What a wild last 24 hours to say the least. We were told on shabos that we will not be discharged from CHLA until Tuesday then this morning the doctor walked in this morning at about 9AM saying that Eli’s blood counts had significantly improved and that he can go home now. Wow what a relief so we packed up and went straight home. We were all relieved to finally see some improvement after a few days of very slow in the rising of his blood counts. Eli spent the afternoon at home where he received a special good bye Brocha from the Rosh Yeshiva and Rebetzin. However at about 5PM we noticed a bruise and then what seemed like a infection so there we go back in the car to the ER but on the way decided to stop at the home of Eli’s pediatrician DR Kishneff who advised us not to go as it didn’t look to worrisome to him.

So BH Eli is at home for the nigh but needs to wake up early so we can be back in the hospital at 7:30AM for his stem cell harvesting which is scheduled to take at least all day and possibly all Tuesday. This is a very important part of the treatment plan and will help beezrat Hashem significantly in the recovery.

We are hoping that all should go as good as possible during the harvesting and that it should also go as quick as possible and only help Elimelech Ben Basya on the road to his complete recovery bimehayra.

GUT VOCH is a Brocha that we are hoping will be kept to its exact definition. While we had a very peaceful and relaxing shabos in CHLA it wasnt where we want to be. Eli was BH still in his very good mood and entertaining us from his jokes and games to telling each nurse that didn’t follow his orders that they are “fired”. We will be in the hospital it seems for a few more days until they feel his numbers are high enough for him to be discharged. We are hoping that they will be high enough to do the stem cell harvesting planned for Monday morning but that will only take place of his blood counts climb high enough by then.

Eli’s brother and sister who haven’t seen him since he went to the hospital on WED evening came tonight but were only able to see Eli in the main cafeteria as they don’t allow children in during flu season to the rooms. So we all enjoyed some family Motzei shabos pizza party in the cafeteria until it got late and we all said our good byes. Bassy took the kids home and Eli and his father went back to our room for the night.

We are all davening that this unscheduled hospital stay will end soon so that we can have a few somewhat normal days altogether before next weeks round 3 of chemo begins which he will have to be back in the hospital for about 4 full days and nights. Please continue to have Elimelech Ben Basya in your tefilos. With much appreciation from all The Gradon family. And again GUT VOCH

Eli’s great mood is really keeping us going. It seems that his blood counts are not high enough to be discharged from the hospital in time for shabos. So Eli, his father and mother will be spending shabos in CHLA which hopefully the time will fly by. Eli spent the day just relaxing and receiving another blood transfusion all while smiling and laughing and keeping us all entertained. He also finally decided that he wants to eat so his Bubby sent him some warm food which he loved.

Hopefully his #s will continue to rise so that the doctors will feel comfortable enough to allow Eli to go home.

Thank you everyone for keeping us in mind and in your tefilos and beezrat Hashem this saga of Elimelech Ben Basya being in the hospital will end BKAROV with us all seeing Eli having a refua shelayma. Gut shabos

Hate being a complainer but the last 36 hours were very far from anything normal. From being in the hospital for a routine checkup and then needing a transfusion so we ended up staying the day to finally getting home for a few short hours until the fever came was no fun at all. However little did I know that all that would be easy compared to the next 19 hours. We were taken into a room in the ER section and that was meant to be for a few minutes but they couldn’t find a empty bed on the floor he needs to be on so they kept us in the ER and kept saying very shortly you will have a bed. That short time turned into 19 hours of Eli being on a small uncomfy bed and us sitting in small chairs from 8:30PM until 3:30PM.

BH when we finally got into a normal room our mood and Eli’s mood very quickly changed and we all settled down. Eli got to watch some basketball games and play some games and eat a little. The evening ended with Harav and Rebetzin Kanarek arrived straight from the airport and came at a perfect time because Eli finally decided he will schmooze and entertain all of us for a hour until visiting hours ended.

Also since Elimelech Ben Basya got into the room his blood counts bli ayin hora have begun to finally rise and hopefully will continue that way so that beezrat Hashem we wil be able to leave for shabos. Thank you to everyone again for constantly having us in their tefilos and to all who have taken their time out to donate blood and platelets on his behalf. Tizku lmitzvos

Today was anything but typical. Started at 8:30AM at CHLA with a routine checkup where they check his blood counts, unfortunately they weren’t good and they ordered a blood transfusion which takes a long time just to start and once it does start its a 3+ hour ordeal. Instead of leaving at 10:30AM we finally left at 4:30PM and finally got home after 5PM. After relaxing for a little bit and eating supper Eli seemed to start getting flushed and hot and we took his temperature and we were right he had fever. Wonderful. Back in the car to the ER in CHLA where I am currently writing from and unfortunately his counts are still low and he has fever so they will have to admit him for at least 24 hours.

