Elis nurse was here this morning and BH the results came back this afternoon that Eli does not need a transfusion. We continue doing things to help Eli be more active in hopes of helping regain some strength and weight. This evening Eli was back in action at his favorite steakhouse and ate a very nice amount. 
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As always please continue having Elimelech Ben Basya in all your tefilos. A GUT SHABOS‎

BAH after a rough 10+ days Eli seems to of taken a good turn and is more upbeat and somewhat getting back to himself. He enjoys long walks in the fresh air and relaxing at home. Also Elis weight is a very big concern as he lost a little weight which he can’t afford to lose any but is BH once again back to eating so hopefully that will come back and some. 

On Monday we spent a long day at CHLA getting a blood transfusion that for whatever reason took forever. On Thursday morning we will have the nurse check again and see if Eli will need another transfusion. 

With no treatments for the next few weeks on the schedule our focus as always after chemo is to help Eli regain his strength to continue fighting this machla. 

As a reminder when there is nothing really to update I don’t and it means BH things are going ok. 

Please continue having Elimelech Ben Basya and all cholim in your tefilos.

This morning we were at CHLA for a scheduled transfusion which BH Eli only needed platelets so it was relatively short visit. Eli for the most part is still very slowly recuperating and sleeping a lot but BAH pain free. 
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Yesterday there were 4 locations that I’m aware of that said Yom Kippur Koton specially for Eli in our Shul, in my father kollel, in Israel and in the Bronx beezrat hashem all of the tefilos will be a zchus for Eli and all cholim. 
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This evening in 30 minutes from now at 7:00PM LA time there will be a tehilim teleconference. To be honest I’m not sure what it means but we do daven that this and any of the many zchusim people continue to do on behalf of Elimelech Ben Basya ‎ ‎will be a real zchus for a refuah for Eli. 
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The # to call is  712-432-1212 meeting id 734673848# 
I am not sure but I think you need to press mute so that people can hear whoever will be speaking. Tizku lmitzvos. A GUT CHODESH‎

I may of been unclear in yesterday’s post so to clarify Eli had chemo in the early evening and was discharged soon after and BH has been home since 8:30PM Tuesday. As always once home Eli does a lot better and beezrat hashem that will continue now also. 
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As a reminder this evening at 5:00 PM at Sharei Torah 334 N La Brea Ave there will be Yom Kipur Koton with Mincha as a zchus lrefua shelayma for Elimelech Ben Basya and all cholim. ‎The Ezras Nashim will be open for women as well. 

These last 24+ hours have been extremely frustrating with the DR’S and pain team each making up stories and constant lies about the plan. After setting them straight with a few intense stress filled meetings they of course couldn’t accept guilt or fault but realized how they have been messing around and causing Eli to be here potentially longer then he should with no explanation. 

After telling us that Eli will be on methadone and will take 3 days to get him on it and it’s a once a day pill they came in this morning saying we never said that and it’s a 3X a day liquid oral medication. I completely lost it on them and didn’t allow for it and got them to realize that Oxy and Morphine pain medication has worked until now so why change. 

To put a long story short they moved the chemo from 10PM to 6PM and IYH as soon as it’s over like the second it’s over we will be out of here. This has been a beyond stressful week seeing Eli in so much pain and having to literally be there every second of every day to be on top of their constant stupidity. Elis blood counts are expected to drop over the next while with constant blood and platelet transfusions needed to keep up with that but beezrat hashem we will be home for the most part so we can have a semi normal life.

From day 1 Rabbi Heshy Ten along with his staff and many other organizations as well have been there for us and we never properly thank them. Today we need to single out Rabbi Ten and Bikur Cholim for their non stop daily commitment to Eli, his health and our family. On days like today the only way we could possibly be legally going home was with their help with connections within CHLA getting things done and always with no fan fare ‎and we will always truly be indebted to them for the many things they do for us. THANK YOU

Today we had a few special visitors which meant a lot to us and are always appreciated. Our cousin Rivkeleh Hellman who is our home away from home in NYC flew in to visit us. Thank you for the many times we used your house and to Ruvy for letting her come and watch the kids so she can help lift Eli’s and our spirits. Our Rov Rabbi Langer also came special today which was very special and then there were 2 regulars who would kill me if I wrote their names but are always available and always visiting us and here for us during the hardest times. 

On Wed Erev Rosh Chodesh Adar for both men and women in our Shul Sharei Torah located at 334 N La Brea Ave LA CA 90036 there will be mincha with Yom Kippur Koton at 5:00PM bzchus Elimelech Ben Basya and all local cholim. This is the one zchus R’ Chaim Kanievsky has said multiple times to do lrefua shelayma.‎

It’s been another very long day here at CHLA but we are kind of used to it. Eli is BH doing better in the pain department and isn’t pushing the morphine as often as he was and his dose is lower. Most of the day Eli didn’t need the oxygen in his nose. However his cough is very bothersome and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better and the DR’S don’t seem to have a decent explanation. The next problem is the hemoglobin and platelets both dramatically dropped and required Eli to get another transfusion of both of them this to they don’t have a good explanation for. 

