Updated Chipin Information

Here is some updated information for Eli's Chipin. This may be a lot of repeated information for some of you, but I just wanted to be sure that all the information was available.

Eli's Chipin

I have been working with a group on Facebook called Uniquely Gifted. They have suggested starting a Chipin page for Eli to do some fundraising. After really thinking it over, I thought I'd go ahead and give it a try! So here it is!!

Playing catch up....

Hey Everyone! Sorry it has been a while since my last post! I have gotten a new job! I am the new Family Advocate for the Children's Advocacy Center of the South Plains here in Lubbock. I was a therapist for them for the past year and a half. Since I graduated in May, I have not been able to work as a therapist. I still need to take my National Exam, find an approved supervisor and process all of that through the state. So unfortunately, it may be next Spring before I'm able to start working as a therapist. Getting all the red-tape stuff done to begin working has taken a bit of a backseat with everything going on with Eli. But, I was very fortunate to be able to get this job as the Family Advocate. I've been training the past two weeks, so that hasn't left much time for blogging. And they are being really awesome to let me go ahead and train, then wait to actually start my job when we return at the end of August.

We had our conference call with Baylor a few weeks ago. We are definitely set for admit at Our Children's House at noon on Monday, August 6. We will leave for Dallas on Friday, August 3, try to do some fun stuff before the admission, have the admit on Monday, then Adam will fly back to Lubbock Monday evening. We've been packing and organizing over the past few weeks, but I am hoping to really be able to focus on my packing and organizing this next week!

We have also done more allergy testing with Eli. Below is the complete list of allergens and his reaction. The "flare" is the total size of the red reaction; the "wheal" is the size of the bump. So basically, anything other than a "0" in both columns means he is allergic. It's really tough because of his allergies to rice, soybean, nuts and cow's milk. We have had to change Eli to hemp milk and really reduce his go-gurt intake.

Also, Eli is allergic to the Pediasure 1.5 he has been getting through his pump. The solution: change the formula. Easy enough, right? The problem: Eli's GI doctor here in Lubbock said that Eli doesn't really have any allergies and there is no reason to change the formula. And he called me personally to lecture me for about 10 minutes. He also says that there is no reason to repair the hernia Eli has and thinks it's ridiculous for me to seek out a second opinion. Needless to say, we'll be looking for a new GI doctor. Baylor said they will just change the formula once we get to Our Children's House. We will be switching to EO28 Splash, which is hypoallergenic. However, we were hoping to be able to make this formula change before he admit, so this may lengthen his time at Baylor since we were not able to make the change before now.

We do have an appointment at Cook's Children's in Ft. Worth with the GI group on August 14, so we will get to have a little outing that day. We have also started a Facebook event, asking for prayers and good vibes at noon on August 6 as Eli gets admitted to Our Children's House at Baylor. If you're on Facebook, please feel free to click the link below and RSVP to say a prayer at that time. It's an open event, so we'd also appreciate any sharing.... We know this will be a difficult month and we'll gladly take all the prayers we can get! https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/501851159840581/

So that has been our past 2 weeks! A little busy, somewhat chaotic and stressful, but still filled with LOTS of hope and excitement!!!

ALLERGEN	FLARE	WHEAL
Histamine - Control	40	10
Apple	0	0
Wheat	25	5
Rice	10	4
Peanut	24	6
Soybean	26	7
Walnut	21	5
Pecan	0	0
Cashew	24	6
Tuna	0	0
Egg White	750	17
Egg Yolk	36	10
Cow's Milk	16	5
Banana	0	0
Orange	0	0
Baker's Yeast	0	0
Corn	30	12
Tomato	6	4
Potato	20	6
Celery	14	4
Carrot	20	4
Pea	30	10
Shrimp	20	7
Chicken	0	0
Beef	24	6
Pork	0	0

"I'm gonna be a golfer!"

We had Eli's Golf Scramble yesterday and it was a HUGE success!!! We had about 26 or 27 teams of 4, so it was a great turnout! Honestly, it was a little over-whelming, but still amazing!

Eli stood out front as people were arriving to show of his golf skills. He was so excited for the scramble and told people for about a week "I'm gonna be a golfer!"

I think he had a fun time showing off for everyone and they all thought he was a pretty cool kid!! Several of the players got a good laugh when Eli broke his putter after taking a few hard hits.

After lunch started, Eli was pretty tuckered out from showing off his golf skills, he napped all through lunch. Here he is with Jolee, one of Adam's team members and a great friend of ours.

After lunch ended and the scramble started, I took Eli to the babysitter then met up with Adam and his team to ride along. It was so much fun to see Adam, his team and all the other teams playing!

This is Adam's team: Jolee, Kevin, Adam and Lane.

Here are a few more team pics...

I apologize for not having more pictures; I kept getting so caught up in talking with people, etc that I forgot to take pictures!

I have to say this was an amazing experience. We were able to meet so many wonderful people and I feel like it gave us the opportunity to also get Eli's story out there. The generosity of everyone involved was simply overwhelming and wonderful. Adam and I can't even begin to say how thankful we are to everyone.

There are several people and business that we want to recognize.

First and foremost, Brent, Dustin and Megan from Melt. Y'all are amazing! Choosing Eli as your charity blew us away; then putting together such an awesome fundraiser.... We are forever grateful!

Secondly, to Mayor Robertson, Erin and ALL the staff at Hillcrest Country Club for hosting the Golf Scramble... Everyone was so nice and helpful; and truly a pleasure to be around! The facilities and the course were beautiful and I'm so thankful to each of you!

So many people and business donated things; beer, liquor, raffle items... I don't know how to thank all of you! You were a HUGE part of making this a success!

Also, everyone who donated items for the goody bags: Planet Beach, Intimate Expressions, Radio Lab, Golf Headquarters, Complete Nutrition, Angelina Bodie... And I apologize if I am leaving anyone out. There were just so many amazing donors, all the names were hard to keep up with.

And last, but definitely NOT least, ALL the amazing people who signed up to play or were Tee box sponsors. This most certainly could not have been done without all of you! We had many great friends who played, even some driving in from Dallas and Midland. Then there were the many other people who just played out of the goodness of their hearts... people that we had never met before, but saw the flyers and heard Eli's story and came out to show support. Our thanks go out to each of you.

God bless each and every one of you. You will all have a special place in our hearts. Your support is getting Eli so much closer to the treatment he needs and we are forever grateful!!!