it a little better then the last time. We are waiting to hear from Dr. McMahon about the next step. He is getting with the stem cell transplant team to go over Brandons case. As soon as I know anything I will update. Not much to report, but I knew people were waiting on the results.
Thank you for all you prayers and concerns. It means so much to us.
Love to all,
Anita
Friday, May 11,2007 12:20AM
Just wanted to let you know Brandon did get the bone marrow aspiration done today. His counts looked good so he will not have them checked again until Monday. It was another long day at the hospital. Brandon has been resting since we got home. He is very sore. Hopefully we will have all the results back when we see Dr. McMahon on Monday. I hope everyone has a great Mothers Day!. Please say an extra prayer for all the mothers that have lost a child to cancer and are having to celebrate without them and also for the mothers that are not sure what the future holds for their child that is still fighting cancer. It is such a horrible disease and I wish nobody would every have to go thru any of this.
Love to all,
Anita
Monday, May 7,2007 9:30 PM CDT
Sorry for the long overdue update. The days just go by so fast anymore. Between Dr. visits, nurse visits, transfusions and everyday stuff. Then you have Brooke and all her activities and running around.
There has not been a lot of changes with Brandon and how he is feeling. He is still getting his counts checked 3x a week and having to have transfusions. We are going in tomorrow to Dr. McMahon's office for a long day. He needs a platelet and blood transfusion. I hope this will be the last for this round of chemo. After each round it seems like he needs more transfusions and it is taking longer to recover. He should have started another round of chemo today, but he is not ready. As long as his platelets are good by Thurs they will go ahead with the bone marrow aspiration. This is usually very painful afterwards for Brandon. It takes about a week to feel better.
We did see his surgeon last week and he is not really sure why Brandon is having headaches. He said it could possibly be that the shunt is letting to much fluid drain as he is up and about during the day. We have raised the # on the shunt higher so that less fluid will drain off. We did this on Thurs and so far his headaches have not gotten better yet, they seem a little worse. I'm gonna give it a few more days to see if things get better.
Brandon finally got his golf cart last week. It is really nice. I will get a picture of him on it and add to the site. He is really excited, except for the fact that the first 5 minutes he was out in it someone from our neighborhood called the cops and complained. The cop went and pulled Brandon over with lights and all. He called me and said it is a law that he has to have a liscense and have the golf cart registered with all kinds of gadgets on it. People have no clue what we have been thru and what Brandon has had to give up. It was something for him to go out and have a little fun for a change. He does not get that very often. It has really put a damper on things. We are still letting him ride it around the house and if he goes far we are with him. I wish people could just mind there own business. He was hurting anything by riding around. If he was not sick he would be driving thru the neighborhood in a car.
Thank you for all your love and support. We could not get thru this without our family and friends.
If you are having trouble with www.brandonelam.com address. You can use www.caringbridge.org/nc/brandonelam We are not sure what is going on, but working on fixing it.
Please check out this website to find out info on 24hrs of Booty (Booty for Brandon) Some of you will remember this is the reason Brandon got to go to Austin TX and meet Lance Armstrong.
http://www.active.com/donate/Booty2007/CCullen11
Love to All,
Anita
Monday, April 30, 2007 9:49 PM CDT
Hello everyone hope you had a great weekend. Ours was ok. Brooke had a softball game Sat. and besides running her everywhere we didn't do much. With Brandons counts being low. He can't do much.
Brandon had an appt with Dr. McMahon today. He gained a pound back. It is little, but a start. His counts are still low. He needed a platelet transfusion. You never know what your day is going to be like with a child with cancer. I thought we would get his platelets and then go home, but this is Brandon we are talking about. He was almost finished with the transfusion and decided to have a reaction. He all of the sudden starting screaming and crying he was itchng very bad. I asked him to lift his shirt and was I shocked he had BIG hives all over his stomach and back. Everyone came in his room and started checking his breathing and stats and also gave him a dose of IV benadryl that was already in his system from earlier. It took a little bit, but things got better. We had to stay for awhile afterwards to make sure he was ok. He still has spots on him, but they got alot smaller and are only itching him a little bit.
