Hate being a complainer but the last 36 hours were very far from anything normal. From being in the hospital for a routine checkup and then needing a transfusion so we ended up staying the day to finally getting home for a few short hours until the fever came was no fun at all. However little did I know that all that would be easy compared to the next 19 hours. We were taken into a room in the ER section and that was meant to be for a few minutes but they couldn’t find a empty bed on the floor he needs to be on so they kept us in the ER and kept saying very shortly you will have a bed. That short time turned into 19 hours of Eli being on a small uncomfy bed and us sitting in small chairs from 8:30PM until 3:30PM.

BH when we finally got into a normal room our mood and Eli’s mood very quickly changed and we all settled down. Eli got to watch some basketball games and play some games and eat a little. The evening ended with Harav and Rebetzin Kanarek arrived straight from the airport and came at a perfect time because Eli finally decided he will schmooze and entertain all of us for a hour until visiting hours ended.

Also since Elimelech Ben Basya got into the room his blood counts bli ayin hora have begun to finally rise and hopefully will continue that way so that beezrat Hashem we wil be able to leave for shabos. Thank you to everyone again for constantly having us in their tefilos and to all who have taken their time out to donate blood and platelets on his behalf. Tizku lmitzvos

Today was anything but typical. Started at 8:30AM at CHLA with a routine checkup where they check his blood counts, unfortunately they weren’t good and they ordered a blood transfusion which takes a long time just to start and once it does start its a 3+ hour ordeal. Instead of leaving at 10:30AM we finally left at 4:30PM and finally got home after 5PM. After relaxing for a little bit and eating supper Eli seemed to start getting flushed and hot and we took his temperature and we were right he had fever. Wonderful. Back in the car to the ER in CHLA where I am currently writing from and unfortunately his counts are still low and he has fever so they will have to admit him for at least 24 hours.

Aside from Eli actually being excited to be back in the hospital because he enjoys the WII and the TV it’s not fun for the rest of us myself my wife and the kids who are just looking for a small sense of normalcy during the short periods of time we are meant to be home. Hopefully this will be a short stay so that we can be out before shabos so Eli can be home with his family and with the choshuveh guests we are having come special fom NY for shabos Rabbi and Rebetzin Kanarek from my yeshiva Peekskill who we have kept a very close relationship with since I was in 9th grade thru all the years even playing a big role in our shiduch, and being in constant contact with their advice and hashkafa thru this entire ordeal.

We are davening that this should be nothing more then a small bump in the road and that all should go well and Elimelech Ben Basya should be discharged in good health ASAP. Hoping for a better report tommorow.

Thanks to everyone who has responded or plans on responding to the earlier post in regard to blood and platelets that we need.

Elimelech Ben Basya went today for a routine checkup and his blood counts were pretty low so he will be receiving a blood transfusion. In addition we were just notified that he will need platelets on Monday when he gets the stem cell collection. We are asking of anyone that is available to please coordinate with the Bikur Cholim office 323-852-1900 if you are available to donate either platelets or blood. Thanks so much and tizku lmitzvos

This is BH getting boring to read because there isn’t much to say or complain about. Eli had a great day and although he does get moody and upset sometimes pretty easily he’s learning how to deal with it. It’s not fun being home most of the day without friends or siblings around for this extended period of time. We give Eli a schedule daily that consists of what most kids his age are doing but not being in a classroom Makes it harder to actually follow. Hopefully he will be more up to it in the days ahead.

On WED morning Eli has a routine doctor appointment in CHLA and we are hoping it will be nothing more then what is planned and that’s to just check up on his blood counts and discuss the stem cell harvesting which IYH is scheduled for Monday. We have an idea about what it all means but I guess we will hopefully fully understand this after the meeting.

Please continue to davening for Elimelech Ben Basya on a daily basis so we can have great days under the circumstances like we have been having. Also that his counts should continue to be strong and that chas vshalom he should not develop any fevers (which unfortunately is very common to happen) which will land him back inte hospital.

Bli ayin hora the good days keep coming and we hope they are here to stay. Eli refused his nausea medication because he said “I feel fine don’t need it” so BH to that he seems to also be getting back the appetite that he used to have so we give him anything he wants to eat to keep him gaining weight (weight that he loses each round of chemo). He also felt up to having his rebbi Rabbi Jacobs come and learn with him this afternoon.

As the good days hopefully continue we also have to remember that many hard decisions and treatments lay ahead. There are a few ways to look at this one is 5 weeks down 65 to go or the way we have been trying to focus on which is BH all has gone well and will continue to stay that way until we see the full refua BKAROV. While Eli obviously can’t comprehend and doesn’t really know all of that he does know the immediate plan of treatment and understands and is the one keeping our spirits high with his many plans on what he wants to do when he is better and doesnt have a “line” attached to him.

BH my fathers hip surgery seems to have gone well in partial to the good advice that Eli gave but of course mostly to the tefilos that our family, friends, and the world has and continues to say. We hope to continue seeing Elimelech Ben Basya respond well on the road to his refua shelayma bsoch shaar choley Yisroel amen.

