Elijah's Christmas Wish

I've been meaning to say Merry Christmas to all for a little while now but I've been caught up in decking the halls and holiday cheer, slipping right into that good ol' holiday feelin' of sunshine, swimming and non-stop eating.  We've had a great time so far, we've had a few really good days with fatty Elijah and amazingly he has even slept through the night twice in the last two weeks, I would say.  There is hope yet!  But seriously now, I would like to say a big MERRY CHRISTMAS from the Barnard family, we can't thank you enough for all the prayer and support we've received over the past year, it's been truly touching.  So much so it almost feels ridiculous that I'm about to ask a favour from the people that have already done so much! 

During Elijah's stay in hospital Elijah had between 4 and 7 life saving blood transfusions!  The reason I say between 4 and 7 is because we're not sure of the exact number.  We know of 4 definites but his 'beads of courage' tell us he's had 7 so to cover all basses we'll just say 7, plus 7's a good number, haha.  There is no doubt that Elijah wouldn't have made it through the lengthily operations without the generosity of a kind stranger donating their supply of blood.  I remember when we were first in hospital talking about doing the first debulking and thinking how is Elijah's body going to get through a huge operation when he can't even sit up or roll over now?  And the truth is he wouldn't have without the transfusion.  If any of you had seen him at the time you would understand, it was a real nerve wrecking time.  I've added in some old photos of Elijah from that time, just after his first debulking operation back in July so you can see what he looked like back then.

So something I've always wanted to do, even before our hospital days, and have never got around to actually doing is donating my blood and I thought, since it's something I've been meaning to do then maybe there are other people out there who've been meaning to do it too or would be prepared to do it too, if I asked.

 

So to put it plainly this year Elijah's Christmas wish is that 7 or more people would donate their blood to a blood bank on behalf of Elijah Barnard by the 28th of January 2010, a month from today.  The great thing about this Christmas present is that it doesn't cost anything and it could even save, not just one, but THREE  lives!  There are so many horrible things happening around the world and one of them is sick children and adults having to spend the Christmas holidays in hospital.  Please don't forget about them, as it easily could have been us!  If it's something you've considered doing before but just haven't got around to it then don't put it off again, just do it and then give me an e-mail - eleanor_barnard@hotmail.com - so I can add you to my list to see how many people we can get to donate blood.  

PS.  There are blood donor centres throughout the country and also mobiles collecting from different places this month and next month.  Check out www.nzblood.co.nz (or www.sanbs.org.za if you're from SA) to find out if you are eligible to give blood and for further information.

PPS. Happy New Year.