Eli BH slept in pretty late today and woke up happy and hungry. He ate a nice amount and finally at about noon it was time to go back to CHLA to have his blood tested to see if his blood counts were well enough to begin chemo. Not surprisingly once again the doctors were wrong and his counts were a lot better then what they needed in order to begin but then uh oh… We forgot to tell you that Eli needed to submit a 12 hour urine test prior to starting this round of chemo. To say the least we were not happy. The lack of communication was very apparent and this one really hurt because now the earliest we can check in if they have a bed is Tuesday morning which means we will be stuck in CHLA for shabos.

Trying not to be to upset but its not easy. The last place anyone wants to be is CHLA ever and for sure not on shabos especially when it shouldn’t be. But like everything there is someone else that makes these decisions and we know it is for the best and hopefully we will get a sign to show us that.

The one thing that almost always keeps us going is the smile and easy going on Elimelech Ben Basyas face which again today he did not disappoint. Hopefully Tuesday morning will be as smooth as possible and there will be a bed as early as possible and this week and chodesh Nisan will only bring nachas, gezunt and especially refua to Eli and all cholim.

Eli was in a great mood and overall had a very good day. Started the day off with his sisters birthday party for her class and spent the rest of the afternoon at home. At about 6:45 a friend of ours offered us his tickets to the Clippers basketball game which Eli loves to go to so even though we were a few minutes late we were there for most of the game which we really enjoyed. After a late filling dinner it was finally off to bed at 10:00PM hoping Eli will sleep late.

IYH on Monday we will once again be headed to CHLA where we are hoping Elis blood counts will be high enough to begin round 5 of chemo. Once we are there they will do a quick blood test and we should know results within 2 hours if we will be staying for the week or needing to come back a few days later. We want to get it over with so that Eli will be strong enough to enjoy Pesach. The longer we push it off the closer to Pesach it is.

Hoping to only hear good news with Elimelech Ben Basya. Please keep him in mind in hopes that the blood counts will be good and that the week should go as good as possible with no side effects.

Friday morning was just complete relaxation time for Eli until about 12:30PM when his rebbi Rabbi Jacobs came and learned with him and even finished the parsha with him. At about 1PM it was off to CHLA where he went for a scheduled short test which kept us there for less then 20 minutes BH. Friday night of course Eli went to shul and was in a great mood saying hello to everyone and davening. He enjoyed the Friday night seuda with some family friends and ate a very nice amount and went to sleep late.

I had to wake him shabos morning for davening which he is usually up early for but BH slept pretty late. Then we had kidush and went ate the seuda with a big appetite, came home and had a few friends waiting for him. Motzei shabos we went to the final motzei shabos learning program of this year and the first raffle picked who wins??? None other then King Eli he was beaming with joy. We then went to pizza for a siyum on the parsha that he finished on Friday which his rebbi awarded him.

With a busy medical schedule hopefully planned for this week including 5 days of chemo if Elimelech Ben Basyas blood counts allow for it we need to daven and hope that the usual side effects that generally come with this type of chemo (extreme nausea) DO NOT happen. A GUT VOCH

Eli started the day off very well and BH it ended well also. With not much other then his basic regular schedule scheduled for today he mostly took it easy this morning. At about noon he was taken out by 2 Chai Lifeline volunteer bochurim who took him for lunch for pizza and then to chuckee cheese to play some games and he really had a blast and enjoyed it all. He also felt very good and instead of a bunch of pain medication every few hours he only had one all day.

He BH also looked better today as we continue to hope that his blood counts are climbing as well to hopefully be able to be strong enough to begin chemo as planned on Monday beezrat hashem. Monday mornings blood test will tell us if that can happen or if it will have to wait a few extra days. Eli received a letter today which he receives EVERY single week without fail from a choshuveh family friend and it lightened up his evening (letters, mail, texts, email makes him feel extremely special).

As usual we are asking everyone to keep Elimelech Ben Basya in mind so that the days, weeks, months ahead should all be easy and pain free on the road to Elis refua shelaima.

Eli had a productive yet very busy day today which started as soon as he woke up with a nice breakfast that he ate BH without any medication and with no pain. Then it was off to CHLA where there was a long wait just to get started but once he got started things seemed to be moving along. They drew his blood and as expected he needed a blood transfusion. So for some reason they felt that since he would need a transfusion and being that it was already 1130AM and the transfusion until they bring the blood and actually start takes about 3-4 hours they put our DR visit to take place later in the day and true to CHLA style they of course didn’t tell us that. So Bassy and I both sat there for many hours waiting to speak to the DR who we called, emailed etc to find out when she would be in and didn’t get answered.

To make a long story short Bassy had to leave and therefore when the DR finally did walk in at 330PM we had to conference Bassy in for the meeting as it was car pool time. Basically we got a good idea of what the next few weeks and months should beezrat hashem look like and while its not going to be fun at all we have full faith that it will have the outcome that we are expecting a full recovery for Eli IYH. It doesn’t seem based on Elis blood #s from today that he will be ready for chemo on Monday but we know doctors have been wrong and hopefully this will be one of those times as the sooner we get it over with the sooner he is home and the more time he has to recuperate before Pesach. Its looking as of now that surgery will hopefully be the week after Pesach.

