We have so enjoyed getting to know Elias...what makes him smile, what makes him laugh, and even what makes him scared and what makes him cry. We prepared this video after his first two weeks home...you can watch some of our first family moments.
Right now, as some of you may know, we are in Gulu because we had to bring Elias to the hospital for a pneumonia he developed a couple weeks ago. He was put on 3 different antibiotics consecutively in Pader, but was getting worse. We came to Gulu and he was admitted to St. Mary's Hospital.
Though "admitted", we've actually been staying down the road at the home of another missionary here in Gulu. We are so thankful for that! The children's ward is packed, with the floor being covered with mothers (or sometimes fathers) and children, because the beds are too few. We just had to make sure we were at the hospital at the right times...every 6 hours for injections of antibiotics (12 AM, 6 AM, 12 PM, 6 PM) and then from about 11 AM - 1 PM for ward rounds, when he was reviewed each day by a doctor. In reality, we were there a lot more, because his IV line kept falling out, and Elias seems to still have really tiny veins. On the worst day, they tried 13 times before they got a new line in. Finally, on Thursday, after they had tried 10 times to insert a new line and failed all 10 times, the doctors switched him to a stronger antibiotic that is also just as effective when taken orally. And only once a day! No more going to the hospital every 6 hours!
He's been on the new antibiotic for a day now. The doctors said his breathing has improved enough to make them confident that the infection is nearly or already gone, but the crackles in his cough will take some time to go away. To our surprise, they discharged him today! We will continue the oral antibiotics from home. They want us to take him for review at the doctor in Pader in one week's time.
So the 4th week of our time together has largely been at the hospital. But even so, Elias continues to live up to his nickname - our Little Champ. He's still eating well, still playing, still smiling. Understandably, he's developed a VERY strong aversion to getting IV lines put in! The nurse only has to rub his hands with rubbing alcohol before he starts to cry. We pray God will heal him completely, and use even this experience to strengthen the bond growing between the three of us, as we walk through this healing journey together, with all its ups and downs.
We'd like to thank God for giving us strength to endure the many difficult times over the last week, and the many, many people who have been praying and who have sent their words of encouragement over email and facebook. We are not able to respond to every message individually (because they have been so many!), but we want you to know your words have encouraged us. We have felt we are not alone. Thank you.