Elijah continues to do well. He is more tired today and is developing something called mucositis. This is very common in the post transplant phase and is treated with pain meds like morphine. Mucositis can start in the throat and most often causes mouth sores that are miserably painful. Elijah has a sore throat this morning and I think he is in pain although it is difficult for him to express this verbally. His actions tell a different story though..he is more irritable and on-edge about procedures again. I think we will begin the pain meds soon.
Last night, he was very restless and so they gave him ativan, which is primarily used for nausea here, but also has a sedating side effect. Elijah slept the best he has ever slept since admission into the hospital and didn't wake up this morning until 9am! He is an early riser normally. He really needed his sleep after being up most of the night during transplant the night before.
So, now, are prayers are directed two the inside of Elijah's bones where the new marrow cells are settling in. "Grow, cells, grow..." is the general prayer theme around here. The process of engraftment first requires the new, healthy cells to begin to grow and multiply. The whole process is so intricate and complex it is hard to comprehend. I can't imagine not believing in intelligent design of the human body...only an all knowing, all powerful, God could have possibly created something so amazing.
Elijah's body and spirit are uniquely made by His creator. He knows the battles that are going on within his body now. And he is holding on tight to Elijah's hand through it all...we can feel His presence near.
Right now, we are physically tired. The kids at home don't sleep well as it seems like someone is up every hour. Of course, at the hospital, sleep is disrupted often as well. So, neither Mark or I are getting much quality sleep. We are tired. Our spirits are renewed..we can feel the new mercies each morning laid before us, but we could use some rest for our bodies. Please pray .
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Romans 5:3-5
.