Dr. McMahon is planning on doing his bone marrow aspiration next Thurs. We should have the results by Monday when we go back in for our appt. He is going to get with the transplant team if the marrow is clean or has gotten better since last time. We will know more after that. There is still the possibilty this will not happen. I'm just going to wait and see.
Brandon has an appt with Dr. Henegar (surgeon) on Tues. We hope he has an answer about Brandons headaches. He has still been having them. I hope is his shunt and they just need to adjust the pressure. I will try to update when we get home.
I also had Brookes Dr appt today. Her MRI is clear. That is great news. He said he had only given her one because of our history and he needed to rule out a tumor. I had already thought the same thing. It make me feel better to know that we ruled that out. He is just going to watch her for now. we will go back in Oct. to see if there are any changes. Hopefully it stays the same, because if not she will have to wear a brace.
Thank you for all your thougts and prayers. It means so much to us to know we have so many people that care. Also thank you for all of the guest entries. We love to read them.
If you are having trouble with the www.brandonelam.com
address you can use www.caringbridge.org/nc/brandonelam we are not sure what is goin on, but working on fixing it.
Please check out this website to find out info on 24hrs of Booty (Booty for Brandon) Some of you will remember this is the reason Brandon got to go to Austin TX and Meet Lance Armstrong.
http://www.active.com/donate/Booty2007/CCullen11
Love to all,
Anita
Thursday, April 26, 2007 2:52 PM CDT
Hello everyone! It has been a busy week with Dr. visits and nurse visits. Brandon is doing ok since chemo. We did see Dr. McMahon on Monday and Brandon has lost a lot of weight in a week. He was 76pds and now 72pds. We are working on trying to make that better. He was also dehydrated and his hemaglobin was low. It ended up being a long day getting fluids and blood. He has been having some bad headaches and we thought with his blood low that was why, but he is still having them. These have been a little different, because he is having pain in one of his eyes with it. Hopefully they will get better and go away.
We were at the hospital very early today for a routine MRI of his head and spine. I was very glad to be having one with the headaches. Brandon did very well and we are home and he is resting. I just got a call when I was leaving this message and Dr. McMahon said his MRI was clear. He does not have any tumor in his head or on the spine. That is great news. He also said the area in his head from the bleed is almost totally clear. He is going to up the platelet transfusion #. We were having to get platelets if they went below 50th, now we can go to 40th.
We will meet with Dr. Henegar (surgeon) on Tues and he will go over the results of the MRI with us. We will see if we need to change his shunt settings since the fluid is almost gone. This could be some of the reeason for headaches.
We are going to wait about three weeks or so. When his counts come back up and then they will do a bone marrow test to see what the rest of the tumors have done since the last two rounds of chemo. If things are good we will start to talk to the stem cell transplant team. Not sure of the plan if he is not clear enough for a stem cell transplant.
We do not have the results yet from Brookes MRI. We will meet with the doctor 4-30 Monday and go over the results.
Thank you for all your prayers and concerns. I cannot tell you how much it means to us. We could not get thru this without the support from our family and friends.
Love to all,
Anita
Friday, April 20, 2007 10:44 PM CDT
We are home from the hospital. After a long week of chemo and a very busy and crazy Thurs Scott and I were able to take Brandon and Brooke home around 12:00 Thurs.
Brandon has not been sick yet with the chemo. It usally starts a couple days after he is done. He has had a lot of nausea and is very tired. His feeding tube is still such a problem. We finished 10 days of antibiotics on Wed night and it already is getting very infected again. It was a little better when he was on the antibiotics, but now that we stopped it is looking bad and it hurts him. We will see Dr. McMahon on Monday and have labs done to see what his counts look like.
Brooke had her MRI on Thurs. It was an adventure. She was very brave and did well with the IV. When they started to put here asleep she went crazy and they had to have three people hold her down until they got her in a really deep sleep. She was fighting them and trying to to pull off all the wires they had attached to her. After they got her in a deep sleep she did fine for the test. When she got to the recovery rm and started waking up she did the same thing all over again. It took a little bit of time to get her to calm down. When she was finally calm she had everyone laughing at all the crazy things she was doing and asking. She was very nice to everyone except Scott and I. She did not want us to sit with her. It was a long day. We will meet with her Dr. on 4-30 and go over the MRI results.
