Bracelet sightings

First of all, I have once again gone through a ‘post drought’ where I depend mostly on Eli’s Twitter page for quick updates rather than post a full post here. I did add a red bar to the top of Eli’s website, which you may have noticed, that shows the most recent Twitter update. You can also see his Twitter feed on the right hand side of the webpage and of course you can subscribe to Eli’s Twitter feed via email. Instructions on how to do that can be found on the bottom of this page.

Eli continues to do well. Since I last posted, he wrapped up a round of Temodar (oral chemo) and has since started on his final round of Temodar that is called for on this 8H9 protocol (each round is 42 days)! His counts are low and there is a LOT of sickness going around at his school, so prayers are certainly appreciated. He had a red blood transfusion on Friday since his HGB got down to 7.5. His platelets are at 70, so we’re also keeping our eyes on that number.

Since I was in Canada for work last week, it was a bit of a reality check to come back (after not seeing him for a while) to find him hooked up to a pole with a bag of blood attached to it. I might sound like a broken record, but thank you to everyone who takes the time to donate blood!

The week before I left, Eli went to Oklahoma City with his grandparents to watch the International Pro Rodeo Finals and got to get back in touch with some amazing cowboys and cowgirls that treat him like a king. In fact, during an intermission they drove him around the arena in a firetruck and announced their support of him as he was all decked out in his cowboy gear. Thanks to all of Eli’s rodeo family supporters in OKC for giving him an unforgettable time!

Cowboy Eli

For something a bit different, I thought it would be fun to highlight a few places where Eli’s bracelet has been seen. 🙂 I have to say, these bracelets have been a very fun part of this journey. We have presented them to many different people (both total strangers and long time friends) and it’s always fun to see them ‘in the wild’. Some places are just a bit more ‘wild’ than others!

I’ll start with one of my all time favorite pictures. Commander Lou, dad to one of Eli’s best buddies (Griffin), was able to make arrangements to have one of Eli’s bracelets go up with the Space Shuttle Atlantis through his Navy connections at NASA. In fact, Commander Ken Ham had one of Eli’s bracelets attached to his kneeboard at liftoff! They took the bracelet out to let it ‘hover’ in zero gravity and took this picture. They then sent back the bracelet, along with an official NASA certificate claiming it had been in space and a few signed posters by the astronauts. A huge thanks to Commender Lou and Reid Wiseman for making that all happen last year, it was truly incredible.

Eli’s bracelet floating about 200 miles above the Earth taken inside the Japanese Experiment Module on the Space Station. Solar arrays which provide the only power to the station are seen in the upper left. Obviously, the Earth is pretty visible as well.

Speaking of Commander Lou, here is an album of pictures that he took while he was flying a Navy FA-18 (click the thumbnail to see the entire album). The G-Force bracelet is for his son, Griffin. A rhabdomyosarcoma survivor and an amazing kid whom we love very much.

Bracelet in Flight

Some people might remember this picture I took of the Newsboys newly appointed frontman, Michael Tait (formerly of DC Talk), sporting Eli’s bracelet after the 2010 Winter Jam concert:

Well at this year’s WJ concert, my little sister ‘one upped’ me and managed to get the entire band to wear Eli’s bracelet, as well as KJ-52 and the lead singer of Kutless! Here is an album with all of those pics:

ELI BRACELET SIGHTING @ WINTER JAM

Finally, we all know that Eli’s bracelet can even bring together natural enemies like the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Iowa State Cyclones as both starting QB’s sported their support on their wrists:

Ricky Stanzi – Iowa QB

Austen Arnaud – ISU QB

This was the video that ISU did last year about Eli’s Bracelets and the Cyclone football team:

Of course we know that hundreds of you, whether or not you are a rockstar, a football player, a cowboy, or an astronaut, are wearing Eli’s bracelet right now and we are very honored. Thank you SO much. This might be a good time to mention that if you have lost, broken, given away your bracelet, or if you have never received one, please contact us and request one (or more)! Simply send an email to bracelets@elihorn.com and an autoresponder will give you instructions on how to obtain yours. Remember, we give them away for free as a thank you to all of Eli’s prayer warriors!

Thanks for continuing to check in. We are so grateful to everyone who continues to follow Eli’s journey and keep him and his friends in prayer. Please keep Ylaria’s amazing family in prayer as well as Liam’s amazing family as those two young fighters both recently went to heaven. Liam’s dad was the president of the Band of Parents and that family also helped found and put an enormous of muscle behind the Cookies for Kids’ Cancer charity.

Fun Fact: This is the 300th update I have posted since Eli’s journey began. Huge props to anyone who has actually read all 300 posts. 🙂