Another very smooth uneventful day BH and that’s the way we like it. A good day these days consists of no doctors, no hospitals, no shots, blood tests all of which Eli has been subject to a lot over the last month+. Eli for the most part just relaxed at home and by his grandparents home. We did make a stop at target to get Eli a new DS game which he has become a pro at.

At his grandparents house Eli was giving his advice to his zaidy who will be undergoing hip replacement Monday morning Harav Boruch Yehuda Ben Fayrol and being the pro he gave a few good tips. So we hope on Monday to have a small change of the last month and instead of Eli’s zaidy visiting Eli, Eli will visit his zaidy in the hospital.

The next scheduled visit we have is on Wed just to make sure his blood counts are high enough in anticipation for his stem cell harvesting. (cells which are later put back into Elimelech Ben Basya after all sets of chemo are completed) we hope this goes as planned and we continue to need and appreciate everyone tefilos on Eli’s behalf.

Shabos was exceptionally nice and relaxed with BH no surprises. As Eli has almost always done he insisted on coming to Shul on Friday night where all the mispalelim were pleasantly surprised to see him and like I have said always the last month if his blood #s are high enough and he feels up to it we are more then happy to let him. We enjoyed a quiet Friday night bonding/suedah. Although Eli woke up pretty nauseous after taking some nausea medication he started feeling fine and knowing that it was Rosh Chodesh he really wanted to go to Shul again which again we happily took him. Eli entertained our shabos lunch guests and all the crashers we had throughout the day.

Eli’s happy and good mood is rubbing off on everyone around him and seeing that even though he is very sick he still remains extremely upbeat and happy is having that same effect on us and anyone he sees. Over the next few days and weeks when we beezrat Hashem have 16 days to get him to eat as much as possible to gain back some of the weight he lost during chemo before the next round starts so that he can have the strength to continue fighting.

We are davening for a most un eventful week and a good Chodesh full of everything going as planned and hoping that all the treatments are doing only what they are supposed to with no negative side effects. Elimelech Ben Basya should continue to be as happy and strong as possible to help give us and everyone he sees the strength to continue on his long road to a refua shelayma.

Finally the second round of chemo is over and although i don’t think we could of asked for it to go any easier or better then it did but it was still very tiresome. Eli was very happy also to say good bye to the nurses for hopefully 2+ weeks so he can get better in preparation for the 3rd round of chemo and stem cell collection. From what we have heard we were in and out in record time every day its usually a 7-9 hour process between checking in and the actual treatment we were out every day in under 6 hours which no doubt has everything to do with the fact of the whole worlds davening on his behalf.

While we do have a regular check up this week with his doctor we are hoping to keep Eli happy and feeling as well as possible and are davening that a usual occurrence of fever happening the week following chemo does not happen. We are hoping he will be in the mood to see healthy friends and people and be able to go to shul or wherever he would like to go.

Please keep Elimelech Ben Basya bsoch shaar choley yisroel in your daily tefilos and zchusim in the hopes that his treatment continues to go bli ayin hora as well as it has so far. gut shabos

The morning didn’t start to well for Eli but BH as the day progressed he got a lot better. Eli woke up very nauseous and threw up a few times until he was finally relaxed in his hospital bed where he layed without eating and almost not drinking for the next 5+ hours. He started getting back his appetite after he finally got home at 3PM and slowly started drinking then eating. Eli and all of us are looking forward to his final treatment of this round and planning on a nice and relaxed shabos. Eli also finally is learning how to swallow a pill as opposed to liquid which really doesn’t smell or taste good so he’s very happy about that.

This afternoon I went to my Shul for tefilas yom kipper koton where I was met by about 30 other mostly balei batim that left work to say the special tefila at 12:30 in the afternoon and we owe hakaros hatov to everyone that came and to everyone that said it in many other places and cities across the world today as a Zchus lrefua for Eli.

Elimelech Ben Basya is finally in bed and anxiously waiting to finish this second round of chemo which he took like a real superstar without even one complaint even though it’s very tough and rough on anyone let alone a 7 year old child but with everyone’s help, tefilas, bakashas, and Kabbalos it’s made things a lot easier and we hope to only continue to share good news.

Bli ayin hora the good news continues with Eli keeping himself VERY upbeat even entertaining the hospital staff with his jokes and laughter while receiving chemo today. Eli spent the morning and early afternoon receiving day 3 of 5 in the outpatient treatment center and aside from waking up pretty nauseous he did BH very well the rest of the day. On his way home from the hospital we made a stop at his school while his class was in the yard so that he and they were all able to see each other for a few short minutes. This evening Eli insisted on going to his Zaidys kollel dinner where the 400+ people there all said tehilim bzchuso amongst the other Cholim of the community and klal Yisroel and it made him feel very proud to hear it and see it and of course to be out late at night with adults.

Tommorow I and many others will be fasting until chatzos and davening tefillas yom kipper kotton. This was told to us that the gadol hador r’ Chaim Kanievsky said that this is a huge zchus and that it is something people should be mekabel on themselves at times of tragedies etc.

We are hoping that he wakes up with the upbeat mood that he has been in and that beezrat Hashem he will be less nauseous and that the chemo should be doing what it’s intended purpose is with no side effects. Elimelech Ben Basya beezrat Hashem as he has will continue to keep us upbeat along with himself during this long road to his complete refua BKAROV