"SURGEON SAVES ELI'S LIFE, THEN LOSES HIS OWN"

THE BIRTH OF LANCE MALACHI L. FILIO, nicknamed Eli (Eee-lay), was a test of FAITH. Eli made sure that EVERYBODY noticed his coming. And we all did. It seemed that the world stopped to let him slip in. And he disturbed and distracted us all from what we were doing with the question: “How strong is your Faith?” And the next hours and days tested us.

He was a blue baby, born with inverted blue blood and red blood arteries. He turned “kulay talong” a few hours after birth with oxygen level of only 50 when normally it should be 100 or over. We were not prepared for this. We were expecting a normal birth even if by caesarian section.

That day started inauspiciously. There was no hint that his birth would not be normal. His lola gave birth to five, all of them normal, including his father Lance who was born in our house. So why not him?

The countdown began October 25th 2007. Nikki felt birth pains and Lance brought her to Mary Johnston Hospital. In retrospect, it was God’s plan that Eli was to be born by caesarian section the next day after 26 hours of painful labor. IT HAD TO HAPPEN THAT DAY BECAUSE OF WHAT WE DID NOT KNOW THEN WILL HAPPEN LATER THAT WILL SAVE HIS LIFE.

Almost immediately after he was bottle-fed Eli turned mulatto and when checked, his oxygen level was only 50. After pulmonary causes were ruled out, they called in their pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Eden Tolosa who immediately prescribed prostaglandin to prevent the hole of the valve where Eli gets his oxygen from closing in 24 hours. The medicine was only available at PHC and a quick run there by Lance and Mecce secured the medicine. This later proved to be VITAL and saved Eli.

Transferring Eli to PHC was easier said than done. It took the whole day of October 27 before an ambulance was rented from Lifeline Arrow. But their respirator was good only for adults. Dra. Vangie asked permission from MJH to bring the hospital respirator in the ambulance and it was granted but she had to concede that she was going with the ambulance. When the ambulance arrived it was found out that their outlet was 110 while the respirator is 220. It was decided to bring the manual respirator together with a doctor. There were other glitches but they were solved and on to PHC Eli went.

Eli was bravely fighting for his life with all of us praying for him every step of the way. Pastor Boji said in an email to us: “Heart-wrenching – how could this two-week old baby endure what many of us would not even pass through in our lifetime? Eli is special or should I say very special. His heart is a heart that comes from God, strong, resilient. And we are witnesses to that. While we can only worry. . . he does the surviving.”

EXACTLY FOURTEEN DAYS after birth, November 8th, Eli underwent heart surgery at Philippine Heart Center. Together with his lola, we struggled to be with him before he went into the Operating Room. But it conflicted with the schooling schedule of Cayler, the firstborn of our son Ben, who was also under our care. However, Ben gave way by taking a leave from work. At 7am we were on our way to PHC, arrived past 8 am and was able to pray over him. As I said amen his eyes flickered as if in acknowledgement and he did it again when I said to him loudly, “See you later Eli!” before he was wheeled into the operating room.

The surgery took 8 agonizing hours but it was successful. He stayed in the recovery room for 4 days and at Pedia ICU for 3 days. By November 18th, 10 days after his heart operation, Eli was wheeled in with his mother Nikki into his own private room where his lolos and lola gushed over him, taking cell photos right and left. OUR FAITH PULLED US THROUGH! TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

I write this journal for Eli, so that when he is grown up and we may no longer be around he will know how special he is and why he was first consecrated to God as firstborn son and then baptized.

Now we write about something that only God could have foreseen. Why it was providential that Eli had to be born on October 26th and brought to PHC on October 27th. And why after postponing his operation for a week to November 7th, it was necessary that he be operated on November 8th and that it no longer be postponed.

After midnight of November 8th, Eli passed all the necessary test and it was GO for him 8 am of November 8th. Dr. Jaime Nuevo, Pediatric Cardio Surgeon par excellence, did the surgery. This was vital. Because 12 days after, the good doctor succumbed to a massive stroke, leaving behind the legacy of a successful blue baby heart surgery in Lance Malachi, nicknamed Eli (Eee-lay).

He operated on Eli last November 8th, reverting back to normal his blue and red blood arteries in an 8-hour surgery. He guided the baby for 12 days and saw him recover from his operation. But he did not see Eli go home because by then he has joined his Maker. Dr. Nuevo left a large size shoe that the Philippine Heart Center is finding hard to fill.

The happy news is that Lance Malachi, nicknamed Eli (Eee-lay), is doing well and we pray will fully recover from his heart surgery.

The sad news is that there is only one surgeon doing congenital heart surgery at Philippine Heart Center and that they have only recently acquired the equipments for such delicate surgery. But now that they have the equipments they no longer have the surgeon to perform the surgery. The courageous Dr. Nuevo left a shoe so big that as of this writing they cannot find anyone to fill it. They now do not know what to do about infants with congenital heart disease. Eli squeezed in before Nuevo died. He is truly blessed because the two other children that Nuevo operated on after him succumbed.

Eight people donated blood and a surgeon lost his life for Eli. This is truly a modern day PASSOVER STORY. The Angels of God PASSED OVER ELI by the blood of his eight donors and the life of his surgeon. Praise God!