Knowing that as we continue on this long road of Elimelech Ben Basyas treatment and subsequent FULL recovery is going to get harder before it gets easier we will be asking of anyone and everyone to continue to have him in mind in hopes of having no pain, side effects or anymore bumps in the road. We look forward to the day that we can close this blog with a big sign. CASE CLOSED FULL REFUA ACCOMPLISHED

I’m not sure how to rate a day like today because the night wasn’t fun as Eli had extreme pain yet for the most part the rest of the day was BH pretty good. Once he was up and took his pain medications he felt somewhat normal and ate. He then was taken out by a friend for lunch which he really enjoyed and ate a lot there. This evening however he had pains that he hasn’t really had and the only thing that was able to calm him down was a bath. Hopefully Eli will sleep a full night without any pain and wake up in a good mood pain free.

On Wed morning its back to CHLA for a scheduled Dr appt and most probably a blood transfusion. They will check his blood counts which we are hoping are either already good or on their way to being good enough to begin chemo on Monday. Eli has a whole list of his own questions for the doctor and hopefully they will be answered the way he wants them to be and will help him understand as to why he has the pains he’s having etc.

We continue non stop doing everything possible for Elimelech Ben Basya to keep him comfortable and as pain free as possible and we hope our tefilos and zchusim are all being directed for Eli. We look forward to having only good reports and seeing Eli continue on his way to a full recovery.

The last few days are slowly getting better for Eli but there is plenty of room until he and we get a little normalcy back. The pain is gradually getting better but it still has a way to go. BH Eli was prescribed some numbing medication which definitely helped ease the pain but certain foods and temperatures of the food still set the pain off. His color is also extremely pail which generally means his blood counts are low. Basically the bottom line is he is improving but very slightly.

The next few days and weeks are going to determine for one when he will be able to begin round 5 of chemo which is tentatively scheduled for a week from today but that’s only if his blood counts allow for that. Also if the chemo doesn’t start it will postpone surgery which is the next step after round 5. We are hoping that he will be up to it in hopes that the recuperation from the chemo will allow Eli to be up to being part of the family and the seder come Pesach.

BH today Eli was finally up to learning again with his rebbi Rabbi Jacobs and also have a friend come over after school to play with him. He also for the first time in 2 weeks went to eat something and actually ate it all as opposed to a few small bites.

Please continue to have Elimelech Ben Basya in mind in your tefilos etc in hopes that things will continue on schedule and that chas vshalom he should no longer have any pains and we should see him and all cholim have a complete refua BKAROV

Eli woke up today very late after going to sleep very late but BH he felt a lot better then the last few days. Although it was still hard for him to eat at least he made an attempt and was successful for the most part. I took him to the Clippers game today and he even made it to the jumbotron which made him feel very special and excited (thanks to a friend who gave us the tix and for arranging to get us on the screen). Eli then relaxed for the rest of the day and decided we should make a late night stop for ice cream which he enjoyed.

BH that we didn’t have to watch Eli in pain all day today as we have the last few days and we were finally able to see a smile on his face. Hopefully this will be the way it will stay as the hardest thing is to see him in pain. With nothing other then a Dr appt set for this week our goal as usual is to keep Eli healthy and eating a lot so he can have the strength to continue on the long road to his full recovery.

Please continue to have Elimelech Ben Basya bsoch shaar choley yisroel is your tefilos and kabalos in hopes of keeping the pain and side effects away and that he should chas vshalom not get nay fevers or anything like that so we can continue to help Eli fight until he has a FULL refua BKAROV

GUT VOCH. Hopefully after a VERY rough last few days this week will be better. The sores and pain that Eli is going thru since Wed is hard to believe or see. He hasn’t been able to eat as there are basically small painful open wounds on his tongue and throat all as a result of the chemo. He is extremely weak as a result and has lost a significant amount of weight. He has been on Codine for the last few days to try to relieve some of the pain and it does help but not while he tries to eat.

As shabos was ending he forced himself thru all his pain to eat and he succeeded with some of it but it wasn’t fun. On Motzei Shabos he had the honor of holding up the prizes at the motzei shabos learning program in bais yehuda and was very proud to be there for the first time in nearly 3 months. After he said “daddy I want pizza” so I gladly took him and he even succeeded in having a few small bites without any major pains. Hopefully he will wake up on Sunday morning in a better mood and no pain so that he can finally start eating and getting some food in his system and gaining some much needed weight.

Elimelech Ben Basya needs our tefilos so we can stop seeing him going thru so much pain in hopes of seeing him get strong again and like Lipa Shmeltzer sent Eli in a video “Eli we think about you day and night we love you and can’t wait to rock at your wedding have a refua shelyama” AMEN

Unfortunately today was one of those days we hope Eli will soon forget. He was up a lot during the night having extreme pain from these sores he has in his mouth and on his tongue. The only thing that calmed him down was a in middle of the night stroll around the neighborhood. He refused to take his pain medication as the taste of it is horrible. Finally after many emails and calls at 11AM they finally got his prescription to the pharmacy for pills as opposed to liquid which wasn’t easy to swallow but once it hit Eli it somewhat helped.

These sores are a very common side effect to get after the kind of chemo he just finished. It was the first time since Eli was diagnosed that he really was very uncomfortable and in pain, hopefully this will go away when he wakes up. His blood counts are extremely low and he is also very weak. We are doing what we can to strengthen him while at the same time trying to keep him out of the hospital and beezrat hashem he won’t need the hospital until his next scheduled appointment.

Please daven that Elimelech Ben Basya should not have any more pain and that he should forget the last 24 hours as if they never happened and the sores should disappear. Hopefully Elis blood counts will begin to climb and he will be able to get the strength to continue this ugly fight against this machla.