Thank you very much for all your prayers and concerns. We could not get thru this without the love from our family and friends.
Love to All,
Anita
Sunday, April 15, 2007 8:40 PM CDT
Hello everyone! Brandon is hanging in there. We had a busy week over the Easter weekend and into the week. We had family come in from NJ. We were on the go a lot and Brandon went along with us. It was hard on him, but he was a trooper. We also had to go back and forth to the hospital for more transfusions. As of Fri his counts were still low. We are going in tomorrow with the plan that if his counts came up we will get admitted in and have chemo. Brandon and I are both really dreading it. The longer we do this the harder it is getting. I really hate packing bags with the possibilty that Brandon might not even be ready for chemo. If that is the case then we will come back home. It is really getting hard on Brandon. He has gotten to the point that he starts to get very down and upset when he knows he is going in the hospital. It really breaks my heart. I wish he never had to go thru this.
On Thurs very early in the morning 6:00am. We have to have Brooke at CMC for a MRI on her spine. She was diagnosed about a month ago with scoliosis of the spine. She was complaining of pain in her back. It had started over a year ago and I took her to the doctor then. They said she was fine and said it was from playing softball. When she was still complaining and not playing softball. I took her back. That is when they sent us to a specialist and he confirmed it. They said she should not be having the amount of pain she is having. That is why they decided to do the MRI and also to make mom happy. They don't think they will find anything, but we were told a few hrs before Brandons 1st MRI from a Neorologist that they would not find anything in Brandons MRI. So this will make me happy to make sure everything is ok. It is going to be a crazy week with both Brandon and Brooke. Scott is going to help me on Thurs. Brandon and I will probably still be in the hospital. Scott will just bring Brooke there and then I will go with her and Scott will stay with Brandon in the room.
Please pray that Brandons counts will be good and he can start chemo. Also pray that he does ok with the chemo. Please pray that his feeding tube would get better. We are now on our 2nd antibiotic in a week and still not better. I also need prayers for Brooke that she does ok with her MRI. She is going to be put to sleep because it will be long. Pray she does fine with anaesthesia. Also pray for good results. I'm not sure how much more Scott and I can handle. It would be nice to have well children. Brooke told Scott and I that is was a good thing we only had two children, because we sure do know how to screw them up. It was funny to hear her tell us this, but It would be really nice to have happy healthy children. I don't think I'm asking for a lot.
Sorry the message it so long and that I have so many requests for prayers, but we could really use them this week. Thank you always for all your prayers and concerns. You do not know how much it means to us and how it keeps us going.
Love to all,
Anita
Monday, April 16,2007
Quick update We are in the hospital getting chemo. Brandon counts just passed enough to get another round of chemo. We should be in here until Thurs.
Love to All,
Anita
Thursday, April 5, 2007 10:28 PM CDT
I hope everyone is doing well. We are making it at the Elam's. Brandon has done ok with this round of chemo. We were all scared what he would do since we made the dose higher. He has had to have a lot of platelet transfusions. We are getting them every couple of days. He has only had 1 blood transfusion so far. We went in today to get another platelet transfusion. Dr. McMahon is going to let him wait until Monday to get checked again. Hopefully his counts will be good. His platelets today were 23,000 and his blood count was 9.9. He is still taking medicine to bring his white counts up. We will stop that Sat. Brandon is due for chemo again on Monday, but he will be delayed again this time. He has to be fully recover before they can give it again.
It is very tuff on Brandon and myself to either be at the hospital all day getting transfusions or on the other days having the nurse come out to the house to get labs and then wait and see if we need to go to the hospital for a transfusion. I stay very tired, so I can only imagine how hard it is on Brandon. He sleeps a lot when we are at home. He is also not eating very much at all these days. We still do feedings every night in his feeding tube. That is keeping his wait stable. He is anywhere from 74 to 76pds.
