Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Team Elijah

I am proud to report that the Team Elijah scrapbook has been delivered and was well received! Arkansas Children's Hospital is just a few blocks from my office (as in less than one mile away, I'd guess) so it was very easy for me to go over and see Elijah. As I entered the doorway of his room, I was greeted by Darth Vader, not Elijah. Silly me -- it was Elijah himself under that mask!

Elijah liked the scrapbook a lot. While I was there he looked at the pictures (he especially liked the one of Molly Running Dog) and later this afternoon he will read every word of it. In the short time that I was there he was visited by: a bunny-costumed nurse (whom he made hop into the room earlier in the day), a friend Zach (a true survivor who is now in remission AND in med school, working at the hospital as a tech), a volunteer handing out Halloween goodies, his dad (who works a few blocks from me) and yours truly. Someone surrounded by so much support and love can't lose!

He has quite the set-up in his room. He has a touch-screen remote for his flat-screen TV (which is pre-loaded with lots of Elijah-friendly movies) that also acts as the internet and correspondence-central with docs and nurses. How cool! Dawn (aka mom) has a cool binder which is home to all things medical, plus it has a tally sheet for all of his activities. You see, Elijah will get a bead of courage for everything he goes through... down to being stuck with a needle and losing his hair. They keep a tally and ever so often they "turn in" their list and he is given his beads. He has hundreds already from his last battle with cancer.

Elijah is doing well so far. Come on, Team Elijah, even though most of our races are done, we are still members of this great team. We have to continue to train and PRAY FOR ELIJAH!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

In a word: AWESOME!

CewTwo said...

Too cool, Susan.

Thanks for the update. I do hope that both you, his family and Elijah know that we are thinking of him and praying for him!

Did you notice that Molly Running Dog was wearing her yellow band?

I guess I'll have to talk to her about updating her blog and including that picture in it!

ShirleyPerly said...

Thanks, Susan, for organizing the team and keeping us appraised of Elijah's condition. I'm so glad he appears to be in good spirits. He's a real trooper!

MarathonChris said...

Glad to hear that he is enjoying Halloween and the stuff from team Elijah. We will continue to run with our yellow bands and pray most fervently for our friend Elijah!

Maddy said...

It sounds like Elijah is in good spirits, and if Team Elijah is contributing to that, it's a good thing!

I wear my yellow band everyday.

Nicole said...

Thanks for the update about Elijah... er...Darth Vader. I'm glad he's doing well.

Nigelrunner said...

Thanks for the update...I'll be thinking abut Elijah every step of the way. Nigel.

Petraruns said...

We keep Elijah in our daily prayers and will continue to do so. Brave little man!