11/2/2024
129 days and counting. 129 days Ela has stayed within the hospital walls. Most of those days she’s been hooked up to many tubes, wires, and/or machines. Pain and discomfort many of those days. In the whole of life it seems like such a short amount of time, but my does it feel long (and some days seemingly never-ending) to her and to us. To look back on these last several months and reflect on how much she has endured….The LORD is good and Ela is the strongest little girl. To be in the hospital for so many days and soon be leaving it (hopefully), with a song still in her heart and a smile on her face….thank you God! I don’t know if I would be so happy and smiley after suffering like she has. Don’t get me wrong, some days she seemed done with it all. Some days the emotions are high. It’s been the hardest season of life for not just Ela, but also for her brothers and her mommy and daddy. Yet, such an abundance of things to be thankful for.
A week or 2 ago, the therapists and doctors thought we would still be inpatient for another month or two because Ela was in such a rough place. Now, we may be discharged to the GIFT OF LIFE House this upcoming week! We will remain in Philly for a while longer. Cath Results: Her cath today showed zero rejection! Finally, things are starting to work together the way they should in her body. Thank you for praying specifically for this. Not everything is perfect—her antibodies are still higher than they would like but they are stable so we will just watch them closely for now; her heart pressures are elevated compared to prior cath, but these will continue to be monitored closely. Her heart failure number (BNP) is also still high but coming down. She has a new set of feeding and GI challenges as well as new endocrine (blood sugar) challenges now. We are learning the world of diabetes. Her kidneys are stable, but will need to be monitored closely as well. If she gets sick we will have to do emergency dose steroids and bring her back to CHOP to be admitted. Talk about nerve-racking! The thought of managing her care outpatient is daunting! So please pray for me in this area.
Despite the hard, we are so thankful to be on this side of it all. We didn’t know if Ela would get a heart in time. We didn’t know how long we would wait in the hospital for one. We didn’t realize the battles she would face afterwards. We can’t express the overwhelming gratitude we have for the family who chose to give in their darkest hours. We are thankful to God that through it all He is there, even when we can’t see it or feel it. Even in exhaustion, grief, pain and fear.
I would like to end with expressing our gratitude for all of you who faithfully pray, support, and give. You are truly Gabriela’s Warriors (and ours). Those prayers and the intercession of Christ on our behalf get us through those days where we are too angry, too hurt, too exhausted to form any words that express the need. I know some of you have been in that place. The place where you don’t know what to pray. The words physically can’t escape your lips and in your mind all you can think is, “Please, Lord help. Do something.” God is there in those moments too, and for that I am thankful.
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 34:18
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
Psalm 23:1-4
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
Psalm 136:1
Enjoy this older video of Ela from several weeks ago:
We will still be in PHILLY for a while longer even after being discharged from hospital (as she will be having multiple appointments/therapies on weekly basis). If you desire to send mail to Ela, please do so at this new address:
Gift of Life Howie’s House
Gabriela Yustiz
401 Callowhill St
Philadelphia, PA 19123
Wow! God is so good! You are right, sometimes He is quiet and it seems like the silence is deafening. But, in those times we learn how much we have grown in trust and faith. He gives us times of such love and caring, and these carry us through the valleys, remind us of how much he loves us and speaks volumes even in the stillness. As we learn He is always with us, the hard times are more bearable, and when we don’t have the words to pray, the Holy Spirit prays through us.
We are praying for Ela and for all of you. Our hearts are filled with joy at her progress and we are grateful you have graciously let us into your lives so we can support you and know how to pray. God is good, all the time….even when it’s dark He lights the way. God bless you all. 🙏🙌💖
I’m so happy that Ela is soon going to be able to leave the hospital. Our prayers have been heard and God has been faithful! Continued prayers for all of you! This is a wonderful way to start the day!!
GOOD IS GOOD. we have all waited anxiously for each update and have rejoiced with you, cried with you, and bombarded God’s throne with prayers for Ela. He has heard every word we prayed, even if all we could get out was “Thy will oh Lord.” We look forward to many more updates and will rejoice to see you back worshipping here with us. May God continue to hold you in His hands.
Oh Leslee, this pic of you and Ela says it all, so precious! As I read this, I thought of how you and Miguel have done this!
Through it all, through it all,
I’ve learned to trust in Jesus
I’ve learned to trust in God!
God bless you all! Bonnie and Buddy
It’s wonderful to hear “zero rejection”! Will be praying for wisdom as you all manage her care outpatient. And what a sweet video. Thanks for your faithfulness.
Praising God for answering prayers. ZERO rejection…God is SO good! Love seeing sweet Ela and her smile. Will continue to lift up her and your entire family in prayer to our Lord.
Praise God! He is faithful and gives good gifts to his children! So happy she is doing so well. My prayer today is for Leslie! You’ve got an uphill challenge but you can do it! We can do ALL things thru Christ who strengthens us!
Wonderful news! You’ve got this, mom and dad. You CAN provide the care she needs.
WOW! What an Awesome God we have! The video makes me want to sing, shout and dance for joy. Praise the Lord! Thank you Jesus. Pray that you’ll be home soon.
A great update! I loved the video! She is precious. Children surprise us with their resilience. They are amazing. May the Lord continue to bring healing and may the move to the house go surprisingly well. It sounds like so much to learn and watch and manage! God is giving you courage and wisdom and strength. Its prayers are often and fervent! 💕🤗😘🙏🙏🙏
Praise the Lord!
Answered prayers for no rejection 🙌🙌sorry for some other new not so good stuff though😢😢u 3 esp are true examples of a christian family. Praying esp for u leslee too as u struggle and learn more care tactics🙏💕🤦🏼♀️
Love the video and picture. Yall look like twins💕💕thx again leslee & miguel for taking time to update us. We are always praying & yall are close in our hearts. Love yall
Still miss josiah!!