Eli had a pretty uneventfull day which we enjoy and hope to have many more of. While we are not having a very easy time emotionally with the whole situation a new reality unfortunately sets in when when the hair starts falling out which sadly is currently happening in full force. You get a reminder everywhere he goes as he leaves behind a trail of hair. On a positive note thank gd aside from the itching he so far isn’t that disturbed or bothered by it.

We have hopefully a quiet week ahead of us and we are trying to focus on finding a place to live so that Eli can have more space without being stuck on top of his siblings germs which with his low blood counts are very catchy.

We are continuing davening and hoping that the treatments will do what they are supposed to do as quick as possible with no bad side effects. Sometimes waking up and wishing that this situation will over night IYH turn into a bad dream that never happened and got better by itself.

BH Elis blood counts went up and the doctors felt he can go home this morning which is what I was told by my rov to do even though it was Shabos with the reason being that a choleh that doesn’t need to be in the hospital should not be there a minute longer as it becomes a makom sakana for him. So we had a cab pick us up and do all the schlepping and door openings so there wa no melacha that we were involved in. Eli and I and especially his mother and siblings were very happy to have him home .

At mincha time he said I want to come with you so he got himself dressed and walked with me to Shul where everyone was also very happy to see him doing a lot better.

I’m also happy to say that the nurses gave Eli a small thing that is now attached to his leg so that instead of putting a needle in him each night which he needs I now only have to put it on that contraption and it saves him the pain and us seeing him in pain. So basically all in all BH we are looking to a quiet uneventful week beezrat Hashem at home.

Thank you very much to the many people that have non stop helped us with food during the week, shabos etc everything tasted amazing and we have plenty of leftovers for the week.

Eli and his father will be getting a lot of quiet bonding time together over shabos in CHLA. His fever BH hasnt come back since 9PM Thursday night but his blood counts are not well enough for them to feel comftorable to discharge him before shabos.

Thanks gd but oddly enough his mood has been better then it’s been in quite a while and it kept getting better and better as the day went on. He had a very special mother come and play a whole bunch of games with him this morning and really make him happy then His Rebbi Rabbi Jacobs came to visit him and discussed the weeks parsha with him and he felt very privileged that his Rebbi came here for him. He then spoke on the phone for a minute with my Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Kanarek who gave him a Brocha and made him laugh. That was followed by his zaidy coming to visit him with his uncle.

We are all davening that his counts will get better over shabos and that IYH he will be back home ASAP. Thank you to the many people that are and have gone and continue to go out of their way for us and Eli in many different ways. We should all be zoche to see Elimelech Ben Basya make full and quick recovery refua shelayama bmhayra amen. Gut shabos

Fortunately Eli is in a good mood unfortunately he is still in the hospital with fever on and off. They still haven’t figured out the reason he has fever and we picked the wrong week to get sick because his main DR at CHLA is on vacation and although she has backup it isn’t at all the same. He took a blood culture which takes 48 hours from when he took it until they get the real results but in the meantime they treat him as if he has a infection with IV antibiotics and Tylenol for the fever. Also he needs to be fever free for 24 hours before they release him so the chances of being home for shabos are dimming we are still hoping but either way he and we will be fine.

As the flu season the hospitals rules are that NO ONE even siblings under the age of 12 are allowed to visit for fear of germs. This will not be easy for Eli or Sori or Ari as they really miss him and don’t quite get what’s going on with him but slowly they are beginning to understand unfortunately.

While the going seems to be getting a little harder on us atleast for Eli he seems to be getting adjusted with what the reality is and for the most part is a super champ. Hoping for a happier better report before shabos. Thanks to everyone for EVERYTHING

Unfortunately the day didn’t end the way it started or the way the last few days have gone. We take Eli’s temperature every few hours by scanning his forehead just to be on the safe side and unfortunately he has 102 fever. So we have to call the hospital and let them know and they told us to come in ASAP which is exactly wht we did. Based on his blood levels and numbers they then decide what the next step should be and while we were hopeful his #s would be good they were not. So sadly we are back in CHLA for The night until they can get his white blood cell counts up again.

Thanks to all the people that have donated or are planning on donating A+ blood for Elimelech Ben Basya as we already used the first donation tonight. And of course thanks to Bikur Cholim for arranging it and being on top of it even so late at night.

