Hope4Elke

My dearest friends and family,

The past two weeks have been a very trying time for our family.  We recently received devastating news regarding our mom, Elke.  She was diagnosed with a very rare form of malignant brain cancer called Glioblastoma Multiforme (Stage IV).  Unfortunately, the prognosis is poor. However, if anyone knows our mom, you know this German woman is not going down without a fight.

GBM is an aggressive cancer that begins in the brain and spreads rapidly. After battling headaches and what she thought was a nasty sinus infection, quickly turned into stroke like symptoms on Tuesday (01/19/2016).  After speaking to a neuro-surgeon, what we thought was a stroke became our greatest fear and diagnosis.  A CT of her head and MRI confirmed a large tumor in the right frontal lobe of her brain.  Due to the nature of the cancer, we had to act quickly and thus my mother underwent surgery to remove the tumor on Wednesday (01/27/2016).  The surgery was a huge success!  She currently has no neurological deficits; the outcome was our first victory!

A subsequent MRI showed that the surgeon was able to remove 80% of the tumor.  The remaining portion will be treated with radiation that will start in two weeks and chemotherapy to slow down the progression of the cancer. There is no cure for GBM and it is terminal. Although our hearts are broken and our world has been turned upside down, we are not about to give up.

We are a family of hope and great faith.  We pray without question that God has our mother in his hands.  We pray and hope for her strength, her recovery, and her survival. We are researching different places around the country that may be able to treat her.  These treatments will be very costly, along with air fare and accommodations.  We also hope to provide her with a cruise to the Panama Canal, one that she has dreamed of for so long.       

We truly appreciate any help you can offer at this time. Thank you so much for your love and support. Please pray for hope, strength, and a cure! We love you all!  “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere in spite of overwhelming obstacles”, this hero is our mother, Elke!" #Defyingtheodds #E-Strong 

Love,

Jennifer Johnson and Jessica Hamilton