Charlotte's Battle - Jason's Recovery

Chapter 10

Charlotte woke up to the touch of her mother's fingers on her forehead. "Hey sweetie." Her mother said as she looked at her daughter. Charlotte smiled. "Hey mom, what time is it?" She asked her.

Sara checked the time from her watch and sighed. "It's ten-thirty. I let you sleep in since you were having a tough night. I also have your meds." Her mother said, handing her the medicine with a cup of water. "Hopefully you can keep these down long enough for them to work." She said with a soft smile.
Charlotte smiled as she took the medicine down with water, holding the cup in her hand until it was empty, then handed it to her mother.

Sara disposed of the cup properly and returned to her daughter, setting her wheelchair by the bed. "So I was thinking we could go out to the mall." she said as she smiled at her and then got up slowly, unhooking her from the tubes and wires. She helped her up and gently guided her to the bathroom.

Charlotte smiled as her mother helped her into the bathroom, gently holding onto the counter as she got inside. "Are you going to help me shower?" She asked her mom. Her mother nodded. "Yes, I'm going to help you shower. Since Jason doesn't like to do it very often..." she told her and slowly helped her to sit down. "I won't be in there with you, but I'll be right out here ... especially if you fall or need help with something." Sara said, setting a comfortable set of clothes out on the counter for her.

Charlotte carefully got into the shower after taking her pajamas off. She used the bars on the inside to keep her balance somewhat stable while she washed her hair and her body. She nearly collapsed during her shower but she had caught it in time.

Sara was in Charlotte's room, cleaning up the side of the room that had the dirty clothes hamper. She picked everything up and got ready to do the laundry. When Sara heard the shower shut off, she went into the bathroom to check on Charlotte who had a towel around her body. Sara smiled and piinted to the clothes on the counter. "I'll be right out here if you need anything."

Charlotte nodded and began to get dressed into a plaid shirt with white stripes, the black pair of leggings, warm socks, and undergarments. She looked at herself in the mirror before noticing Belle right below her. She gave her a smile and gently pet her and used her as support to keep her upright. Charlotte slowly began walking towards her bed with the help of Belle. She slowly turned to her mother and smiled. "I love Belle so much."

Sara smiled at her. "I know you do, I'm so glad you have her to help you through the little things. It can always help us out more. I'm sure she'll be able to be a big help for us." She told her as she set her purse down on the bed.

Charlotte nodded and began to make her bed, pulling the sheets over the bed and then the comforter, folding the top of it over a bit. She set up her pillows and stuffed animals in a way that it would look nicer. She got up slowly and picked up some of her stuffed animals from the floor, carefully grabbing the bar on the bed and pulling herself back up. She glanced around the room in an attempt to see what else needed to be cleaned up. She seemed to be doing a lot better with her balance since she got Belle and it made her pretty happy because she could be more independent.

Next week she would be taking Belle with her to her next round of chemo. She smiled slightly at the thought of it, carefully grabbing the gear and putting Belle's vest on her as she sat on the carpeted floor.

Once she was all ready to go, her mother helped her get the wheelchair in the van and helped Belle get into the van with Charlotte. Sara smiled at the two as she got herself adjusted in the front seat, adjusting the mirrors, seat, and steering wheel so she would be more comfortable.

A smile formed on Charlotte's face when they began driving, watching out the window as she realized this was the first time she had been out of the house since before her birthday. She was now eleven and seemed a bit healthier due to her tube feeds as eating orally doesn't work well for her.

As Sara pulled into the handicap parking, she looked in the rear view mirror and smiled at the two in the backseat. "Alright." She said as she pulled the vehicle in park and shut the engine off. She then opened her door and made her way to the back to get Charlotte's wheelchair put together.

Charlotte focused on getting herself out of the car without her mother's help. She relied on Belle's strength and balance at times but she was thankful Belle was finally here so she could finally be more independent. Charlotte loves independence and she used to be very independent before she was diagnosed with cancer. Her health just seemed to decline for a while, at least six months. Once she was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma, they tried many different treatments before fully deciding on chemo as Charlotte was a peds patient and they didn't want to do something she didn't need so they ran their extra tests and such and decided the best plan for Charlotte was to start chemo and radiation to keep the tumor shrunk enough that it wouldn't affect her balance and quality of life. The first six months she relied solely on a wheelchair and a full on caregiver, but thanks to her starting physical therapy with her team of doctors help, she has been able to be more independent and do a lot more daily activities on her own. The one thing that kept her going was the fact that her grandmother who passed, told her to fight and push until she physically collapses. That's exactly what she does. She fights hard and pushes herself until she couldn't go anymore.