Melissa Ellmer - Children's Hospitals Family Advocacy Day 2009

Disability Awareness

Hello Everyone

    I have been working on a badge for Girl Scouts and for part of that badge I did a Disability Awareness program for Girl Scout troop # 80427. I chose to do a program that would let the girls know what it feels like to have a disability. I brought wheel chairs and a walker with me and let each girl use them to get in and out of the bathroom and down the hallways in their school. Then I asked the girls if they knew what every person has that is exactly the same. They had a lot of good guesses and with some clues they got the answer. Do you all know the answer? The answer is feelings. We all have the same feelings. We may not feel them at the same time, but we all have them.

    The girls and I spoke about my accident and about the brace I wear on my leg. I brought an old brace with me so they could see and feel it. I tried to let them see that kids with disabilities are just like them, but they just have to do things a little different. When I was asked what the hardest thing about my disability was, I told them it was the way some people stare at me and asked them to please not do that to people anyone. I also asked them to remember when they are talking to anyone that people all have the same feelings and let's treat each other the way we would like to be treated. 

    Thanks Troop #80427! I had a great time and I hope you did too.

Let’s Walk n’Roll

Hello everyone

    This weekend, May 30th, is Children’s Specialized Hospital Foundation’s third annual Walk n’Roll to support Children’s Specialized Hospital. I would like to personally invite you all to join me, my family and my extended Children’s Specialized Hospital family to Walk or Roll with us.

    Children’s Specialized Hospital is the nation’s largest and best pediatric rehabilitation hospital. With eight sites in NJ, it treats about 17,000 children each year.

    Check-in is at 8:30am-10:00am at beautiful Johnson Park in New Brunswick NJ. You can walk or roll a 1, 2.5 or a 5 mile course. During the Walk n'Roll there will also be a carnival with live music, games and prizes. I have been told WPLJ radio personalities will be on hand as well.

    The Walk n’Roll has no general registration fee. So come on out and join us for a great day in the park and support a great hospital that supports special kids.

I hope to see you all there.

              

Happy Memorial Day

Hi everyone

    What a weekend I had! The Girl Scouts had their annual Beach Jam in Wildwood, NJ. My Troop and I had a great time on all the rides. The Great White is an old fashion wooden roller coaster and definitely my favorite ride on the boardwalk. If I had to take a guess I would say through the whole weekend I had to ride it 20 times. I’m surprised I can stand up straight after that. Friday and Saturday were sunny and warm. Sunday we had some rain but it cleared up after breakfast. Many thanks to Mrs. Baratucci for planning the trip. Great job as usual.

    Today is May 21, 2009 and it is 14 years to the day of my accident. The good news is this weekend is Memorial Day and that is the day I woke up from my coma. I have a lot to celebrate. I don’t remember the accident, but my family and I take this week to look back and see all goals that I have conquered that have brought me to this point in my life. I had to learn to do everything all over again, it took years of therapy and hard work to get here, but here I am writing a blog. Who would have guessed?

    I would like to thank the staff at Children’s Specialized Hospital. You all go above and beyond everyday. For all the doctors, nurses, physical and occupational therapists and speech pathologists that helped me get to this point, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. Everything I do is because you all never gave up on me. I would like to wish you all a Happy Memorial Day.

Be a Champion for Children

Hello

    I hope you have all had a chance to look at the Speak Now for Kid’s website. If not I would ask you to join me and my family and be a champion for children. Tell your story and let our lawmakers know what you would like done for children in health care reform. We can all go to www.SpeakNowforKids.org  and post a comment. The web site is sponsored by The National Association of Children’s Hospitals (N.A.C.H.)

    The idea is to have families from across the country post stories and comments about children and health care reform. Then all the postings will be sent to Congress so our lawmakers can see what matters to us. Everyone needs to and can do this parents, grandparents and young people who may want to have children one day. You are not too young or too old to speak now for kids. We need to stand together and speak as one. My mom and I posted a video so check it out.

            

Advocacy Day

Hello everyone.

    I am very excited about my upcoming trip to Washington, DC. I know that you are all aware the reason for my trip is to join other families to advocate for children’s health care on Capitol Hill. I feel I have been through a lot in my 15 years and want our lawmakers to remember children in any health care reform bills they pass.

    This is not the first time I’ve been to Capitol Hill. When I was 12 years old I had the pleasure to be at the 2006 Family Advocacy Day. On that trip my mother did most of the speaking and I learned how things worked. This time I will be doing the speaking. My mom thinks this is the best part. I had such a great time at my last Advocacy Day. I had the chance to meet many of the lawmakers from New Jersey like Senator Lautenberg, Senator Menendez and Congressmen Frelinghuysen. All were very nice. Congressmen Frelinghuysen had a lot of New Jersey memorabilia in his office it was really fun to look at. I also got to meet Senator Kennedy's dogs. They were so cute.

