I wish to have an online shopping spree
Elijah
15
brain tumor
Elijah's wish to have an online shopping spree
Elijah was born in 2005 with a bicuspid aortic valve. In 2013, he had an ablation procedure to help with tachycardia issues, and in July of 2019, Elijah had open heart surgery to replace his aortic valve.
After suffering from a great deal of back pain, in May of 2020, a large 9cm tumor was found in Elijah's middle spine (thorasic area). He had the tumor removed at UIHC and spent his 15th birthday in the hospital. He also spent several weeks undergoing physical rehabilitation therapy in Iowa City and at St. Luke's in Cedar Rapids to learn how to walk and function with nerve damage to his left leg and foot. In August that same year he began having debilitating headaches. An MRI revealed more tumors growing in his central nervous system fluid. He had 30 craniospinal radiation treatments at Mayo clinic in Rochester and is currently on an inhibitor drug that targets his specific tumor mutation. We are thankful he has had good scans recently and is headed in the right direction.
Elijah has always been a sports fan. He loved playing flag football when he was younger but was unable to play tackle football due to his health issues. He still loves to toss a football with his buddy in the neighborhood or shoot hoops with another friend. He is an avid fan of the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Kansas City Chiefs. If we hadn't been in the midst of a pandemic, his dream would have been to meet Patrick Mahomes- quarterback for the Chiefs! He wore his lucky Mahomes socks for almost every game this past year. The socks worked pretty well! The two regular season games he forgot to put on his socks were the two games the Chiefs lost! He didn't even want the socks washed, but his mom nixed that plan! Eli switched from high contact sports to participating in bowling and golfing as he got older. He is currently on the Cedar Falls team for both sports. He also participates in the high school choir and in youth group at his church. He likes science classes best and hopes to work in a medical field someday.
Elijah was granted his wish this past December while he was undergoing treatments. He chose to have a "gift wish" since in-person meet and greets and travel wishes weren't currently happening with COVID, and he preferred not to wait for a year or longer. He was given a very generous shopping spree to a local sporting goods store and Amazon. He had a great time researching the best set of golf clubs to meet his needs and picked out several golf clubs, Oakley sunglasses, a pushcart and some pretty cool-looking golf and basketball shoes. One pair is even gold! He also picked a small gift for a couple of friends and his three siblings- a testament to his generous spirit. Elijah said the wish was a huge blessing in that it gave him something positive to dwell on and plan in the middle of incredibly difficult and exhausting treatments. It was truly a bright spot of 2020 for our entire family. Thank you Make-A-Wish for providing us with an amazingly positive experience during the most challenging time in our lives to date!
