WE’RE HOME;-)…

After a grueling day of a platelet transfusion, double chemo treatments, a flu shot and a spinal tap, Eli was released from the hospital!  Woohoo!  We’re on day 12 of the 28 day Induction Phase, which means they’re checking his spinal fluid again for leukemia cells as well as hitting the cancer hard with chemotherapy.

Snuggle time!

He’s had a challenging few days since last Thursday’s chemo… just tired, nauseous and suffering from other side effects.  He hasn’t recovered much going into today’s double chemo sessions.  He’s a pretty serious kid in general, but now he’s understandably somber and quiet.  The rest of us are not very serious or quiet so we’re doing our best to tow the line between trying to make him laugh, or at least smile, and irritating him to death.  It’s a very fine line right now!  A shout out to Mr. Mulcahy and his awesome Kensington Kids Kindergarten class for their very amusing get well video to Eli as that got big smiles from our sweet boy!  Curtis, Rose and Teefy, appreciate the fun videos you’ve been sending Eli… he’s loving your jokes;-)

A heated game of Go Fish!

Got a little smile during bath time;-)

Eli’s oncologists were preparing us for this crazy voracious eater due to the high doses of steroids he’s currently taking…but Eli’s taking his sweet time gearing up;-)  He’s added to his Papa Joe’s rice diet… now he’s eating Ramen noodles.  He’ll be well prepared for college;-)  And, this is a biggie for those of you that know me well, the last two evenings he’s asked for, and received, a McDonald’s cheeseburger, plain of course.  Eli does not do condiments.  The doctors do not seem remotely concerned about these choices but I’m REALLY hoping to ‘good-food-him-up’ now that we’re home;-) especially since his immune system is so depleted.

                THE rice!!

Inhaling Ramen noodles after not being able to eat for 6 hours yesterday before his spinal tap!

            On our way home!!!!

The girls were over the moon to have him home tonight.  Em spent time building trains and legos with him as well as making some fun crafts together.  Lexie busied herself meeting his every whim.  We had some sweet family time…over, yes, another package of Ramen noodles before bed.

I leave you with this verse tonight because our family believes this wholeheartedly… Eli was meant to be a Medford, in our care, during trials and joyful journeys, to glorify Him in all we do…. including traverse through a valley of cancer;-)  Praise Him in ALL things.

First smile we got out of Eli in China, December 2011;-)

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11  Thank you, Amy Carey;-)

And a HUGE thank you to my extended family… the Karczewskis, Kings & Michael and Preston, for taking out our dock and hoists, organizing the shed and garage for the upcoming winter, as well as an awesome meal and time together!  You guys are awesome & we love you!

                               The fam!

ONE DAY AT A TIME….

Eli’s having good days and bad, as to be expected… today wasn’t that great for him.  He received chemo yesterday so today he was quiet, fairly withdrawn, highly irritable and not hungry except for Papa Joe’s lebanese rice downstairs…and Ms Karle, Aunt Brenda and Ms Morgan’s chocolate covered pretzels:-)  I have a feeling we may be driving down to Birmingham to get rice each week! The doctors are telling us to, literally, feed him what he wants right now- yikes!

He’s had more good days this week though, so we’re thankful for that and enjoying those times with him.  Our neighbors gifted him with a basketful of goodies that he’s working his way through.  Thank you, Dr. Wolok, Mrs. Wolok and Landon!

I’m not making this up!

Yes, he did shoot the nurse;-/

Who doesn’t want straw glasses?!?!

We also want to thank so many of you for your desire to visit Eli but due to his compromised immune system, we’re going to ask that you hold off until further notice.  He essentially has no defense system currently; the chemo’s just not smart enough, YET!, to discern the healthy cells from the cancer cells so it wipes them all out.  It’s just dangerous for him right now; thank you for understanding;-)  Feel free to send him a card though as he loves receiving mail!

Aspiring artist;-) Thank you, Sera family!

We’ve also had so many of you ask how you can help and we have a request!  Donate blood and/or platelets or, better yet, BOTH!  Eli is A+ so can receive A+, A-, O+ and O- and platelets are UNIVERSAL…. how awesome is that?!?!   We could use an individual donating on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays for the next SIX MONTHS as his transfusion day will be Thursdays.  Platelets expire after five days, hence the M-W donating window.  If for some reason Eli doesn’t require a transfusion that week your blood &/or platelets will go to another thankful person;-)  If you’d like to help out in this area, PLEASE let me know as I have to add you to his Red Cross donor account.  THANK YOU for considering!