Brandon's feeding tube has become such a problem. We are still trying to get the infection gone. I cannot tell you the last time it was not infected. We were using an topical antibiotic on it for awhile and it seemed like it was trying to clear up. Yesterday I noticed that it was getting very red again and getting a big blister again. Brandon said it was hurting. Today it looks worse and feels worse for him. When it gets like this it makes him feel really bad. Dr. McMahon is having us try the IV antibiotics again for 7days and see what happens.
I hope everyone liked the pictures I added from Brandons Birthday weekend. It was so much fun. Brandon got a lot of cards for his birtday. He is still in the process of opening them. We have not added them all up yet. When we do I will let you know the total. He also got a lot of money (about $2500 cash) and gift cards. With his money he wants a golf cart. He has been looking at them and seeing how expensive they are. He wants it pimp out. That is what makes them very high. Hopefully him and Scott can find one that Brandon can be happy with. Thank you to everyone for the cards and gifts. It has made his birthday very very special. I have never seen so many cards in my life. I have boxes and baskets all over my house and they are still coming everyday.
Please pray that Brandon's counts recover for the next round of chemo. Pray that Brandon starts to have more energy and that he feels better very soon. Please continue to pray that the chemo is working on clearing his bone marrow.
I want to wish everyone a Happy Easter. Enjoy the time with your family and friends. Please think about all the children and families that are fighting this battle and pray that they are able to be home and share time with family and friends. Thank you for caring about Brandon and our family so much. We could not get thru this long journey without our family and friends.
Love to all,
Anita
Tuesday, March 27, 2007 10:45 PM CDT
Sorry I have not updated sooner, but life is still very crazy. We came home from the hospital Wed night after Brandon's last round of chemo. Brandon did ok until Sat. He started feeling bad that afternoon. It started about 5:00pm until about 10:30pm when he went to bed, he was sick 6x. Most of this was at the Charlotte Speedway in Concord were Brandon was an honored guest. He also had his ELAM-N8 CANCER logo on a racecar. He is a trooper and was going to stay until the end when his car was racing. It was a great night. He also got to ride in the pace car at the start of the race. Thank you again to Chris & Brittney Poppa and everyone else that helped with this event. It was a great night.
Now back to how Brandon's been feeling. We went to Dr. McMahon's yesterday and ended up staying all day to have fluids for dehydration and also needed a blood transfusion. Brandon is also having to take medicine for his potassium and calcium, because his levels were low when they checked his blood. The nurse will come out to the house tomorrow (Wed) to do labs again. They will check his counts and also his potassium and calcium levels again. Hopefully they will have gotten better on there own and we can stop the medicine. Brandons feeding tube is still infected after being on an IV antibiotic for 14 days. Dr. McMahon thinks that since Brandon has taken this antibiotic so many times now that it will not work for him anymore. He is trying an topical antibiotic now. If it does not work we will have to go on another IV antibiotic that is stronger. He is trying not to use this one if he doesn't have to, because it is very hard on your kidneys and with the labs they did on Monday it shows that he is already having issues with a lot of levels that go with your kidney function. I'm hoping we will not have to go in for a platlet transfusion tomorrow, but I'm ready if we have to. His platlets were 80th on Monday and we have to keep Brandon's above 50th from the bleed he had in the brain. His white counts also dropped down to 2.3. I know they will be much lower tomorrow.
I will get pictures on here as soon as I can from his birthday party. If you have pictures that you took can you either email them to me at selam46@carolina.rr.com or put on a disc and mail to 376 Killian Ct
Matthews, NC 28104
With everything going on we could not take pictures. Thank you to the ones who have already got me some.
Thank you for keeping Brandon and our family in your prayers. We could not go thru this journey without all the love and support we get from all our family and friends. Also thank you to everyone at CMC that helps take care of Brandon. Dr. McMahon, Kathy all the nurses, Child Life and everyone else. You are all family to us and thank you for loving Brandon like you do.