We have been asking since Saturday to start transferring the IV pain meds to oral meds so that when Eli can finally leave all will be set but for some reason it kept getting pushed back. Finally this evening the DR came in to tell me that the pain management team decided to put Eli on oral mathadone for the pain but it will take 3 days to get the dosage right and Eli will need to remain in CHLA until then. After trying to understand why he can’t continue on the oral pain meds Eli has been on until now we finally agreed only to be waiting 8+ hours later for that to actually happen and start. 

It’s been a frustrating day but on other hand somewhat easier seeing Eli in considerable less pain. We hope that these issues will be worked out and hopefully we can plan a discharge on Wed if they get a move on things. 

Please have Elimelech Ben Basya and all cholim in all your tefilos. I will have more info on Tuesday for the Yom Kipur Koton planned IYH for Wed at Sharei Torah bzchus Eli and all local cholim.

Today was a roller coaster day with some parts being great and others not so good. Eli didn’t have a good night sleep but BH wasn’t in as much pain today. Late last night he came down with a fever that been on and off ever since but BH the cultures remain negative. Because of a very wet cough they have daily done a chest x-ray to make sure what they think maybe pneumonia doesn’t and BH so far isn’t getting worse. 
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This evening Eli got in the mood of eating so we ordered his favorite steak and whatever of it he eats is good the point that he wants to eat is good enough right now. We finally got Eli out of bed for a good breath of outdoor fresh air something he hasn’t gotten since Wed and wasn’t able to because of the pain. ‎
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Today was day 3 of 5 of this round of chemo and so far aside from his counts dropping all beezrat hashem seems ok. The last day of this round will be Tuesday and we hope that all will be well with the fevers, coughs, pain and oxygen by then that shortly afterwards Eli IYH will be able to go home. 

As always Elimelech Ben Basya bsoch shaar choley yisroel lrefua shelayma bkarov

Once again as always we were lucky to have the “uncles” join us in the hospital for the Friday night seuda and it was and always is very much appreciated. ‎
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The medication Eli was given for the constepation overdid what it was meant to do and had Eli going to the bathroom very often but atleast we got that out of the way. ‎Eli was complaining of chest pain and has a very deep cough so they brought in a x-ray to make sure all was ok which BH it seemed to be. Late Friday night they started a new type of chemo which beezrat hashem will have a stronger effect then these past 2 rounds. There aren’t any major known side effects to the chemo he is receiving. 

A side eefect of the large amounts of morphine Eli was getting was slowing his heart rate down and they had Eli as a precaution on oxygen on and off thruought the day to help with that. Shabos afternoon as we always have when we are in the hospital we were visited by Rabbi Ten of Bikur Cholim. And then we were also visited by the local Chabad Shliach Rabbi Korf and his son. We then had a few more of our friends make the long shlep and was all very much appreciated. 

For some odd reason Elis hemoglobin was very low today and once they gave him a blood transfusion BH things started to get somewhat better. Eli was eating a little and in a much better mood then he’s been of late. Also Elis pain seems to be basically under control of all the medications and hopefully at some point sooner then later they will begin trying to ake him off IV medications and having it done orally in preparation to going home. 

Please as always have Elimelech Ben Basya in all your tefilos. A GUT VOCH

It seems as they may of somewhat gotten the upper hand on the pain situation and finally have the right amount of morphine to keep Eli comfortable. It isn’t to say that he doesn’t have any pain but it’s somewhat controlled. 

They will IYH try a different 5 day chemo today which hopefully will help with the fight against the cancer which is the main underlying issue at hand. If and Eli in the next few days Eli is able to go home the chemo will continue as outpatient. 

Please as always have Elimelech Ben Basya and all cholim in your tefilos. A GUT SHABOS

Since being admitted and finally getting into a room they have Eli on very high doses of constant morphine to help with the pain he is having. A x-ray done in the ER showed a large backup of stool that needs to move. We are hoping that to be the cause of the pain but isn’t likely that is the only cause. 
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This afternoon they did a CT scan which didn’t show anything to be overly concerned about. BH there is no disease in any vital organs but at the same time it doesn’t show any improvement from the last CT. There are many aspects that need to be ‎juggled at the same time. Being on high doses of pain medication is causing constepation and higher heart rates. And at the same time they need to get the pain manageable so that they can begin chemo again. 

All in all seeing Eli in this situation is hard to put it mildly but at the same time there is relief that BH the disease hasn’t traveled to any vital organs. We hope that with all the medication kicking in and beezrat hashem Eli having to use the bathroom the pain will significantly subside so that we can move ahead with continuing to fight this machla. 
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As always please continue having Elimelech Ben Basya in all your tefilos. On Wed will be Erev Rosh Chodesh Adar and IYH there will be a special Yom Kipur Koton in our Shul Sharei Tora (time to be announced) bzchus Eli and the many other Cholim. ‎
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