Elijah

In October 2003 Elijah became very sick, vomiting and having very high fevers that medicine could not touch. We took him to his regular pediatrician and at first thought that it was a virus. The symptoms did not go away and his breathing got worse so I took him back again and they did blood work and a chest x-ray. When he got the results he then sent us to UNC were he was admitted and was diagnosed with AML (acute myeloid leukemia).The next day he had surgery to have a central line placed, lumbar puncture, bone marrow aspirate and a bronchoscopy. The next morning he was having a lot of trouble breathing so he was admitted to Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.He had to be intabated because part of his lung had collapsed. He remained there for four days. He had chemotherapy treatment for 6 months. From Oct. 10, 2003 to Sept. 13, 2004 we have spent 212 days in the hospital and in clinic a lot. He finished his chemotherapy and was in remission until June 2004, we found out that the leukemia had returned. Elijah recieved a unrelated cord blood transplant on August 11, 2004 at Duke Medical Center. Elijah was officially engrafted on September 9, 2004. On September 17, 2004 his chimerism test showed 100% donor cells and has remained that way!! We appreciate all of the support, prayers and financial help that everyone has given our family. Thank you so much for it all. Elijah has been through a lot and I could not possibly list it all but God has brought him and our family a long way. Please keep us in your prayers.

In July 2005, Elijah broke his left femur. His bones had became weak from the chemo and radiation. After taking his vitamins and extra vitamin D and tums for calcium, his bones seem to be back to normal.

** On New Years Eve of 2007, Elijah started having a lot of pain in his right side and back. After a couple of days his eyes started to turn yellow. We went to Duke to have him checked and more tests done. After 3 MRI's and 2 ultrasounds of his abdomen, they determined that he had gall stones and that he needed to have his gall bladder removed. He had a stone to get stuck in his bile duct and it caused him to have jaundice. The doctor's believe that the stones came from the chemotherapy and TPN that Elijah had gotten during his treatments. So, Elijah went on February 13, 2008 to have his gall bladder taken out. Elijah has bounced back and doing very well now. Hopefully there will be NO more bumps in the road for him! Thank you for your prayers.

Please feel free to sign the guestbook, and to check out the links below to see if you can help in any way.






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Elijah was born November 3, 1999

Alexus was born November 16, 1998


Alexus and Elijah's Papaw Jeff.


Make A Wish Foundation

Give Kids The World Village

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

The National Children's Cancer Society





Jeff's Memorial Website

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E-mail Author: alexusandelijah@yahoo.com

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Note: The foregoing information was authored by the patient, parent or guardian, or other parties who are solely responsible for the content. Such announcements or their content are not necessarily endorsed by CaringBridge, Inc. or any sponsoring agent.  This information does not confirm that anyone is or was actually a patient at any facility.