Eliana Update - August 25, 2026
In support of
Eliana Rivera
View Support Registry
Eliana Rivera
Prayer requests first:
Fever / infection:
Her cultures remain negative, praise God. She still has a fever, but the current thinking is that inflammation, rather than infection, may be driving it. They are removing the antibiotics and watching her closely.
Pray the fever dissipates and there is no infection.
Kidneys / dialysis:
Yesterday, Eliana tolerated six hours off continuous dialysis without anything significantly adverse happening. Today, they’re extending that window to eight hours, from noon to 8:00 p.m.
Pray that her body tolerates those eight hours well without retaining too much fluid.
And how great would it be if she produced even a little urine?
Her platelets, after falling for what felt like forever, have leveled off and are now trending upward. Her hemoglobin also appears to be stabilizing, although another transfusion is expected. Both usually precede kidney recovery.
Doctors are cautiously optimistic.
Pray that HUS is leaving her body and that her kidneys are next.
Respiratory:
Big progress this morning: the mask is gone. Eliana transitioned to a nasal cannula.
Praise God.
She still has a tremendous amount of mucus and secretions, which means lots of coughing and sometimes vomiting. It is awful to watch her struggle through it, while simultaneously being grateful that she can cough it up herself.
Pray that she maintains healthy oxygenation on the cannula, continues clearing her lungs and airway, and that her breathing—and eventually her voice—comes completely back.
Feeds / pancreatitis:
She is tolerating her feeds, so they’re increasing them today. She has also had a couple of bowel movements, which is another good sign. Her glucose remains stable.
The pancreatitis, however, is still there.
Pray that she continues accepting and absorbing more nutrition, that the pancreatitis heals, and that her pain and inflammation subside.
PT / responsiveness:
Yesterday’s PT session went well. She is increasingly alert and responsive, nodding to questions, communicating where she hurts or itches, and moving more.
Pray for continued movement, responsiveness, engagement, and cognition. Pray for another good PT session.
And pray for her voice.
All of these things matter because they are steps toward getting our little girl out of the ICU.
Here is some cool stuff.
This morning, Eliana made a video with Shar for her brothers.
“I love you boys.”
She still doesn’t really have a voice, so it comes out almost like a loud whisper. It takes tremendous effort and even causes her some pain.
She doesn’t care.
She wants to communicate so badly that she just keeps trying.
Earlier this morning, I asked if she wanted me to read her a book.
She nodded yes.
While I was reading, she reached over and started slowly scratching my arm.
That probably means nothing to most of you.
It means everything to me.
Eliana has always loved physical touch. If we’re sitting together, she’ll slowly scratch my arm or rub my back. It’s one of her strongest love languages—one of the ways she shows affection.
So this morning, she scratched my arm while I read to her, and eventually she fell asleep.
A week ago, I could not have imagined we would be here.
And here she is.
Responsive. Alert. Showing us her personality. Loving us in the ways she always has.
Pray Psalm 139 today. It resonates with me this morning:
“If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,’
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.”
—Psalm 139:11–12
There is nowhere God will not enter with me.
No matter how traumatic this has been, no matter how dark it has gotten, He has stood there all along.
My daughter is there.
Comments
Camsales1331 16 days ago
Nicole Ulrich 16 days ago
Lisa Leopardi 16 days ago
Danielle Alfaro 16 days ago
Cherryl MacFawn 16 days ago
Jenn Duncan 16 days ago
Lauri Johnson 16 days ago
Shindoreholdings 16 days ago
Heather Lee 15 days ago
Sheryl Collins 15 days ago
Holly Vaccaro 14 days ago