Eli has had better days but hopefully this will be the worst of it. He wasn’t feeling up to eating anything and each time he finally did he couldn’t keep it down. We were warned and prepared for days like this but BH even with all that Elis mood is great. Today was day 3 of the 3rd round of chemo and hopefully Eli’s numbers will be well enough to handle the last few days of this round. He spent the day with many different people that came to visit and to relieve us for some time as well. Eli is having a visit this weekend from one of his favorites “uncles” and he and all our family all very excited and looking forward to it.

On a much happier note after 3 and a half years (since Sep ’09) we have not been living in our own home and our parents have gone completely out of their way for us on a daily basis to accommodate the hard conditions we lived in and as a result put them thru. We will never be able to properly show our deep appreciation to them. Bassy and the kids wethered the impossible storm that we have been thru all this time like champs. I don’t know how they put up with me ever let alone under those circumstances and for that I owe them a apology. BUT as of shabos IYH that situation will be something of the past as we are beezrat Hashem moving to 176 S. Fuller MAZAL TOV. This has been made possible thru the help of many people but one VERY BIG person with a even BIGGER HEART in particular. Meshaneh makom meshaneh mazal will be something we need and will be counting on.

The list of family, friends and strangers that have been there for us every second of the way is to long to list and we will never possibly be able to have the correct hakaras hatov to each person. I can assure everyone that we would not have the strength to go thru this trying period if not for your tefilos, Kabbalos, and many other means directly and indirectly on behalf of Elimelech Ben Basya and ourselves. Tizku lmitzvos and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

At about 10:30PM day 2 of this 3rd round of chemo began. This after Eli Bli ayin hora had a great day with none of the expected side effects. The day started with some games and just relaxing and continued with Eli entertaining the hospital staff. He spent the afternoon with a very close family friend who gave us a 5 hour break allowing us to get a few things done.

As the days of treatment continue we have unfortunately become familiar with a lot of the very wonderful staff at CHLA and know most nurses and doctors. Eli has his favorite nurses and some not such favorites and so do we. On Wedsnsday we have a full day planned for Eli as we have a lot going on at home that we need to deal with. iYH Eli’s great mood will continue and the side effects will be non existent.

Hoping to continue having only good reports on behalf of our Elimelech Ben Basya and that thru our zchusim and tefilos we will continue to see Eli do extremely well under the circumstances. These days are very tiring and trying but we do it knowing the outcome will beezrat Hashem be days of only nachas and gezunt from Eli and the rest of our family

Eli woke up prepared and ready for round 3 of chemo but the hospital was not quite ready for Eli. There were no beds available and luckily we called ahead so we didn’t need to be sitting around waiting for that to happen. Finally at 1:00PM a bed opened and Eli was on his way. After finally settling down they started the IV at 4:00PM with a hydration drip to make sure Eli’s body was ready for the chemo. Finally at 10:00PM the chemo started and didn’t end until 1:30AM and bli ayin hora the immediate side effects we were warned about didn’t happen “Halevy vayter”.

While this was day 1of 4 in this harsh 3rd round we are hoping that Eli’s great mood will continue to lead us thru this trying time and session. Eli’s class in Toras Emes lead by his morah has been calling every day lately and while he is a little shy on the phone he really enjoys it and it has also been lifting his spirits. They also sent a beautiful large poster with a picture of each child with a cute short note from each child personally to Eli. Thank you Morah

Please as always continue to daven for Elimelech Ben Basya that Eli and all of us should continue to have the strength to get thru these tough trying few days and months ahead. We look forward to be besuros tovos bkarov

Add one more to the many great days ahead. Eli spent the morning relaxing at home with his Bubby and siblings. In the afternoon it was off to the science center and IMAX theatre. The science center space shuttle exhibit was sold out for the day by the time we got there but they were very kind and let us all in. Eli really enjoyed seeing the shuttle and the IMAX movie.

We are trying to let Eli spend as much time as he can with the family before he goes in again tommorow for the next round of chemo. Because it is “flu season” CHLA doesn’t allow any children under 12 as visitors so Eli won’t be seeing his sister or brother all week. While we keep ourselves occupied as much as possible not to think to much about Eli’s situation it’s weeks like this coming up one which keep us on the edge.. Hopefully Eli’s mood will be as good or better then it’s been and the week will fly by without chas vshalom any side effects or issues.

Like I have mentioned a few times this round is extremely harsh and can have strong lasting side effects we are non stop davening that this will not be the case for Elimelech Ben Basya and we are counting on everyone’s tefilos to get Eli and ourselves thru the week.

GUT VOCH. Eli had a great relaxing and enjoyable shabos with his family along with his Bubby and cousins. While we look forward to many more shabosim and good days ahead like today they have lately been few and far in between and we are about to head into a pretty tough week. BH Elis blood counts are very good right now and we are hoping the weather will cooperate tommorow so that Eli can have an enjoyable day before he needs to get back into the chemo again.

Like I mentioned on Friday this round of chemo Is apparently one of the harsher rounds and may Unfortunately cause a lot of nausea. Eli Bli ayin hora has done a lot better then we initially thought he would and we are counting on him that this week along with all the rest of the treatments will be the same. Eli’s strength and high spirits is what is keeping everyone around him happy in this tough times.

