Eli had an ok day and is home resting and relaxing BH. We continue to do all we can to help him regain desperate weight and strength to be strong enough to fight.

I have been having a very hard time communicating with the DR in NY and haven’t been able to set things up the way they should be. We can not just go to NY without a plan and without scans or treatment scheduled. I was therefore left with no choice in order to beezrat hashem have a chance of getting Eli scheduled for the medical help he desperately needs but to decide late this evening to go to NY tonight to meet the DR and schedule things. I hope I am successful so that we can continue getting only the best treatment for Eli.

There have been some days over the last 2 years that the chesed some organizations and friends show is truly special. It has and continues to be the only way we can function and this evening with this flight was truly miraculous. Thank you to all our special friends, organizations and everyone that does so much on our behalf.

Please continue having Elimelech Ben Basya in all your tefilos.

BH we got home this morning and right away we were BAH able to see change in everything about Eli. He was suddenly able to walk, had a big appetite for a meal and was simply a lot happier. All the things that Eli for whatever reason doesn’t do in the hospital he was able to and did at home.

We will be working hard to help Eli gain weight and strength over the next while so that he can have the strength necessary to continue the fight.

Please continue having Elimelech Ben Basya in all your tefilos.

There isn’t much to update other then Eli remains in CHLA for no real reason other then what they call monitoring and what we call torture. They say one thing and do another. To put it mildly this last stay in CHLA has been a living hell for many reasons but the main one is the lack of care that Eli has received.

We know the system a little to well by now and like I mentioned criteria to be discharged after an infection is no fever for 24 hours, 3 negative blood cultures and to start having a blood count. ALL 3 of those were reached Sunday evening yet they decided to keep us another day with the regular threat that if you just pick yourself up and leave we report you to DCFS.

The good news is that Eli was asking and actually ate some real food today which he hasn’t done in a while and was up for fresh air for the first time since getting here on Wed. We hope to wake up to seeing Eli continuing to gain strength and hopefully blood counts and look forward to going home beezrat hashem.

Please continue to keep Elimelech Ben Basya in all your tefilos.

Shabos brought with it some good news. There was worry about Elis liver but BH after a ultrasound late Friday afternoon it came back negative for any problems. This morning blood draw also showed a lot of improvement on the liver number that was quite high the first 2 days of this stay.

We once again were joined by “Uncle” Yoeli Friday night for the meal which was very nice. Shabos day as always Rabbi Ten walked the long walk there and back and the local Chabad Shliach Rabbi Korf and his son came and then Uncle Reuven walked in also to make the long boring day a little less boring. Thank you.

Eli has definitely improved and BH the cultures have stayed negative and they have narrowed it down to 1 antibiotic for the staph infection that Eli has. We are hoping that by Monday Eli will be able to go home. Its dependent on 3 things. 3 consecutive cultures (we have 2) no fever for 24 hours+ (we don’t have that yet) and for his white blood count to be above zero (we don’t have that yet) so we are hoping that Eli continues to feel better but also gets the 2 parts of the puzzle we need for discharge.

This evening RCCS released the video for their auction starring Eli and 8th day and can be viewed by clicking on this link http://youtu.be/LrRnHYvdj9Y.

Please continue davening for Elimelech ben Basya bsoch shaar choley yisroel. A GUT VOCH

BAH today was a much better day. Eli didn’t have fever all night and had a pretty decent night sleep. He also got back the new cultures which BH are negative which means that the antibitics seem to be doing what they are meant to do.

As mentioned we will be in CHLA for the weekend and hopefully if all goes well Monday Eli will be able to be discharged and go home on IV antibiotics for a few days.

IYH things will only and always continue in the right direction for Elimelech Ben Basya from here on. As always please continue having Eli and all cholim in your tefilos. A GUT SHABOS

After settling into our room late last night they had Eli on a lot of IV fluids to keep him hydrated as his temperature rose at one point to 105+. Upon arriving at the ER Elis blood levels were surprisingly good but this mornings lab draw showed a different story as they completely nose dived. Eli received a large blood transfusion which definitely helped give him some energy and color.