I’ll close with an awesome verse from our dear friend, Mr. Link…

I Cor. 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”

THE INDUCTION PHASE…

I love the name of this phase of Eli’s treatment because his oncologist said “We’re INDUCING remission.”  Amen! Eli’s mediport insertion was a success yesterday! They put it right above his heart;) He was able to lose the IV that had been in his right arm since Thursday morning.  He also received his 2nd dose of chemo like a champ!   
The major side effects of this particular chemo are nausea, jaw/teeth pain and constipation, all of which he’s experiencing. He’s also still having low back pain from the spinal tap, which is causing him significant pain while trying to walk so he’ll be receiving OT/PT.  Today was also the first day of no morphine, which I’m over the moon about!! The mega doses of steroids are kicking in as the food cravings started. He wants rice all day long and thanks to Aunt Andrea & Papa Joe’s downstairs it’s a reality.  He’s literally eaten it at every meal. He asked for pizza tonight at 9pm and ended his night with vanilla ice cream, a Popsicle and some saltines! We’re actually excited to see him put on a few lbs;)

 Beaumont has a beautiful garden atrium with tons of fun books and games, which is where he likes to spend his time when he’s  feeling good. His sisters are doting on him, meeting his every whim!    

We worked in some school work today. He used the iPad since his right arm’s pretty weak from being bound with an IV the last five days.

 And last but not least, Frog needed some TLC with his mediport this afternoon too. Beaumont peds are AMAZING! They seriously showed up yesterday with several stuffed animals all having mediports so kids can see and feel what theirs are like. Super helpful in explaining to Eli what this is all about. Again, thankful😊  Our family is so thankful to everyone for your prayers, kind words, encouraging texts, emails & phone calls, loving on & transporting the girls, Scripture, schooling offers, sweet treats, gifts for Eli, MEALS,  Starbucks!!!, house cleaning, chipmunk maintenance😊, Press & Seal wrap for Eli’s mediport, balloons, knowing our needs, & meeting them, when we just don’t know right now, flowers, offers of anything @ anytime, chocolates, thank you notes, your TIME, pear juce🍐 & on & on & on…. You’re all stepping in to be our village and it’s very much APPRECIATED❤️

This lil man is a blessing from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet.  And because of that I leave you with this:

Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” (Thank you, Karen Drexler😊)

❤️- Team Medford

 

THE FIRST 48 HOURS

Long story, but decided to stick with our WordPress blog while documenting Eli’s journey with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia rather than CaringBridge.  Here’s what I posted over there.  I’ll update along the way;-)

1 Thess 5:18  “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

THANK YOU to all you prayer warriors interceding for Eli!  We need your prayers as we begin this long journey!  We’ve been told this will be a great, efficient way to update everyone on Eli’s progress.  So… here goes….
Eli had not been feeling well for about three weeks.  He was lethargic, fatigued and his stomach hurt inconsistently; we were in CO when it began so I assumed it was altitude sickness.  The second week I thought it was a stomach bug.  By the third week, I was slightly concerned so made an appointment with the pediatrician.  When we arrived at her office, she read through his symptoms, looked at him and told me to go directly to the ER.  So we did…. and that’s how we ended up here…

The ER ran extensive bloodwork and then told me they were transporting Eli to the hospital of my choice that could run more bloodwork as they (St Joe’s Mercy in Ann Arbor) didn’t have a sufficient enough PICU and thought there was a possibility of leukemia.  I chose Royal Oak Beaumont because it was close to home and I figured they’d finish their bloodwork and send us home. But they didn’t.  They knew when we arrived at Beaumont that Eli had leukemia and the tests began.  Yesterday they performed a bone marrow and spinal fluid extraction as well his first round of chemo.  We found out that he has a type of leukemia called ALL: Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, which is where his bone marrow is making too many immature lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). His hemoglobin was 2 and typically it should be around 12-13 so he’s received four blood transfusions over the last 48 hours as well as two platelet transfusions.  The oncologist was amazed he was still upright.  We were simply stunned.

His oncologist called his bone marrow extraction “difficult” as his bone marrow was so sticky with leukemia cells that it took her four punctures, rather than one, to extract enough bone marrow for the test.  That being said, yesterday and half of today was excruciating as they worked on managing his pain.  He’s been on morphine every three hours but PRAISE THE LORD, and thanks to prayers, he hasn’t needed a dose for this evening.  He was also able to moved out of the ICU and into a room on the peds floor;-)

He was able to head to Beaumont’s indoor peds park to read some books and, frankly, get out of his bed and have a change of scenery.  He’s being such a trooper!

His prognosis is fabulous… a 91% remission rate!  It will be a long, extensive 3-year journey but we are counting on God’s grace and strength to guide us.