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Elijah’s Story

Site created on May 17, 2023

Welcome to Elijah's CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We really appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. For those of you who know Elijah, he has an infinite amount of energy. It's impossible to describe how strange it is to see him slow down in any way. And even though we know this process will take some time, we have every faith that he will have a graceful recovery, and our little acorn will continue to grow into a mighty oak.

HOW HE GOT HERE:
After several days of fever and a couple of ER visits, X-Rays showed an infection spread in his respiratory system and collapsed part of his lung. Pneumonia has spread across his upper right lung. On the outside, an Empyema has formed (this is a pus-filled pocket that develop in the pleural space) which is adding a lot of pressure. When they discovered this on our visit to the ER on Tuesday, the immediately prepared him for several procedures.

WHERE WE ARE NOW:
The main two things that must be addressed are draining the Empyema and defeating the pneumonia. There are 3 main procedures they had to do to accomplish this. For the draining, they attached a Chest Tube which is inserted between the ribs and pulls fluid out of the chest cavity over the next 2 to 3 days. For the Pneumonia, they have successfully diagnosed the bacteria as Streptococcus pneumoniae (aka Strep B). They are now treating it with antibiotics administered through a Central Venous Catheter which goes into a vein on his neck. The thrid procedure was to put him on a ventilator for the first 2 or 3 days which also requires him to be asleep through sedation. All of the procedures were very successful and everything is working according to the plan.

Lindsay and I are able to sleep in his room and be at his bedside 24/7. Grandma Tammi came to town to help with Ella. So much thanks to all of our friends and family for the outpouring of love and prayers! We love you all! Also, much thanks to the massive team of Nurses and Doctors caring for him around the clock. They are amazing and give us every confidence in this process.

WHAT'S NEXT:
Currently, we are in a position of waiting for all of these processes to work. Some parts of the healing process take days, and others take weeks. We will update this website as things progress.

Newest Update

Journal entry by Mark Murphy — Jun 8, 2023

Yay!!! We left the PICU on Tuesday for a short stay on the general medical floor where Elijah is experiencing much more freedom. What a whirlwind!! We are so happy to be heading home TOMORROW! We will have some follow-up visits with his pulmonologist as his lungs finish healing, but other than that we can confidently say he is 100 percent back to himself, and will make a full recovery. THANK YOU, THANK YOU , THANK YOU for all the prayers and well wishes, and healing energy from afar when we needed it most. 💗🙏🏻💜🙏🏻♥️

Read More of the journal titled "June 8, 2023"

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