Elijah Update (May 13)

Dear Elijah friends,

Yesterday, May 12, 2007, Elijah was going through his standard "thumping" treatment to get the mucus plug loosed in his lungs so it could be suctioned out and re-inflate his left lung. Well, something happened during this time, and I noticed that something was wrong with Elijah. The monitors confirmed my horror as I began shaking him and saying, "Come on Elijah!" During the next few minutes the room was full of commotion, I was crying and picturing myself holding Elijah's lifeless body until Joel could come. I praise the Lord that I had friends from Ness City here during the event. Clyde prayed as we waited for the doctors to get Elijah breathing again.

Elijah is now resting very nicely. The collapsed lung wore him out and some mucus had closed up his airway, but now he is doing well. He is on the ventilator again which will help reinflate his lung and will make it easier to get the mucus out. He is content and resting.

After the incident our nurses were very emotional. They have all grown very attached to Elijah and have a bond with this little boy. There was a lot of, "Come on Elijah," being heard. We are grateful for their expertise in getting his airway cleared and his heart running full force again. Our doctor said he is so glad he was here. He was planning on going to the Pediatric floor and had just come to our end of PICU to look at an X-ray. He was standing outside our room when he heard the monitors and saw the look on my face. He ran in and said, "What happened?" As a mother, I am so grateful to see my boy on this, our first Mother's Day.

Elijah and his dad picked out a beautiful gift for me, and it will be one that we hope to one day give to Elijah's wife or daughter.

Yesterday, God worked in amazing ways. Earlier in the day I had a chat with God and said, "If someone comes to visit with me, I just might leave and go get something to eat. Then I would have someone to stay here and sing, pray and read to Elijah."

A few moments later I heard, "How is our baby?" An RVA (Rift Valley Academy in Kijabe, Kenya for those who do not know about Judy's life) dorm girl of mine had written her Grandma and told her to come and visit us! Lue is a wonderful woman with a gentle spirit. She came in and told me, "God told me to get dressed and come!" So, I went out for a bit and got some lunch. After she left, Clyde and Terry Sutton came in to see us at just the right moment. Clyde has such a wonderful gift of prayer that it was very special to have them with me during this hard time. Many other mothers on the floor were watching the hall monitors and praying for Elijah as well. We are a small "family" here in PICU, and we pray for each other as we know what is going on in each "cubicle".

We are excited to see his improvement today and praying that the lung will get working again with full force. The x-ray today showed GREAT improvement!

On a very positive note, there does not seem to be any problem with the left side drainage (with the chest tube that slid out) and the right side is barely draining a thing. We are hoping that tube will be able to come out soon as well. This is great because it means the surgery was a success. Elijah is also on feeds, being fed into his gut. He needs nutrition so badly. He is getting food right now, and we are grateful.

I look forward to one day taking Elijah with me to get Joel his Father's Day present!

Pray with us that we will be home soon.

JJ and "The World's Toughest Baby"