Elijah has been home now for almost two weeks. What a great feeling to be sleeping in our own beds. (Sleeping when we can, that is...)
Every day we see improvements in Elijah's health. Elijah came home with a feeding tube and a nasal canula for his oxygen. Because of the dry oxygen you get in a home setting, Elijah developed an irritation with his feeding tube and oxygen. This resulted in a nose bleed. Now for any child, a nose bleed can be a problem to get stopped. For a little boy with Hemophilia B we had more of a problem. We took Elijah to Hays Medical Center to get an infusion of Factor IX. At that point we decided as well to remove his feeding tube. He has done very well with taking his medicines in a wee bit of milk and then drinking up most of the rest of his bottle. Driving to Hays to get his infusion was good practice for what we will be needing to do with him in the future. The entire process went very well. We got home and put Elijah back on oxygen through his nasal canula. A few days later his nose was still bleeding, so we thought we would try getting his infusion here in Ness City. After a few tries we went back to Hays and finally got home about 2:30 in the morning. Many people are trying to help make this easier on us, and we are praying for a neonatal nurse to live close to us and be able to help us. When we finally got home that morning we made the decision to remove the nasal canula to avoid any more nose bleeds. The Lord has allowed Elijah to improve and no longer need the oxygen. We praise the Lord for no further nose bleeds and no need for all the paraphernalia we came home with (his feeding pump, feeding tubes and oxygen). Thank you for praying with us.
We took Elijah out to the wheat fields for his first harvest. This was his first trip out of the house without oxygen, but he did great. We decided that he would have to wait a year before he could ride the combine. This year's harvest was a success for most of the farmers in Ness County. After many years of questionable harvests, this year is a gift from God.
We are so grateful to all of you who read our story and pray. We are overwhelmed with the outpouring of love for us and for Elijah. We know that many think of Elijah as "their baby", and we are grateful for all who have held us up and continue to hold us up in prayer. People come up to us in tears and tell us how blessed they have been by Elijah. Please tell us your story. Has Elijah somehow touched your life? Send us a note at: jjfitz@gbta.net
We look forward to hearing from many of you as you share with us as we shared with you.
In Christ,
Joel, Judy and Elijah
No comments:
Post a Comment