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

While we are getting used to the routine of the day to day visits to the hospital with Eli one thing BH is still the same Eli is the KING and showing extreme calmness and maturity. He very well knows his situation and knows the treatment plan and is taking it a lot better then we planned for. While we expected him to be nervous, sad, depressed etc he has kept very high spirits kayn yirbu and in turn everyone around him has the same demeanor (all very important when it’s a child for him not to be worried). He spent the morning with his Bubby and another local lady who has become his new favorite secret friend who comes very often to play with him while he is in the hospital.

This coming Thursday due to the fact that Rosh Chodesh
Shvat is on shabos the minhag is to have Yom Kippur Kotton on the Thursday prior which as i mentioned In a previous posting that the gadol hador said that in spite of recent local LA events people should be mekabel on themselves to fast until chatzos (half day) and say tefilas Yom Kippur Kotton. Sharei Torah 334 N. La Brea will be doing this at 12:30 PM as well as many other local shuls.

While we all constantly continue to daven and hope for a full and speedy refua for Elimelech Ben Basya I am constantly hearing and seeing the many chasadim and meaningful Kabbalos and tehilim groups taking place bzchuso and as much as we can’t thank everyone or show our appreciation one thing I can say is bli ayin hora we can literally feel it and see it with the way The treatments have been going so smoothly and quicker then the doctors originally told us to plan for and that means the world to Eli and us and for that we can only say we can’t thank you all enough.

We are all hoping that treatment days will all go the way today went. We planned for a pretty rough day of chemo and being in the hospital for 8-10 hours starting at 8:30AM until about 6PM. BH as it turned out we were out by 2:45PM and aside from some nausea Eli was the king and his good mood continued. Tuesday will be day 2 of 5 of this 2nd round of treatment and we are hoping to have even a easier day then today. The doctors are continuing to monitor his blood counts and we are doing everything to keep them as high as possible including wearing a face mask over my nose and mouth now while I fight this cold I have.

As the days go on and you learn of the hundreds and maybe thousands of people that on a daily basis are doing many different things bzchus Elimelech Ben Basya and there will never be a way to properly thank everyone but I can tell everyone one thing WE FEEL IT and know it and know that with all of everyone zchusim that is for sure the reason we are going to win this battle and beezrat Hashem continue to be able to do so as easily as possible under the circumstances.

Beezrat Hashem Tuesday will go easier with even less or no side effects at all and Eli should continue to take each day and treatment as well as he BLI AYIN HORA has so far on this long road to his refua shelayma.

Eli had BH another very good day and we did all we can to keep him happy and upbeat so we took him to a few places he really enjoys. We did all this knowing that on Monday morning he will have to return for his next round of chemo and will not be having a fun week by any means. He will need to be attached to IV for most of the day while they give the chemo and after with a hydration drip while they monitor him after the chemo. We then made sure Eli had a very filling supper in order to have enough strength for Monday and the whole week as he sometimes get nauseous as a result of the chemo.

I went this evening to a refresher shiur on hilchos Niddah at the Solomon home where there were over 50 men there for this shiur which was given as a zchus for Eli and the rest of the local cholim. Thanks to my parents and sister who have been non stop help every hour of every day Eli got to sleep with his brother and sister in their house which he really loves and looks forward to as a treat.

We are anxious to see how the week of IYH outpatient chemo goes and have been non stop davening for a week that does not have any surprises and that Eli has the strength to not have any negative side effects that sometimes comes with chemo and that it should only do what its supposed to do which is slowly heal Elimelech Ben Basya.

BH we had a most relaxing and enjoyable shabos with Eli’s blood counts very good he was very excited and in a good mood so he went Friday night to Shul, ate a very nice seudah and went to bed. He woke up and again wanted very much to go to Shul so of course we allowed and wanted him to be able to get out as long as his blood counts allow him to. We then went to a friends house for shabos lunch and Eli was very on his game making everyone laugh and have a good time.

