Elijah
(Eli) Horn was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma on June
29th, 2007 at around the age of three and a half. He had a
massive tumor growing in his body that went from his pelvis, up
through his abdomen, and up into his chest.
Eli was being treated in Iowa
City at the University of Iowa Children's Hospital until
November of 2007. The plan in Iowa City was like most plans
around the country, to give Eli 5 rounds of chemo, surgically
remove whatever tumor is left in his abdomen, and then do tandem
autologous stem cell transplants. It is a very dangerous and
extremely high dose chemotherapy that basically wipes out all of
your body's stem cells, then you rescue their body by
transplanting them with their own stem cells you harvested
earlier in the process.
We came to Memorial
Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in
New York City in October of 2007 for the hands of Dr.
LaQuaglia who
performed Eli's surgery to remove the tumor from around his
aorta, his kidney arteries, and everywhere else the tumor was
still found. People come from all over the world to have Dr.
LaQuaglia do their Neuroblastoma surgery. He is an amazing
surgeon. During the time we were here, we learned about Sloan's
alternative to stem cell transplants. The team in NYC uses 3F8
antibody treatments that highlight the Neuroblastoma cells and
makes your own body attack the cancer. Even though it is
considered more "experimental", it has a good 20 year track
record and we feel that there is much more experience with this
cancer here in NYC. Eli finished 7 rounds of chemotherapy and 14
rounds of radiation to his leg and abdomen before proceeding
with the 3F8 antibody, which cleared the cancer in his body.
He stayed cancer free until February of 2009 when a very small
Neuroblastoma tumor was found on his brain. A surgery was
performed by Dr. Souweidane to remove the tumor and insert a
port into Eli’s head so that another antibody called 8H9 could
be administered to his brain and spine. After an
additional 2 rounds of chemo and 17 rounds of full cranial and
spine radiation, Eli will go through the 8H9 treatment.
While
in New York City, we are blessed to be able to stay at the
Ronald McDonald
House of NY, the largest Ronald McDonald House in the world.
The House holds 83 families and is at capacity nearly every
night. Many of these families are here with a child with
Neuroblastoma and have come from all over the world to be
treated at Sloan. We have met countless friends in NYC and have
a very special bond with many of the children and parents of the
Ronald McDonald House. So while we miss our home in Iowa,
we are thrilled to be getting great treatment in New York.
We thank you for your prayers and if you would like a
“Prayer Warrior in Eil’s Army” bracelet to wear or give to
someone to be a daily reminder to pray for Eli, simply send an
e-mail to
bracelets@elihorn.com and you will immediately receive a
reply with instructions on how to obtain a free bracelet.
Romans 8:26 "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."
SITE Features
videos - Check out all of the latest Eli Videos at Eli's YouTube site.
carepage - Track Eli's progress with daily updates on Eli's CarePage. To receive the correct CarePage Name, simply e-mail Aaron and request it.
photos - The most up to date photos can be found in our online Photo Album.
calendar - A VERY Tentative calendar of Eli's treatments.
Voicemail
Google Voice will immediately call you and put you into Eli's voicemail box!
eli videos
6.20.08