Love to all,
Anita
Monday, March 19, 2007 10:21 PM CDT
Happy Birthday Brandon! We were so busy this weekend celebrating I could not update on your Birthday 3-18-07. I hope your 16th birthday was something you will never forget. Sat was your Birthday Ride at your school that was a great turn out and Sunday was the Big Surprise party. I sure hope you had a great time and I know we totally surprised you. You finally got your Hummer Limo ride that you always wanted. We had a lot of our friends and family that helped to make your party such a great night. Thank you again to everyone that helped with the party. It means so much to all of us. Also to everyone who came and celebrated with us. I hope you had a great time and loved all the decorations. It was a very magical night.
We went in the hospital today for another round of chemo. Please pray that Brandon does not get very sick and can recover quickly. We got the results from the Bone Marrow and Pet Scan on Fri. The news was very good. It looks like the tumors are about 75% gone. We are going to do two more rounds of chemo and then do another bone marrow. If it is clean we talk about trying to do a stem cell transplant. This is something that we were not expecting, so it was a great birthday gift. Dr. McMahon has made the doses of chemo higher with hopes of killing everthing. Please pray that this works and that Brandon can handle it.
Thank you for all your support and prayers. It means so much to us. We could not get thru it without friends and family.
Love to all,
Anita
Tuesday, March 13, 2007 10:47 AM CDT
Quick Update You can hear Brandon and me on the radio Fri 3-16-07 at 4:45pm on 1190 am wixe
BRANDON'S 16TH BIRTHDAY WEEK PARTY PARTY!!!!
Brandon had an appt with Dr. McMahon yesterday morning. His counts looked good. He was dehydrated, so he had to get fluids. He also lost a couple of pounds. We think this is all because he woke up Sat with a really bad infection in his feeding tube again. He did not feel good all weekend long. He is back on IV antibiotics. Brandon also had his Bone Marrow test yesterday. It was a very long day. For some reason he did't want to wake up from the anathsia. He slept for three hrs in the recovery rm and his blood pressure was very low. We had to go back to Dr. McMahons office after that to get two IV med. Needless to say we had to be there at 8:30am and didn't leave until 5:30pm to come home. He is very sore from the procedure.
We are going on Wed for his Pet Scan in the morning and when we are done with that we have to go to his surgeons office for another CT Scan on his head. This is to see what the fluid is doing.
It is a very busy week with all of the test's, but we need to see what the chemo has done. This will tell us if we need to continue with what we are doing or try to find something else.
Please pray that Brandon heals very quickly from the Bone Marrow and also his feeding tube gets better. Also pray for good results from the tests. This is Brandons birthday weekend and we are celebrating BIG. No matter what happens we are not going to let it take away from any of our celebrating. For two days we are not going to even think CANCER.
We did get Brandon's room done. He got to enjoy it all weekend long. We still have some things to hang up on the walls. It looks really good.
I say it all the time, but thank you for caring so much about Brandon and our family. We could not get thru this without friends and family.
On Friday 3-16 Brandon is going to be the newspaper The Charlotte Weekly. You can get them at Harris Teeters and if you get the Charlotte Observer it should come to your house. The girl that did the interview was very nice and I think it should be a good article. There have been other articles out there that we did not know of. If you see one can you let us know and save me a copy if possible. Im trying to keep all of them for a scrapbook some day when I have time.
Love to all,
Anita
For Birthday please mail to
Brandon Elam
The Brandon Elam Fund
7900-D Stevens Mill Road #138
Matthews, NC 28104
For info on Brandons Birthday Ride on March 17th please go to www.teambicyclesport.com
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 11:05 PM CST
NEW UPDATE BELOW
I need to get some info out before I give you an update. As most of you know Brandon's 16th Birthday is March 18th. We are making it big with help from everyone. On Sat March 17th there is a bike ride in honor of Brandon's Birthday. The bike ride is called "Brandon's Birthday Ride to Elam-N8 Cancer". For more info please go to this website.
