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Week 43:

This blessing took place the week of July 20th – 26th.

Several of you who have followed this blog from the beginning have heard me talk about my son Eli. When Eli was about 10 months old he had a cough and a fever. We couldn't get the fever to go away and he began to develop a rash all over his body. I scheduled an appointment with his pediatrician. His doctor didn't seem too concerned with the cough or the fever but the rash seemed to be an indication of something more serious. We were instructed to rush Eli to the ER and we would have nurses waiting for our arrival. As soon as we arrived at the hospital before I could get paperwork filled out we were rushed into a room and placed in strict isolation. We could not leave the room and anyone who entered the room had to wear masks, gloves, and a full body gown. None of the nurses could tell us much, all we knew was Eli was sick and he was going to be admitted and remain in isolation until the doctor came in the next morning. Eli had a full work up done. He was tested for the flu, strep, and RSV. He also had extensive blood work done, an IV placed in his foot, which was eventually moved to his arm, and had X-rays taken. We quickly learned their original concern came back negative. Our doctor thought Eli might have a case of meningitis, thankfully though he didn't! However, he did test positive for RSV and his blood work exposed a different concern.

Eli's body wasn't producing neutrophils. Basically, for my non-medical friends, Neutrophils are part of our white cells and are the body's first line of defense against a bacterial infection. Each day we were in the hospital the count would drop, until it finally dropped to zero. The good news was it couldn't drop anymore. The bad news was this was serious; and we were still stuck in isolation. Visitors could only come if they wore a mask and washed their hands. We couldn't expose Eli to ANY germs. Our doctor began consulting with doctors at Children's Hospital in Little Rock.

After a several days in the hospital on Christmas Eve we were finally allowed to leave and go home. Eli still didn't have any neutrophils.  We still had to remain in isolation and couldn't expose him to other people.

                                                                   Eli right before going home!
 
Eli's first few years of life have consisted of several doctors' visits, multiple stays in the hospital, and an outrageous amount of blood work. With that said… God has been faithful and soon Eli will have his last blood draw. When his blood work comes back normal we will be allowed to treat Eli like any other child. No more blood work. No more hospital stays. No more VIP treatment when we arrive at the ER or doctor's office.

Throughout this adventure we were surrounded by wonderful prayer warriors. Some of them were people we've known our whole lives, some were people we just met, and some were family. Regardless, who it was we had so many wonderful people encouraging and helping us.

Oscar and I had the opportunity to encourage the family of a child going through a similar ordeal, a family going back fourth between doctors and hospitals. We gave a small gift and have continued to lift this sweet baby in our prayers. We don't know God's plans; but we do know God's promises and we trust that he will take care of this sweet baby, just like he took care of our Eli. Please take a moment right now, and say a prayer for this baby and his family.

To those of you who prayed for us. Thank you for helping and supporting us throughout this blood nightmare. None of you will ever know how much it meant to us, and a simple, "thank you" will never truly express how much we appreciate what you did for us. However, I want you to know we plan on celebrating Eli and his health. We are going to take a vacation soon and enjoy sometime together as a family, drink some sprite, eat some cake, and enjoy some sunshine.

All I ask is that you take the time to bless someone today… I promise you'll be glad you did.

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