We are doing all we can to keep him in a good mood and high spirits as long as he is up to it and in the mood (of course with the doctors blessings) to go and take him to places and do things he enjoys. Beezrat Hashem he will be up to seeing his class as a whole on Sunday and enjoy some outdoor recess with them.

All of this is being done before he begins round 2 of chemo on Monday which of course will put a dent in his mood but hopefully nothing to significant as we are all happy to see Eli taking his situation bli ayin hora so far extremely well and hope that continues all the way to his final treatment on the road to a full recovery for Elimelech Ben Basya Bsoch shaar choley Yisroel.

Eli BH continues to amaze us about how strong he is physically getting and how well he so far has taken to his situation. He knows most of what is going on and when and what’s going to be taking place next. While we never hoped that Eli would have any machla espically this one letting him know what’s going on and what the plan and treatments are going to be has left him feeling very good that he’s in the know.

I walked into his classroom today to pick up some homework and sheets that we want him to do while he is at home and I told the boys how much Eli appreciated their letters and toys they have sent him. I also told them that hopefully on Sunday Eli will come for a few minutes to see his class and play with them at recess to which they were all screaming with excitement. I told Eli about that and it really gave him a big lift and we and he hope he will be up to actually doing that.

IYH on Monday Eli will start round 2 of chemo and will hopefully take to it as good as can be expected and our hope is that it should be outpatient so that he can spend the night at home if all goes well after each treatment. We are davening that Elimelech Ben Basya has ZERO side effects to any of the treatments so that he will continue to gain his strength back and be able to do what all other 7 year olds should be doing bkarov. Gut shabos

Another very good under the circumstances with Eli having somewhat of a home schooled schedule that his mother made for him along with a lot of fun and relaxing. Eli kept himself busy with davening, tehilim, nd learning in the morning followed by some games with his mother and then off to lunch with his uncle. I will continue and always say that until IYH BKAROV Eli is fully recovered he should have many more days like today.

While BH Eli isn’t bothered or at least doesn’t seem to be bothered by the looks or the fact that he has lost most of his hair and seems to be on the contrary enjoying watching it fall off it isn’t for a parent or anyone else the most pleasant thing to see however it does show to an extent that at least the chemo is having an effect and beezrat Hashem shrinking and curing his tumor. He had a full schedule starting on Monday of chemo for 5 consecutive days outpatient from about 9-5 daily.

While BH we are happy so far with how Eli is taking his situation he is still VERY sick and in need of the any zechusim he and we can get. We will never be able to possibly thank the kids, the girls and boys, the yeshivas, kollelim, friends that on a daily basis undertake things bzchus Elimelech Ben Basya most of which we don’t about and will never find out about. For the ones we know about and for the ones we don’t know about all we can say is kayn yirbu and may we all see Eli and all the Cholim have a complete refua BKAROV. Amen

Eli and all of us hope that 2013 will be as good as today was. We went to meet with his DR at CHLA this morning and while the process has a few steps they all moved right along. First you need to “check in” then they weigh him and check his vital signs, then they take blood, then you finally go to the room where the doctor meets you. Keep in mind Eli is 7 and for each of those steps although it’s all on the same floor of the hospital each step has a waiting room and then you go into the actual exam room. But BH Eli was very brave and behaved very well and has many of his own questions that he asked to the doctor. After all was said and done we were there from 8:30- 11:45 with the end result of today clearly good with all his vital signs and espically his blood counts at a good or above good rate.

The day continued with a conference call with DR Kushner who is the the go to man in this form of cancer and is based out of Sloan Kettering in NYC and Shlomo Yehuda Rechnitz (who isn’t a DR but knows more then most doctors and has always been there to help us every step of the way since Aug with Eli’s Initial pains. SY you and your wife and family we will never be able to thank you enough) who basically all agreed that we are taking the correct course of action and encouraged us to continue in CHLA.

There will be a hilchos Nida shiur this Sunday evening at 8:00PM at the home of Eli Solomon 417 N. Citrus Ave bzchus Elimelech Ben Basya and the many other Cholim of our community for men only given by Rabbi Tauber. Tizku lmitzvos