^{Support Registry Update}

2 Sep | Eliana Update

In support of
Eliana Rivera

Prayer requests:

Pray for Eliana’s kidneys. We are thankful that she’s urinating, which shows native kidney function. But that should not be confused with kidney recovery. Her kidneys are still not filtering adequately, her BUN and creatinine remain elevated, and she still requires intermittent dialysis. Pray for rapid and complete healing, that her filtration returns, and that dialysis becomes unnecessary.

Pray for her upcoming swallow study. Her voice is still not back, and when she coughs with ice water, we know that liquid is entering her airway instead of safely going down her esophagus. Pray that her vocal cords and entire swallowing mechanism come back full throttle, that she can safely swallow, begin eating and drinking again, and that we hear her beautiful voice.

Pray that her body tolerates her feeds without vomiting. Last night was brutal. She barely slept, vomited repeatedly, and struggled to tolerate the new feed. She desperately needs this nutrition to rebuild her body while she cannot eat by mouth.

Pray that her platelets begin rising and her LDH falls, providing continued evidence that HUS is no longer damaging her body. Pray also for healing of the pancreatitis, stability of her glucose and insulin regulation, and stabilization of her blood pressure.

Update:

Being out of the ICU is an enormous milestone. Praise God. But leaving the ICU did not mean this was over. There are still major pieces of her body that need to heal.

Neurologically, we are incredibly encouraged. Her first neuropsychology testing went really well. She is fully aware and interactive, remembers, colors, uses her hands well, expresses and regulates emotion, sits up, and yesterday even walked some. This morning she walked to go pee. After everything we saw on her MRI and everything her brain endured, we do not take a single one of those things for granted.

Her lungs continue to do exceptionally well. She is off oxygen and breathing completely on her own. Praise God.

Her kidneys remain one of the biggest battles. Urine is a wonderful sign, but filtration is what ultimately gets her off dialysis, and she is not there yet. She continues on intermittent dialysis while we wait and pray for her kidneys to heal.

Shar and I could use prayer too.

We have been rocked by this. Every negative number, every vomit, every change can immediately put our minds and bodies back into fight or flight mode. We know the truth. We are surrounded by people praying for us. We have the Word of God. And we still struggle.

Faith right now feels very active. It is reading Scripture, speaking truth, and holding our thoughts captive, while the enemy is using fear and anxiety to try to consume us. So we keep returning to Philippians 4:6–9:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

That is an active fight for us right now.

So that is where we are. Thankful. Tired. Afraid all the time. Fighting. Praying. Singing. Trusting Jesus.

Emilio Rivera
8 days ago

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Comments

Patty Buttram 8 days ago

It’s understandable. You’re watching every flicker of change, every lab test, every sign of improvement. It’s a marathon but when you’re waiting, it’s brutal. The days are a blur, but you’re on alert every second. Praying for you to have those moments where you can just be wherever she is at that time and have peace.

Patty Buttram 8 days ago

Have they discussed plasmapheresis? That saved Jay’s kidneys where he was in kidney failure, and they were unable to do chemo at that time. A couple of days later they were able to start the chemo. It was miraculous.

Linda Heine 8 days ago

Yes, keep praying. It sounds like her kidneys are on the road to recovery. I just went thru about 40 dialysis treatments for the exact kidney symptoms as Eliana. It caused (in me) lots of neurological symptoms. In the beginning no pee, then trickled dark brown. Then the dialysis started really working! In my case I needed a ton of fluid removed affecting my heart and lungs. After good labs for 3 weeks, I’m now off altogether. So dialysis was a good thing for me. I, too, had lots of prayers from the same church community as you. Wonderful people!

Jody Witmer 8 days ago

I had pancreatitis (caused by a stuck stone) and was in the hospital for almost a month. Patience. I too was sick from the tube nutrition and couldn’t hold any food. Patience is hard but so necessary for this to heal. It will come around, I promise. She’s doing great and her body is working hard. Hang in there.

Holly Vaccaro 8 days ago

Praying for peace and restorative rest for Mom and Dad. And for Eliana's kidneys to continue to heal. Thank you, Jesus for all of our answered prayers!

Nicole Ulrich 8 days ago

We are standing in the gap! We continue to fight and pray these specific prayers! You are ALL Warriors!

Lorraine Phillips 8 days ago

Praying for this precious child. God, bring glory to Yourself in this heart wrenching situation. 🙏🏻💗

Vicki Slate 8 days ago

Thankful for all the good progress…❤️ I continue to pray for your precious daughter, and my prayer circle is praying as well. I also post your updates on my FB page. People who don’t know Eliana still lift her in their prayers. Stay strong in your faith…🙏🏻

Tamatha Perryman 7 days ago

Sending you guys all the love, light, healing, strength, comfort, and hugs.

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