Personal message

Elijah Thompson Buys – 21 Month Old. Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and Tetraplegia.

 My son was born on the 22 of February 2022, I could not carry him full term and as a result he was born at 26 weeks.

 

At the time he was pronounced dead for 6 minutes. The Paediatrician who attended to him at the time tried to resuscitate him even though he turned blue and purple.

He eventually regained conscious however, he was extremely premature and weighed 710 grams.

A large patent ductus was found on the echocardiogram and Perfalgan was started immediately. There was no inotrophic support.

He had Anemia due to the prematurity and needed a few blood transfusions in the NICU.

Elijah also had renal dysfunction and was seen by a Nephrologist.

He also had bleeding on the brain (Small left germinal haemorrhage in addition to cystic lesions bilaterally) and at the time a MRI was recommended when he was older. 

At the time of birth Septicaemia (Klebsiella) was identified on his blood cultures and was treated immediately.

Elijah was intubated and given curosurf within 10 mins of birth and put on a ventilator. CXR showed a hyaline membrane disease grade 4 with a bilateral white out of both lungs. Despite conventional ventilation Elijah condition continued to deteriorate and he needed HFO and a second dose of surfactant. Despite HFO the PCO2 continued to be high and it was difficult to wean Elijah from oxygen. With the help from a Professor in Cape Town, Elijah was weaned to RAM cannula on HFO, this was a technique only ever used in Cape Town. He reacted and did very well on this and oxygen was finally removed on the 08.05.2022. Since his birth he gets Synagis (injection) at least 3 times a year to help his lungs in the event he picks up an infection or a cold. Unfortunately, because of his difficult start to life he is unable to fight of germs and infections like normal kids/babies.

My son eventually went squint (Strabismus) from the amount of oxygen that he needed in the NICU and thus far had two rounds of Botox in the eyes.

We did the MRI when he was 14 months old and it showed that the white matter in his brain is damaged. “Bilateral Periventricular white matter increased T2 and FLAIR signal with associated white matter volume loss - PVL’’.

We also did an EEG and it showed that there is evidence of a mild non-specific diffuse encephalopathy (Grade 1) due to increased generalized slowing.

Life with Elijah has been full of joy. We love him so much. He taught us to stay on our knees and to be patient. He is always smiling and loves playing with his older brother. 

We were referred to the Netcare Rehabilitation Hospital, it was such a change in everything. The Therapists, his admitting Doctor, the Nurses – everyone has been wonderful not only to Elijah but to me as a mom. I get the necessary psychological therapy to help me cope as I’m 24/7 here with him and weekends we get to go home to spend time with our family and my first born.

For months my son has struggled to eat and to pass stools, I’ve been manually helping him do this for a while now. We recently did a scan called a Barium Enema and it showed that he has a sigmoid colon also known as a Megacolon.

He was also using an NG Tube to help him eat but he now has a PEG. And we await his colon results as we’ve done a Biopsy.

His also had some Botox in his Hamstrings.

My son is almost two, he is learning how to sit and crawl. However, he needs a custom made Wheelchair, Walker, Bathing Aid, Braces and a Custom made Car Seat and many more. And also in our economy I know that money is tight for everyone. However, I’m asking anyone and everyone to open their hearts to my little boy and donate, no matter the amount, a little goes a long way and every cent will definitely help.

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