Late this morning we got the blood culture results that we didn’t want to hear Eli has another infection and we won’t know for 24-72 hours from when they became positive as to what type of infection it is so once again Eli is on all antibiotics to make sure they are fighting it. Most of the day Eli has had fever between 100-103 and he is constantly getting tylenol to help with that and hopefully the antibiotics are doing their job and once the infection gets better IYH so will the fever. We will be in CHLA until he has 3 days of negative cultures and no fever which means in a perfect world we will be lucky if we get to go home on Monday.

This weekend Eli was meant to be flying on Motzei Shabos on a trip he has been looking forward to for months to Orlando to join Chai Lifeline alone with a counselor and a bunch of other children from across the world sadly this won’t be happening this year but beezrat hashem next year he will be up for it.

To make Eli happy Yaakov Jeidel a Chai Lifeline volunteer and the counselor Eli was meant to go with Yehuda Katz along with many others had all their friends and anyone they know bring a smile to Elis face by having HUNDREDS of people start following @EliGradon on instagram and now Eli is happily famous, THANK YOU to everyone that follows or started following and to all the people that made this happen it really helped lift Elis spirits after a long rough day.

We look forward to a better day on Friday and the coming days for Elimelech Ben Basya. Please continue having him in all your tefilos.

All day we worked on trying to get Eli to drink and eat more and he definitely did a lot better but as the day wore on he started getting a fever. At first it was a pretty low grade fever but pretty quickly spiked to above 103. So we headed to the ER where they did all the regular stuff. Eli did not need a blood transfusion but did need platelets. He is neutropenic and it may take a good few days for that to show signs of it improving.

We will hope and daven that the blood cultures come back negative and let the reason Eli had fever be his low counts and a side effect of chemo so that they won’t keep us here to long. The minimum is usually 40+ hours and we got here at 8PM so hopefully if all goes well there is a small chance we can be out before Shabos.

Please as always continue davening for Elimelech Ben Basya.

On Sunday Eli had quite a busy day and was the star of a music video being made by the band 8TH day for RCCS. Hopefully no one should ever need them but for us RCCS has been a lifesaver with their help with insurance. Without them Eli would be on a lower grade insurance waiting sometimes hours sometimes weeks or months for treatments that BH we don’t wait ever for approval for.

Eli over the last few weeks has drastically lost weight and it is very concerning to us and unfortunately the DR in CHLA doesn’t seem to be on the same page as us anymore and we are now looking to change DRs. The responses to concerns, questions and issues can take vital hours or days sometimes and its unacceptable to us. To be inpatient for many days at a time and to get chemo daily for a week and not hear or see the DR once check in on him to us shows a lack of caring.

Monday morning Elis home health nurse came to draw his blood and since the DR didn’t order it stat instead of knowing results in a few hours we didn’t get them until we called instead of being called and found out this morning TUESDAY how very low they were and took Eli right in for both blood and platelet transfusions. BH Eli was able to get direct donor “yidishe” blood as always arranged by Bikur Cholim.

There is nothing scheduled right now as far as treatments go and because TPN made Elis liver numbers go thru the roof and therefore not allowing or being eligible for some treatments we are trying to avoid that and hoping Eli will get his appetite back and gain weight the natural way.

We are hoping to see Eli gain some much needed weight and strength as we continue doing everything possible to get Elimelech Ben Basya bsoch shaar choley yisroel get what he needs and deserves a refua shelayma.

Today was the final day of this round of chemo. We got an early start to make sure we would get home in time for Shabos. We look forward to IYH a relaxing and enjoyable Shabos. We hope to find somewhere to take Eli indoor swimming on Sunday as he doesn’t have any line for the weekend and we hope to take advantage of being allowed to get wet with no restrictions.

Shabos hee melizuk urefua krova lavo for Elimelech Ben Basya and all cholim. A GUT SHABOS

BAH day 3 and 4 went well. Each day Eli gets home in the afternoon and relaxes for a few hours, enjoys long walks and then BH he has been eating a very decent amount. Friday will be the final day of this round. It is expected that Elis blood counts will drop and may possible need stem cells, blood and platelets again to help in the recovery process.

The good news is that Eli has been needing less and less pain pills each day which beezrat hashem shows that the chemo is having its effect on the cancer. We don’t yet know anything further planned after this round but it all depends on how Eli feels and his blood counts as for what they will then choose to do.

Please as always continue having Elimelech Ben Basya in all your tefilos.