www.teambicyclesport.com
We also need you help. We want to have TONS of cards to give to Brandon on his 16th Birthday. Please mail a Birthday card to Brandon. If possible, please enclose a photo of you and your family. We can't break a record for Guinness since they retired the category, but we can certainly bring a smile to Brandon's face when he sees TONS of Birthday Cards! Please mail card to Brandon Elam @ The Brandon Elam Fund 7900-D Stevens Mill Road #138 Matthews, NC 28104. Thank you
Brandon was due to start his next round of chemo on Monday 2-26-07, but was not ready because of his platlets. We lived at Dr. McMahons office last week getting transfusions. He had a platlet transfusion last Monday and Wed. On Fri he had to have a blood transfusion. When we went in yesterday his platlets dropped again from 64,000 to 29,000. Needless to say we stayed and got another platlet transfusion. The nurse will come out on Thurs to check his counts again. Hopefully he will be fine until the next round of chemo. Since we have had to delay the chemo this week we did decide to wait until 3-19-07 for the next round. That will be the day after his birthday. It is scary to delay, but Dr. McMahon, Scott and I think it is the best thing. So he can enjoy his birthday.
Brandon is doing ok with not getting sick a lot. He still does not have a very big appetite. We let him eat whatever he wants. I still do the ensure feedings everynight and that is keeping his weight steady. He is at 77pds. He is still sleeping a lot. We try to get him out some, but then he usually is wiped out the next day. Since Brandon is having a hard time going up and down the stairs we are turning are spare bedroom on the 1st floor into a hang out/xbox playing/tv rm for Brandon for his birthday. We are getting him a flatscreen tv and tv stand to go in there. We are also looking to put a black leather couch with incliners. He has requested it to be in Panther colors. I have a friend coming out to look at painting it for us tomorrow. He is very excited.
Please continue to pray for Brandon and our family. These are very tuff times for all of us. Please pray that Dr. McMahon, Scott and I make all the right choices for Brandon's treatments. Please pray that the chemo is working to heal Brandon and that Brandon and his tired body can keep fighting. We are just so blessed to have people that care so much for our family and thank you for everything you do.
Love to all,
Anita
Tuesday, March 6, 2007 8:20PM
I just wanted to give a quick update. We saw Dr. MCMahon yesterday and Brandon's counts finally recovered. He could start chemo, but we still are going to wait until after his birthday weekend. It is going to be great. On Sat it is the Birthday Ride for him and Sun we will celebrate his Birthday. We need him to feel good. I did talk to Dr. McMahon today and since we have decided to hold off on chemo he is going to do a Pet Scan and a Bone Marrow asperation to see what the chemo has done up to this point. I will let you know when they are scheduled. We will get together afterwards and see if we need to continue with what we are doing or look at new options. Please pray that the chemo is working and we do not have to make any new choices. I would not wish this journey on anyone. It is so hard to decide what is the right thing to do. Please continue to pray for Dr. McMahon, Scott, and I to come up with the best plan for Brandon.
The break from chemo has been nice. We have been able to get Brandon out more and we have everything coming together for his room. It is going to look great.
I took Brandon to the varsity baseball game today for Porter Ridge High. He had a really good time. The boys played a good game and won. After the game the coaches and the boys came out to see Brandon and gave him some baseballs. We took some good pictures. It was really nice of them and made Brandons day.
Thank you to everyone for caring so much and keeping Brandon and our family in you thoughts and prayers. It means a lot to us.
Love to all,
Anita
Friday, February 16, 2007 11:38 AM CST
Hello everyone hope you all had a good Valentines Day. I wanted to give a quick update on how the week has been. We have had a couple of Dr. appts and nurse visits to see how Brandon is doing and check his counts. On Wed Brandon did have to get a platlet transfusion. All his other counts still looked good until today. He finally bombed. He has no white counts. Dr. McMahon is going to let us wait until Monday for anymore transfusions. We will probably need platlets and blood then. We will plan for a long day. He felt his counts would be ok for the weekend. They are still keeping his platlets higher then the normal protocol. Because he could start to bleed in the brain again. They are still trying to fix that area and get rid of the fluid.
Brandon is still having headaches, but we can usually keep them from getting bad with the morpine. He is tired and sleeping a lot. He does not have a very big appitite and is still vomitting from the chemo. He is a fighter and is giving everything he has, but with his weight loss and the chemo it makes his body very week.
