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Elena’s Journey, Halifax, NS (2026)

12/20/2025

Guess who got let out of the IWK on a “pass”??!

Elena hasn’t had any episodes of her O2 dropping in 48hours and last night her medical team decided to send Elena home on a pass which means she’s still considered a patient at the iwk however they are letting me take her home to see how she does while I continue to monitor her. Doctors call me asking for updates on how Elena is doing.

They did find fluid around her left lung where the new shunt fluid is draining. At this time due to her not having O2 drops in the last two days her medical team decided it was safe to let her trial going home. If anything starts seeming off i can take her back into the iwk to be seen by her team.
She still has her PICC line in for the time being and if she continues to do well the next couple of days then we will go in for a few scans and get her PICC line removed next week.
Elena is incredibly happy to be home. Her first night back in her crib was amazing and she slept so soundly.

There’s still a 50/50 chance she could need a surgery to fix the fluid problem around her lung if it gets worse. However her medical team and I find it encouraging that her oxygen levels haven’t been dropping the last two days showing that things arent getting worse and hoping it will resolve on its own.

Please continue to keep Elena in your prayers❤️‍🩹

12/18/2025

Today we were supposed to go home however we aren’t anymore due to news from an xray.

On the weekend Elena had an xray and it showed fluid around her lung where the new shunt is draining into. The shunt drains into the tissues around her lung and then they are supposed to absorb the fluid. However she had another xray today and it showed that there still is fluid that isnt going away. Right now it seems to be the same amount of fluid there as there was in the weekends xray. It could get more complex if it continues to grow though. That is most likely what’s causing her O2 drops. It’s the fluid from the shunt not absorbing into her tissues. (The last two days shes been great other than a few times her oxygen levels go down drastically and she goes super still and blank. This lasts a minute or two and then she’s back to her normal self. This happened todau, last night and 2 times yesterday.)

After this finding we will no longer be going home today. If it gets worse then they will have to either drain it with a tube, or move her shunt line to her abdomen again via surgery, put a scope down the top of her head and cauterize the part of her brain that creates the fluid to make it make less.

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Not sure what next steps are at this point but I’ll update her page when I know. ❤️‍🩹🎄

12/17/2025

Elena is doing pretty good all things considered! She had a very eventful day yesterday in the iwk play room and walking the halls. She had a decent sleep last night and then she was out and about early afternoon today as well.

This morning she had her very last dose of antibiotics which is great! She’s completely stopped throwing up the past couple days also which is new and an amazing sign that everything is healing well since her big surgery on Saturday.

She did have an odd spell today where she was very groggy and absent, oxygen levels dipping. It was making us all concerned although after a few hours it passed and she’s been back to her recent normal. Hoping that doesn’t happen again and that nothing else is going on internally.

Her medical team is going to keep an eye on her tonight and tomorrow they will meet to see what the plan is moving forward. Hoping she is well enough to go home soon and heal more in our own space.

Please continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers ❤️‍🩹 she’s slowly getting better

12/15/2025

Elena’s been having lots of rest time since her surgery. Today was the first day since surgery on Saturday that I got her out of bed and went for a wagon ride around the iwk. She absolutely loved it and smiled/laughed/yelled beep beep the entire time.

Started physio today to hopefully get her moving around more on her own again. Before this last month of sickness, she was for the most part walking on her own, climbing onto things, able to do things more independently. Hoping to get her somewhat back to her baseline soon as she heals❤️‍🩹

Elena had some X-rays today too for doctors to look at how everything is going internally with her new brain shunt. Haven’t heard anything back yet which is usually a good sign that everything looks great.

She is still getting antibiotics to make sure the old infection is gone from her body and to try to prevent any new viruses to show up after her surgery.

As you can see in the wagon picture, Elena has a new haircut. It’s shaved like that on both sides of her head as they had to take the old shunt out on one side and put a new one in the other side.
Breaks my heart to see her have all of these surgeries but so grateful to start this new healing journey with her.

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. May no other medical complications happen and may she be able to heal and get back to being a little active girl again❤️‍🩹

12/14/2025

After a long rough night Elena and I were able to sleep this morning.

She’s her sweet little self but her whole body definitely just hurts. She finds it painful to lay fully down so she’s surrounded by pillows and blankets to keep her cozy sitting upright. Both sides of her head are shaved and have stitches from them taking out the shunt and tubing that was going from her head to her abdomen on the left side and then on the right from them putting in the new shunt and brining the tubing internally down to her chest.

The tubing brings the fluid down feom her brain to her chest where it will drain and her body is supposed to reabsorb the fluid through her tissues.

She is very sore today but still such a little sweetie. We will be cuddling for the rest of the day. Hoping in a couple days she will have a bit more energy to get out of bed and move around.

Thank you all for your continued prayers, gifts, love and support. You all make this a little easier with how amazing you’ve been to Elena and I. I feel your love and care so much ❤️‍🩹

And to the nurses, doctors, specilists who follow Elena’s Journey THANK YOU!!! She is here still to this day because of you guys and the amazing work you do. I know working in the hospital is hard work, long nights and days, but you all continue to love on elena, show her and I such kind care and make us smile. Even hospital workers who I haven’t met yet who work at different hospitals, I’m so thankful for the care you show others in the hospital. Being in a positive environment through all of this has been such a gift. You all make such an amazing difference, your hard work and love do not go unnoticed❤️‍🩹

12/13/2025

Brain surgery update:

Elena and I just got back to her hospital room after she had been in the recovery unit for the past hour.

