This photo of Elijah at 6pm tonight tells all about this day. We are all thoroughly exhausted. Our minds are on overload as we spent the day going over what the next year may hold for Elijah. As part of the testing, the doctors found that Elijah does have some underlying infections that must be treated. He was already on Augmentin but they switched the antibiotics out to two different medicines that I had never heard of. They are the "big guns" of antibiotics. We are now in "lay low" mode as Elijah fights these infections and prepares for Chemo which will begin on July 19th..the day of admission at the hospital. .We have a break tomorrow and start up again with work up testing on Monday.
It was a lot of information. Although it was overwhelming, it helped give me a framework to place all of the bits and pieces of information that we have been given over the past months. We have been blessed with some meals made for us and we have not had to deal with getting a meal on the table. The kids who have been home have been feeling the stress. I am so thankful that several of the kids have an in-home therapist already. She spent time today working with them as they process the feelings they have been having regarding transplant. We are surrounded with support and we really need every bit of it. It has been such a blessing.
The first days at the BMT clinic, we could not avoid the struggles, the illness and the pain we saw. Quickly, I knew we had to make a decision to change the way we interpreted what we were seeing. Transformation in all of our lives is most often accomplished through brokenness and struggle. Before God can mold us and make us into a usable vessel, we are broken into pieces. When we see the broken bodies, we are witnessing transformation. The children and their families are being transformed and most will be healed physically from their illness. The bone marrow transplantation process is a cure for many bone marrow disorders and cancers. It is not our enemy. It is powerful tool in which healing most often results.
It is our prayer that as we take each step alongside of Elijah, that the powerful story told through his life will not be wasted. It is my desire to share the honest emotion, the tough stuff with others, so that they may see that God is in the midst of real life and that it is in our weakness that His power is made perfect. We are tired. We are overwhelmed. We have peace. We have Jesus. And we will find our strength to face this journey in Him.