Aside from Eli actually being excited to be back in the hospital because he enjoys the WII and the TV it’s not fun for the rest of us myself my wife and the kids who are just looking for a small sense of normalcy during the short periods of time we are meant to be home. Hopefully this will be a short stay so that we can be out before shabos so Eli can be home with his family and with the choshuveh guests we are having come special fom NY for shabos Rabbi and Rebetzin Kanarek from my yeshiva Peekskill who we have kept a very close relationship with since I was in 9th grade thru all the years even playing a big role in our shiduch, and being in constant contact with their advice and hashkafa thru this entire ordeal.

We are davening that this should be nothing more then a small bump in the road and that all should go well and Elimelech Ben Basya should be discharged in good health ASAP. Hoping for a better report tommorow.

Thanks to everyone who has responded or plans on responding to the earlier post in regard to blood and platelets that we need.

Elimelech Ben Basya went today for a routine checkup and his blood counts were pretty low so he will be receiving a blood transfusion. In addition we were just notified that he will need platelets on Monday when he gets the stem cell collection. We are asking of anyone that is available to please coordinate with the Bikur Cholim office 323-852-1900 if you are available to donate either platelets or blood. Thanks so much and tizku lmitzvos

This is BH getting boring to read because there isn’t much to say or complain about. Eli had a great day and although he does get moody and upset sometimes pretty easily he’s learning how to deal with it. It’s not fun being home most of the day without friends or siblings around for this extended period of time. We give Eli a schedule daily that consists of what most kids his age are doing but not being in a classroom Makes it harder to actually follow. Hopefully he will be more up to it in the days ahead.

On WED morning Eli has a routine doctor appointment in CHLA and we are hoping it will be nothing more then what is planned and that’s to just check up on his blood counts and discuss the stem cell harvesting which IYH is scheduled for Monday. We have an idea about what it all means but I guess we will hopefully fully understand this after the meeting.

Please continue to davening for Elimelech Ben Basya on a daily basis so we can have great days under the circumstances like we have been having. Also that his counts should continue to be strong and that chas vshalom he should not develop any fevers (which unfortunately is very common to happen) which will land him back inte hospital.

Bli ayin hora the good days keep coming and we hope they are here to stay. Eli refused his nausea medication because he said “I feel fine don’t need it” so BH to that he seems to also be getting back the appetite that he used to have so we give him anything he wants to eat to keep him gaining weight (weight that he loses each round of chemo). He also felt up to having his rebbi Rabbi Jacobs come and learn with him this afternoon.

As the good days hopefully continue we also have to remember that many hard decisions and treatments lay ahead. There are a few ways to look at this one is 5 weeks down 65 to go or the way we have been trying to focus on which is BH all has gone well and will continue to stay that way until we see the full refua BKAROV. While Eli obviously can’t comprehend and doesn’t really know all of that he does know the immediate plan of treatment and understands and is the one keeping our spirits high with his many plans on what he wants to do when he is better and doesnt have a “line” attached to him.

BH my fathers hip surgery seems to have gone well in partial to the good advice that Eli gave but of course mostly to the tefilos that our family, friends, and the world has and continues to say. We hope to continue seeing Elimelech Ben Basya respond well on the road to his refua shelayma bsoch shaar choley Yisroel amen.

Another very smooth uneventful day BH and that’s the way we like it. A good day these days consists of no doctors, no hospitals, no shots, blood tests all of which Eli has been subject to a lot over the last month+. Eli for the most part just relaxed at home and by his grandparents home. We did make a stop at target to get Eli a new DS game which he has become a pro at.

At his grandparents house Eli was giving his advice to his zaidy who will be undergoing hip replacement Monday morning Harav Boruch Yehuda Ben Fayrol and being the pro he gave a few good tips. So we hope on Monday to have a small change of the last month and instead of Eli’s zaidy visiting Eli, Eli will visit his zaidy in the hospital.

The next scheduled visit we have is on Wed just to make sure his blood counts are high enough in anticipation for his stem cell harvesting. (cells which are later put back into Elimelech Ben Basya after all sets of chemo are completed) we hope this goes as planned and we continue to need and appreciate everyone tefilos on Eli’s behalf.

Shabos was exceptionally nice and relaxed with BH no surprises. As Eli has almost always done he insisted on coming to Shul on Friday night where all the mispalelim were pleasantly surprised to see him and like I have said always the last month if his blood #s are high enough and he feels up to it we are more then happy to let him. We enjoyed a quiet Friday night bonding/suedah. Although Eli woke up pretty nauseous after taking some nausea medication he started feeling fine and knowing that it was Rosh Chodesh he really wanted to go to Shul again which again we happily took him. Eli entertained our shabos lunch guests and all the crashers we had throughout the day.

Eli’s happy and good mood is rubbing off on everyone around him and seeing that even though he is very sick he still remains extremely upbeat and happy is having that same effect on us and anyone he sees. Over the next few days and weeks when we beezrat Hashem have 16 days to get him to eat as much as possible to gain back some of the weight he lost during chemo before the next round starts so that he can have the strength to continue fighting.

We are davening for a most un eventful week and a good Chodesh full of everything going as planned and hoping that all the treatments are doing only what they are supposed to with no negative side effects. Elimelech Ben Basya should continue to be as happy and strong as possible to help give us and everyone he sees the strength to continue on his long road to a refua shelayma.