Please continue to pray for Brandon and our family. With each chemo treatment it gets harder on Brandon. Please continue to pray he has the power to fight and beat this beast. Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts. Without family and friends we could not get through this.
Love to all,
Anita
Monday, February 19,2007 10:50pm
Quick update on todays appt. with Dr. McMahon. Brandon's counts are starting to try and recover except his platlets. They dropped really bad since Fri. On Fri. they were 64,000 and today they were 18,000. Needless to say we had to get a platlet transfusion. We will have his counts checked again on Wed. to see how things are. Brandon is due to have chemo again next week, but Dr. McMahon feels he will not be ready. We are going to postpone his next chemo treatment until the day after his birthday. His birthday is March 18th and we want to be able to celebrate. If we do the chemo in two weeks he will still be down when his birthday is here.
Please continue to pray that the chemo does what it should. Also pray for Dr. McMahon, Scott and I to make all the best decisions for Brandon's treatment. Thank you for everything. It means so much to us.
Love to all,
Anita
Sunday, February 11, 2007 5:05 PM CST
We came home from the hospital on Fri afternoon. Brandon had a very busy week at the hospital. He was put in the hospital on Monday and started antibiotics for another infection in his feeding tube. Brandon also had to get a blood transfusion. Between the two things he was feeling pretty bad. Tues and Wed he had chemo. He did good with it. He was sick only one time in the hospital. On Thurs he had an Mri on his head and spine. Everything looked good. The two spots that were on his spine the last time did not show up. We should get the final reading on Monday when we go to Dr McMahons office. The Mri also showed that the fluid has not changed either way. The shunt changed when we were having the MRI done and the surgeon left it at that setting. It was at 50 and they went to 70. Please pray this works without making Brandon really sick and not having really bad headaches. We had to stay Fri and get one last dose of his antibiotics before we could go home.
Chemo has kicked in since we are home. On Sat Brandon was still feeling ok in the day, so we decided to try and go get something to eat and take him to the movies before his counts drop. He got sick once before we left. When we were in the restaurant he started feeling sick again, but never did get sick. He also didn't eat anything. He still wanted to go to the movies so we did. During the movies Scott had to take him twice to the bathroom to get sick. It was an adventure. When we got home he was feeling really bad and got sick again before he went to bed.
Sunday was another bad day. He slept until about 4:00pm and didn't get out of bed until 5:00pm. He has been sick only one time so far, but does not feel good at all. My mom just brought us dinner over and he is going to try and eat something. I hope he does ok. We go to Dr. McMahons office tomorrow to see how his counts are.
Please continue to pray for him and our family that he can recover fast from this round of chemo without getting really sick. Thank you for all your prayers for us and all the families that are going thru this. It means so much to us.
Love to all,
Anita
Friday, February 2, 2007 10:42 PM CST
Hello everyone I just wanted to give a quick update on Brandon. He has had an ok week. He is still fighting headaches, vomitting, and naushea. We think this is all do to the bleeding in the brain and then the extra fluid from it. They have been turning the shunt up slowly and his head is having a hard time adjusting to the new pressure. I had to take him back to the surgeon today for another ct scan because the past couple of days everything has gotten worse. The ct scan still looked the same from the one done a week or so ago. We are going to leave the shunt alone for now. On Thurs 2-8 we are having another MRI of the head and spine. They want to see what that shows. Please pray no new tumors in the head and spine and the two they saw on the spine in the MRI we did about 5weeks ago have not gotten any bigger.
They checked Brandons counts today and we passed to start chemo on Monday. His white count and hemoglobin dropped some. We might have to have a blood transfusion before we start the chemo. His platlets finally came up. Dr. McMahon was ok with all of them. We plan to go in Monday morning and do 3days of chemo and stay to have the MRI on Thurs. If everything is ok after the MRI come home late Thurs. Brandon's feeding tube site also looks like it is getting infected again. Please pray that it does not get really bad. We just finished antibiotics from the last infection