Elijah Sleeps

I worked today. When I arrived home, this is what I found. It is a very nice sight to see Elijah sleeping soundly....surrounded by his best pal Clifford and a bunch of his favorite cars. He's in the middle of the living room floor.

The report for the day is that he is still really fussy. I asked Nurse Melody how she thinks he is considering he had major surgery 3.5 days ago and she assured me he is doing well. He will remain on narcotic pain reliever for a while.

This morning he just wanted to stay in his bed. He has a fear of being picked up. He knows it will hurt--breaks my heart.

You maybe cannot tell it from the picture above, but that is one tough dude. Elijah Ramirez is a real rock star. I think this is surgery number 10...let's count.

1. g-tube at 4 weeks -- Tulsa

2. cleft palate & tubes in ears at 9 months -- Oklahoma City
3. skull at 18 months -- Oklahoma City
4. broviac line placement for dehydration because of c-diff infection after head surgery -- Tulsa
5. one wrist centralized -- Shreveport
6. pin removal from wrist due to infection -- Tulsa
7. tubes placed in ears -- Tulsa
8. one wrist centralized -- Shreveport
9. pin removal due to broken arm/broken arm set -- Shreveport
10. pinkie muscle moved to thumb at 2 yrs 8 months -- Shreveport
11. double feet removal at 3 years -- Shreveport

Okay, so that was surgery number 11. I admit that I might have forgotten one or two.

12 will likely be the other pinkie muscles moved to the thumb and 13 will be the leg straightening. Folks, we see the end of this long road of surgical intervention...we might have another surgery on his palate...we'll know in June after an evaluation. Still, three more surgeries would be great. Now, I know that we'll have the small ones like more tubes in ears (something that less experienced parents would not consider "small," but for us...piece of cake), but three more majors would be a great relief.

From my heart, thank you for praying for Elijah, Sophia, David and me. We saw the fruits of your petitions. Elijah's physicians and nurses cared for him with extraordinary skill and kindness. I believe his surgery will prove a giant step toward his ability to walk.

He still hurts. That makes me hurt. I just don't think a little 3 year old should have to experience pain in the magnitude my guy has had to.

I'll keep you updated throughout the weekend.

Love and gratitude,

Melissa

P.S. Aren't you loving my new blog layout? I am the first to admit that I have no spare time right now, but I wanted something fresh for the blog, so I indulged myself.