Eli's Journey

David is ill. Melissa caught it. Eli has it. Sophia's dodging it. Not an easy task, to say the least. Sophia is singing a solo in her school talent show. She is 6. Singing a song from HSM 1. Two of her classmates "tried out" for the show. Their acts were both telling jokes. Eli has a new bump on his arm with the rod that we noticed about bedtime last night. It alarmed us. David and Eli made a trip to the ER last night just to check it out. They released him. X-rays are on the fed ex truck to the Shriner's Hospital in Shreveport for the expert check. Eli's surgical plans: he will have one thumb worked on, then the other, then his feet removal, then his leg straightening...in that order. First of the list likely in August, maybe earlier. Eli's favorite words: Eah (Sophia), paci , daddy, out (to go outside) and go. Eli loves to take walks in his stroller. He loves to be outside. I am glad for that. Eli still doesn't have glasses, but we are working on it. N...

Eli was released from the hospital yesterday evening. His infection was on his skin only and not inside his arm, which is very, very good news. The rod is still in place. His arm looks awful, but we are treating it at home, which is more comfortable for all of us. Luckily, Granna was here to help. Thanks to Aunt Lesli and Grandma Bobbie too for their help. Happy 80 Grandma Bobbie!!! We are well, for now. Love you all, Melissa

Sophia's right on comment this morning when I told her Eli was in the hospital, "Not again." Unfortunately, Eli's arm became bright red, swollen and painful yesterday evening which led to an ER visit and admittance to Saint Francis Children's Hospital. The whole thing is highly suspect of the last time Eli's other arm became infected. I'll keep you posted as we get test results and physician opinions today. Please pray: the infection heals if the rod must come out after only six weeks, pray that the centralization worked quickly and will need no additional procedures no medication side affects wisdom for the docs and compassion for the nurses Love you all, Melissa

Eli and David made it home in good time yesterday. Elijah has a splint to replace his cast. He also has a thumb repositioning surgery scheduled for August, which will likely push back his feet removal surgery a few months so he has time to heal and recharge between. Love to all, Melissa

Today, I am very, very sad. Even though I expected the recommendation made today by Dr. Gates, the future is difficult to face. Elijah is scheduled to have his feet removed in October. Two days ago, Sophia drew a picture of someone standing. She drew only feet, legs and hands and arms hanging down. The rest of the person was off the page. I asked her what she had drawn and she wrote "Eli wen he gros up." It brought tears to my eyes. I am not looking forward to explaining why mommy and daddy would let a doctor remove Eli's precious feet. I will miss Eli's feet. When I pick him up from his crib, he always brings Clifford the dog along dangling between his feet. Eli has very talented feet. He uses them to manipulate his toys and brings them to his tummy when he's being tickled as he laughs and laughs. The fact remains that Elijah's feet do not help Eli walk, so they must go. Several months after the feet removal surgery, he will have surgery to straighten his le...

Please pray especially for David and Eli today. They are on a van on their way to Shreveport with three other families. David was against riding in the van from the beginning because he has a tendency to get car sick and he is worried the temperature won't be pleasing for Eli if there are so many other people to keep happy. So, he showed up this morning to find that this ride will include four families and the driver called in sick. He really, really didn't want to ride the van, but Eli requires so much attention that we didn't feel comfortable with just one of us driving and Eli riding and I couldn't go this time. Eli will see the leg doctor tomorrow and the hand doctor on Tuesday and then return home on another van. Love you all, Melissa

Elijah's vision has been a roller coaster ride emotionally for Dave and me. After Elijah's birth and subsequent 11 day stay in the NICU at Saint Francis, the nurses told us that every child who stays in the NICU is referred to an opthamologist . The opthamologist generally visited the kids in the NICU one day a week and since Eli made his grand entrance two days before Christmas the opthamologist wouldn't be visiting the NICU during Eli's 11-day stay. So, we left the NICU with instructions to see Dr. Groves. Being responsible for setting Eli's appointments, I immediately set one with Dr. Groves. Seemed like a routine kind of thing. Not a big deal. Well, when the day came around for Eli's appointment, it happened to be the day after his g-tube placement surgery and he was in PICU on a ventilator. I'm a very multi-tasking person plus I realized if doctors saw Eli in the hospital, I didn't have to pay a co-payment, so I called the opthamologist'...

Not sure why, but it seems more people than usual have been asking about Elijah the past few weeks. I don't like to ignore providence when it's jabbing me in the ribs, so I'll take a minute to give an overview of his various health issues. As always, pray as specifically as you can for Elijah's various ailments, say thanks for his successes, and accept our gratitude for continuing to lift him and his family up in prayer. THE ARM: Elijah's wrist surgery went very well. We'll take him to Shreveport in two weeks to have the cast removed, then we'll visit again in 6 weeks to take the rod out. The rod is pressed up against the ulna and is keeping the surgically altered structure in place. You'll recall that when we operated on the other wrist, the rod became infected and had to be removed early. Elijah got very sick very quickly, but we aren't seeing anything like that this time around. We have reason to expect good things during this trip. THE LEGS: It...

Donate to the American Red Cross today! I'm personally raising $1,000 for the local Red Cross disaster response. Give up one meal out and donate an easy $25. Give up meals out for a month and donate $100. Help me get to my goal this week! Click my link hit "Donate Now." http://american.redcross.org/goto/melissa Let's make sure disaster victims have the help they need! With gratitude, Melissa