Although the surgery took a lot longer than expected, it thankfully went well. No extra bleeding, no signs of anything going wrong, she just a crazy haircut going on.
Elena was immediately alert and sitting up after surgery and asking to go home and back up to her room to have some snacks/water.

Her and I will be cuddling the rest of the night and hopefully both get a very much needed good nights sleep.

Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers ❤️‍🩹 hopefully now this is the start of Elena’s recovery from all of this.

12/13/2025

‼️Surgery prayer request! ‼️

Please pray for Elena this morning. She will be going down to the OR for surgery at 10am to remove her old shunt on the right side of her brain and put a new one in the left side of her brain.

Elena has been doing well and her tests have been coming back normal and the worry is the longer the old shunt is in and exposed from her body, the more chance there is of it getting infected again. Her medical team thinks now is the safest and perfect time to do the surgery.

This is sooner than we all thought but it will be great to start her recovery ❤️‍🩹

Please pray for her and that surgery goes well! There are always risks involved in any surgery and with Elena’s medical history there’s a slightly higher chance of risk involved. But I’m very hopeful that she will do great!

Please pray and sent your postive thoughts to the medical staff doing Elena’s surgery this morning as well!

Surgery will be about 3-4 hours and I’ll post an update when she’s out and I know how it went. ❤️‍🩹

12/12/2025

Crazy to believe that today is my sweet girls 4th birthday! Where has the time gone!

Elena had such an amazing day today. The IWK nurses and doctors gave Elena so much love and kindness, along with a cake and presents that were tailored to what Elena likes.

Some you have dropped gifts off and sent her gifts for her birthday and I cannot thank you enough, you are all so kind❤️

Thank you all for your continued prayers, love and support these past 4 years for Elena. And a special shout out to Elenas grandparents Michelle, Wes, and Mary who have been there every step of the way for Elena and I.
And to my close friends who are daily big supporters of Elena and I, thank you so much❤️

All of your love and care for Elena doesn’t go unnoticed by me and I’m forever grateful. yte

12/11/2025

The specialists were thankfully able to get a PICC line into Elena’s leg.
They tried to get it in one of her arms but unfortunately her veins there are just too weak.

Her and I had a very good nap after she was done and out of sedation. We are playing now and she’s very content. The new PICC like doesn’t seem to be making her uncomfortable like her IVs did so that’s another great thing.

Thank you all for your continued prayers, love and support for little miss Elena. Hard to believe that today is her last day being 3 and tomorrow my baby girl turns 4 🥹❤️🎂

12/11/2025

Elena is currently down getting a PICC line put in by specialists. They tried to get one in the other day but they couldn’t find a strong enough vein.

She’s sedated and will be down there for the next hour.

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers ❤️‍🩹

12/10/2025

Elena is doing well today. She is snacking and can sit up for longer periods of time now. Her personality definitely came back more today which is so lovely to see.

Yesterday Elena went down to get a PICC line put in to replace her IV since she will be here at the hospital for a while (PICC: a type of long catheter that is inserted through a peripheral vein, often in the arm, into a larger vein in the body, used when intravenous treatment is required over a long period). However they unfortunately couldn’t find a strong enough vein to put the PICC line into so they had to stop. A specialist will be in tomorrow and elena will be sedated again in hopes that they can get the PICC line in.

Elena’s brain fluid that is draining out of the now exposed shunt is tested daily and not coming back with any traces of bacteria, which is amazing. A part of the shunt tubing that was taken out was sent to the lab and they did however find traces of bacteria on that. Which they have been giving Elena antibiotics for to fight it off.

Right now we are just in the waiting process. Waiting for her body to heal, doing daily bloodwork, daily antibiotics, starting physio to get her walking/moving around again.

Papa and mom got Elena out for a wagon ride around the halls. Elena absolutely loved it, it’s great to see some of her energy come back. (The pole in the second picture below is holding onto the device that Elenas brain fluid is draining into. The shunt tubing is coming out of her abdomen and draining into there where it can be measured and taken for testing. It will stay like this until her body is fully healed and she can get brain surgery to remove the old contaminated shunt and put in a new sterile one)

Thank you for the lovely messages, all of the prayers and support. It means the world to me to see how much you all care for my little girl❤️

12/08/2025

Elena has been resting since her surgery, won’t get out of bed but she’s content.

Elena and I will stay in the hospital for several weeks while we wait for her to heal before she gets brain surgery to get a new shunt put in.

After she has a nap now I will start to help her to get up and get some movement in. She has had zero energy or strength to walk the past few weeks however now that the buildup of fluid is leaving her abdomen, I can see that she’s not feeling as uncomfortable.

She also hadn’t eaten or drank much of anything orally the past few weeks of her being sick but the morning after her surgery to remove part of the shunt outside of her body yo drain, as it’s infected, she woke up and immediately asked for her bottle of water and some snacks. It’s great to see little bits of her normal come back ❤️‍🩹

Please continue to keep her and I in your thoughts and prayers. It’s been amazing to see all of your support and to read the messages of everyone who’s reached out. You all make these hard times easier knowing how many people are thinking and praying for my sweet girl ❤️‍🩹

Elena’s Journey

12/20/2025

12/18/2025

12/17/2025

12/15/2025

12/14/2025

12/13/2025

12/13/2025

12/12/2025

12/11/2025

12/11/2025

12/10/2025

12/08/2025

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