Due to the fact that his blood #s are down we will have to be even more careful then we have been and restrict visitors to a bare minimum so please don’t just come please text or call either of us PRIOR to leaving your home to make sure that it works for us. A little extra tehilim for anyone that can tonight will definitely help in our hopes that this small somewhat expected bump in the road is nothing serious and that all will be ok so that Eli can go home the sooner the better (as soon as they allow) Tizku lmitzvos

What can I say other then our hope is that until Eli fully recovers bkarov that we have days like today. He finally woke up happier then he’s been in a while and felt very good and ate like the Eli we knew 3 weeks ago. We also had a pretty busy day. He went to his zaidys kollel where a yarchei kalla with a full house was taking place in Beth Jacob in his zchus and Binyomin Chaim Ben Faigie Sarah zchus. He really felt good knowing that so many people were all learning in his and his friend Bennys zchus for the few minutes he spent learning some Chumash. Thanks to everyone that came it was truly inspiring to Eli, myself and family to see and feel.

Then it was off to the beech where we took a long nice bike ride (all bundled up it was pretty cold) which we all really enjoyed biking and watching a skate board show. He then finally agreed to speak on the phone to a good friend of ours in NY and to a few of his cousins all which he hasn’t done in quite a while.

I don’t want to give us any ayin hora but we hope and daven that the rest of the time that Elimelech Ben Basya is getting treatment that it should go like today and that we should be zoche to see him fight and win this illness in record time with no complications and no more pain. AMEN

Overall today was a pretty good one BH with Eli eating more each day and slowly gaining some weight and energy we hope as he will need it for the next round of chemo starting IYH in 2 weeks. While he really doesn’t like his medications epically getting his nightly shot he takes it like a pro.

Thanks to Elis Rebbi and the staff of Toras Emes they were able to give us a live connection to his class so that even though he isn’t there he can still learn and feel like he is there and see his friends. The love and the letters that Eli has gotten from his class, our friends, cousins, doctors etc. is really doing wonders as he enjoys reading them all.

We are hoping that he will feel up to going on Tuesday to his zaidys kollel where they are having a yarchei kalla learning program all week but Tuesday has been sponsored by Eli’s uncles Nachum and Reuven as a zchus lrefua for Elimelech Ben Basya and Binyomin Chaim Ben Faigy Sora we hope to be there for a few minutes so he can hear and see it between 10-11AM.

Tizku lmitzvos to everyone who has done chasadim, kollelim, kabalos, tzedakas, tehilim groups etc etc it’s a real zchus

Eli had a pretty good day today he ate a decent amount of food in comparison to the past few days but definetly can use a few pounds. He felt up to it at 1:30 to go out to his friends birthday party at the bowling alley he even prepared himself by lifting a few weights to get ready for the big outing. He got a very warm welcome from all his friends who he hasn’t seen in 2 weeks and even bowled a few frames. After he joined his friends and actually ate pizza with them. I say actually because until 2 weeks ago pizza was his favorite food and he hasn’t touched it since surgery until today.

The afternoon continued with Rabbi Langer and my father speaking in Sharei Torah before mincha with about 100 men and women there bzchus Elimelech Ben Basya and Binyomin Chaim Ben Faigy Sorah it was extremely moving and inspirational and was followed by tehilim for 15 minutes.

Eli took a bath which isn’t fun to give because he has a “line” connected to him which can’t get wet for fear of infection and it was followed by the daily flushing of the line and then I did something I don’t wish on anyone to ever have to do which is give your child a shot which he needs starting today until he is fully recovered BKAROV it’s not that painful for him but it feels and looks wrong and scary.

What can I say other BH we were home for shabos and got back to some normalcy. We had the shabos meals alone “to get to know ourselves and the kids again” and we were able to relax and enjoy it which all of us needed. Eli decided this morning and this afternoon that he wants to go get some fresh air which he hasn’t had for 8 days so we went for 2 walks which was really good for him. As I was going to mincha Shabos afternoon Eli piped up and said I would like to come also which is exactly what he did and sat and enjoyed being back in Shul.

On a side note we now know that Eli is blood type A+ (positive) and will most probably need blood in a few weeks. Anyone that is that blood type and hasn’t been sick in the past week prior to wanting to donate blood should please contact the tzadikim at Bikur Cholim who have been extremely helpful to us and been there so far every step of the way the office#(323)852-1900 to schedule and to make sure that ChildrensHospital will know that it’s being given for Eli.

Sunday is Asara Bteves and at 3:45PM my father along with the rov of my Shul Rabbi Langer will be speaking in Beis Medrash Sharei Tora bzchus Elimelech Ben Basya followed by mincha at 4:30

Boruch hashem that this week is coming to an end and that the doctors are happy enough with the way Eli is feeling that they will be allowing him and us to go right before shabos. While he is still very weak you can see on his face the excitement that he is finally going home after being in the hospital for 8 days. We are looking forward as well to try and restroe some normalcy in his, ours and the others kids life.

Have good shabos