Hoping that there will be many more happy posts with all good news on Elimelech Ben Basya and that everyone should see nachos from him and we should only share in each others simchas. A GUT VOCH

BH we can add another great day to the many that are still ahead. Eli was home most of the day and had a visit from his zaidy and took it easy until it was time for today’s doctor appt. we left at 12:00 for his appointment that first required them to draw blood and then wait for 90 minutes for the results which were BH very good. Eli is now cleared to start round 3 of chemo beezrat Hashem on Monday morning.

While BH all is moving along as scheduled so far we have been warned by his doctor that this round is pretty harsh and can have strong side effects which we are both mentally and physically preparing Eli for. We are hoping that they will be wrong and Eli will be able to breeze thru this treatment as he BH has done pretty well doing.

Shabos hi melizuk and we are davening for miracles and that this should all just go away or at least be as easy and quick as possible on the road to Elimelech Ben Basyas full recovery BKAROV. Gut shabos

Today was one of those days we wished we had more of lately. Eli spent the day with his brother and sister first at bowling then at his cousins house and then home where he entertained his tante and buby who both flew in for the weekend to spend time with us and Eli. Eli was really on his game being his funny self and enjoying the many presents he was sent from the east coast and from far east where his uncle was. We look forward to many more days like today bli ayin hora.

Friday is back to CHLA for some hopefully minor testing to pre approve him for round 3 of chemo which IYH will start on Monday and go for the week. We are hoping there will be no surprises and that all will go this week as planned.

We thank everyone for their tefilos on behalf of Elimelech Ben Basya and clearly days like today are only because of your tefilos and we look forward to having many more happy reports in the near future.

Generally doctors are correct but on rare occasions they are wrong and today was one of those days that they were wrong. We were upset for the last 24 hours+ that they felt it necessary to admit Eli into the hospital over a one time fever read. Once your admitted they immediately put you on antibiotics to combat any infection that may be causing the fever. This time due to the fact that Eli was just released 2 days prior for the same reason they decided to give him 2 different antibiotics. I WENT NUTS doping and poisoning Eli because of a wrong fever read when he has so many chemicals and medicine already in his system. Bottom line was they got the results of the culture today and BH he didnt have an infection and never the less decided they should still keep him for one more night. I sent a email to all of the doctors, assistants, oncologists etc explaining that this is incorrect and wrong to do and completely unnecessary and if they don’t discharge Eli we will leave AMA (against medical advice). They finally agreed and at 4:00PM we were finally discharged. MAZAL TOV

They do however want Eli to be observed more then usual for any fever or reactions to all the poisons they gave him which we are doing anyway. We are very happy that IYH Eli will have the day to spend at home and out with his siblings and family on Thursday as unfortunately days like that are few and far in between lately.

We are hoping to have a quiet and peaceful next few days before we need to head back to CHLA for round 3 of Elimelech Ben Basyas chemo treatment. He will need to be inpatient for 4-5 days. Eli’s good mood is really keeping us calm and we are davening that this will only get better with time and that chas vshalom there should be no more bumps in the road big or small.

Today did not go as planned at all. What started as a routine sort of planned blood transfusion turned into the doctor wanting to do some more stem cell work to insure that they collected enough stem cells. So instead of being in the hospital for about 3-4 hours turned into 7 hours and then the bad news came. After all that we were finally done the day and they took Eli’s temperature one last time (they take it every 30 minutes during stem cell and transfusions) and boom he had 102.8. Basically fever means you become inpatient for at least 24-48 hours because they start with a culture that they don’t get results until that period of time. In the meantime as a precaution they immediately start Eli on antibiotics to fight any infection that may have caused the fever.

BH we have our family close by and has and is always available to us and so have some of our friends been there non stop along of course with Bikur Cholim and Chai lifeline. The food that is constantly sent and brought is a huge help as Eli bli ayin hora is slowly creeping back to his original weight per diagnosis ( not to mention how much weight we have gained). We were also introduced today to the local Chabad of Los Feliz which we now know for the next time we are here for shabos is extremely close by and has offered their full assistance.

We are hoping that this will just be another minor bump in the road and that all the tests and cultures will come back negative but in the meantime we are davening that Elimelech Ben Basya will continue to be in his upbeat mood he has been in and that the doctors and medications will continue to be the yad Hashem on the long woad to Eli’s refua shelama BKAROV

Finally the day is coming to an end. Eli had to be woken to be in the hospital at 7:30AM to start the stem cell harvesting which they first draw blood to make sure his blood counts are well enough to do the process. They then send him to take a chest x-ray to make sure his heart is in good condition for it. Then it’s a 2 hour waiting game while they check all that out and then finally they start the IV and after all that’s done they roll this big machine in which does the harvesting. Eli was a real champ and let them do what they needed to do with some minor scares and complications along the way but BH ok. They sadly had to end his day at 5:45PM with something he dreads the most the shot.

While there was a small possibility that we can get all the harvesting done in one day it seems we weren’t that lucky and will need to be back same time Tuesday morning to continue. Hoping that Tuesday goes without any scares and gets done earlier. The room they do it in is with other people in it with a curtain separating you so it’s not roomy or private but I guess it will have to do.

While Eli continues to be very happy the back and forth is definetly very tiring and stressful on us but hopefully we will get it done on Tuesday so that Elimelech Ben Basya will have some time with us and his brother and sister and his Bubby from Lakewood who is coming for the weekend and mid winter break.