    This year I would like to show them the two new devices I have found. One that will make my foot move more naturally and the other will help my hand move. I hope to have at least one by the time I go to Washington. The downside to this is that they are not covered by insurance. I know I am lucky to be able to have both and to be near fabulous health care facilities that have cutting edge technology. What about the children who are not? Shouldn’t all children be given the same opportunities? The one device for my hand will let me open and close my hand. I have not been able to do that in 14 years. I LOVE SCIENCE!

    Well I have to go now and do my homework. UGG! Talk to you all soon.

Happy Mother's Day

    I want to thank all the mothers reading this for all you do everyday.

    I would like to tell you all about my Mom. My mom is the greatest person I’ve ever met. She is my best friend. After my accident my mom would bring me to all my therapy appointments and we spent a lot of time at therapy. When I would get upset and want to quit she would always cheer me on. She has always told me there is nothing I can’t do and I believe her. She tells me I am the strongest person she has ever known. That makes me very proud.

    My mom works at Children’s Specialized Hospital as a Family Faculty member. Family Faculty members are family members of children who have spent time at the hospital. Children’s Specialized Hospital has 14 Family Faculty members and my mom was the first. Mom told me Children’s Specialized Hospital understands that families are a very important part of a patient’s recovery and that families are the center of what the hospital does everyday. My mom goes to meetings at the hospital and part of her job is to talk to families at the hospital and let them know they are not alone. She tells the families about our stay at the hospital and how she felt. Mom says sometimes all someone needs is to talk to someone who has been in their shoes. Someday I think I would like to be a Family Faculty member.

    I spent the day pampering my mom for all she does for me and my family and the families at the hospital. My father, brother and I made her a special breakfast. We set the table and put a beautiful bouquet of flowers by her place setting. My mother was so happy and loved the flowers. My mom likes to spend time with us at home so we all spent the day together. My mom and I took my puppy for a long walk.  My dad cooked all the meals and we let her sit on the couch and read a book. She told me it was the best mother’s day EVER!  Thanks mom I love you.

Speak Now For Kids

Hello everyone,

     Wow! thank for all the great comments! Keep them coming. I am working on answering all of you.

   I bet you all have heard the saying that children should be seen and not heard. Not today! Today we need to stand up together and let our law makers know that children in America need good health care. Our law makers in Washington are working on Health Care Reform. We need to let them know that Health Care Reform needs to include us, the children. We are not small adults. We need specialized care and many of us do not have health insurance. I can’t even imagine where I would be with out health care. Well, yes, I can. I would be dead. I know that may sound a little harsh, but it is the truth. 

    So what can we do? We can join together and let our law makers in Washington know that we are here and we want to be heard. Speak Now for Kids is a campaign to join all the families around the country together to speak up for us, the kids.Through this web site we can let our law makers see that kids count. So get your parents, your aunts, uncles and everyone you know to go to   www.speaknowforkids.org

    My mother and I made a video for Speak Now for Kids. We talked about the need for health care for everyone and we had a great time doing it. I know some of my friends from Children's Specialized hospital also made videos. So check it out and remember together we can be heard.

Hello I am Melissa Ellmer

My name is Melissa Ellmer. I am a 15 year old girl from New Jersey.  Some of the things I like to do in my spare time are, go on the computer, listen to music, hang out with my friends and of course SHOP SHOP SHOP till I DROP DROP DROP. Something else I love is to hang out with my family. I love to hang out with my mom and get our nails done and just have a girl’s day together. One thing you will need to know about me is that I LOVE the Jonas Brothers.

 I bet I sound just like every other 15 year old girl you know. The thing that makes me different from the average teenage girl is that 14 years ago I was hit by a car. The accident caused what the doctors call a traumatic brain injury. Because of that I have a weak left arm and I wear a brace on my left leg. I can do just about everything anyone else can do. I don’t remember the accident because I was only a year and half at the time. I was in a coma for about a week and I have been told that the doctors didn’t think I would live.

I don’t remember the day I moved to Children’s Specialized Hospital but it feels like I’ve always been there. It’s almost a home away from home for me. I don’t remember my inpatient days at the hospital but I do remember my out patient therapy.  My first memory of Children’s’ Specialized Hospital is going to physical therapy and being taught to walk with a little red walker. I didn’t want to use it but my PT made it fun. Most of the therapy was fun and every one was always happy to see me and soon I was walking up and down stairs. I would have to say physical therapy in the pool was the most fun because we played all different games. Therapy was made fun but, it was also hard work. There were days when I just wanted to give up and many days I sat and cried. But the staff at Children’s Specialized Hospital understood how hard it was and always helped me find my strength and move on.

Children’s Specialized Hospital helped me get back on my feet. I want to go to Washington D.C to help other children who may be going through the same things I went through. All children should be given the same excellent care I had and be given the chance to recover. I want to remind my elected officials that children are people too. PLEASE DON’T FORGET US WHEN IT COMES TO HEALTH CARE REFORM.