Fighting for Elijah

For those of you that have known us for a while, you know that Elijah is a miracle. Just before his one year birthday, his bladder and bowel stopped working and it took three days in the hospital, before doctors could tell us what was wrong. In the meantime, he lost use of his arms and legs, and his bloodwork showed signs of his liver and kidneys shutting down. Then they found the problem - a tethered spinal cord. Apparently, Elijah has spina bifida, but since it was a closed defect, we didn't know until the cord worked its way in a knot around his spine, and as it pulled tighter, the nerves were prevented from doing their job. However, in Portland, Dr. Wehby was nearby and able to perform surgery to sever his spinal cord and set it free. We had about a 30% chance of him gaining back the control he had lost. But he did - everywhere except his bladder. His bladder worked on an overflow basis, when full, the extra would just flow out. He couldn't potty train, but it was do-able.

Until Sunday.

On Sunday afternoon, Elijah began screaming and didn't stop for three hours. I took him to the Emergency Room because I didn't know what else to do. They thought his appendix or maybe something else had burst and "fast-tracked" him straight back and he was seen in a matter of minutes. And within five minutes they were doing an ultrasound, which quickly showed the problem. His bladder was full - like so full it was holding 2-1/2 times what an adult bladder should hold when it's super full. His bladder had stopped working all together.

After consulting with Elijah's urologist, the E.R. doc put in an indwelling (long-term) catheter. Unfortunately, these things aren't made for children and the bag goes from his ankle to his thigh! He will be wearing it permanently for now. Except I'm not okay with that. Mainly because it's a neurogenic bladder - meaning something neruoligically is not telling the bladder to work - so I want him to be evaluated by a neurologist, but the nerouolgist who did his original surgery is on vacation, so we have to wait, but if we wait and he gets worse, it can be too late and the damage can't be reversed.

So pray for us as we fight for him - to find answers and keep this from being permanent. and pray for Elijah that he can understand and enjoy every day despite all the changes he is having to endure.