58 Hours

Donna had a scheduled reunion with her nursing classmates this weekend in Las Vegas. Since we didn't have enough time to cancel our hotel reservation, she talked with Rach, Eph and his in-laws and told them of our situation. With their blessings for us to go, Daniel took us and we went ahead and picked up the Prius from Long Beach this morning. We then picked up Cecille from her place in LA.

In Barstow, midway to Las Vegas, while we were gassing up, Eph called around 3 pm saying Elijah has turned for the worse and he may not make it so we hurriedly turned around and went back to the hospital.

Of course we now hit the rush hour traffic and it was already around 6 when we got to the hospital. It turned out they were only waiting for us. Elijah developed some bleeding in his brain and his hemoglobin count went from 9 to 2. His little body didn't stand a chance.

He passed away around 8 pm tonight. He made us feel the bittersweet experience of being grandparents for about 58 hours.

I had mixed feelings of confusion, surprise, love, anger, doubt and I'm full of questions, what-ifs and perhaps. Rach was diagnosed with an incompetent cervix, hence Elijah's premature birth. Perhaps it took his sacrifice so they'll know what to do next time she gets pregnant. With his birth, Rach's quickly growing cyst in her ovary was taken out at the same time.

But I think this is a test of faith for us and of love for each other which I think will be even stronger by the time all this is over. The only question, however - I'm not quite sure when exactly it'll be over.

I know I'd be lying if I say I know how Rach and Eph feel because if I'm hurting a thousand as a grandfather, I'm sure they're hurting a thousand million times more as Elijah's parents. But Elijah bid us goodbye so I must let go.


Here's Eph and Rach's message to everyone:

It is with extreme and profound sadness that I announce that our son, Elijah Quizon Maniago, passed away this evening due to complications with his premature birth. Rachel and I are beside ourselves in grief, but we take solace in the fact that we were able to spend at least a couple days with him and that he is now with God in Heaven watching over us.

Currently, we plan to hold a small private service for our immediate family only, but we do ask that you keep Rachel, Me and Elijah in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. We also respectfully ask that you refrain from contacting us on our cell phones, but you can email us at ephraimandrachel@gmail.com with your condolences.
We love you Elijah .. you are with us always ...
Ephraim and Rachel Maniago

GOOBYE, ELIJAH!

In Gratitude

Yesterday, the hospital staff told us the first 24 hours will be critical to Elijah's survival. It's midnight now and it will be 48 hours by tomorrow at 10 a.m.

Rachel took her shower this morning and her IV and catheter were taken off. She's a very strong woman, bless her heart. When we arrived after lunch, all of us (with Rach being wheeled by Eph) went down to check up on Elijah.

They have a couple of good news and one bad. First the bad news, they had to administer a separate IV to his very tiny arm for some medication infusion. But the good news; his brain and heart were examined and there was no bleeding in the former and the latter was functioning properly. We're taking it day by day and we're still praying for him

And speaking of prayers, last night I sent a bunch of friends an eMail requesting they help us pray for him as well. I was literally crying tonight while I was reading their responses below. I apologize, most of them were written in our language, Capampangan.

On behalf of Eph and Rachel, Donna and I extend our heartfelt gratitude for the kind words and prayers and please continue praying for us all especially Elijah and Rachel.



Dear Rey & Donna,
Our sincerest prayers are with you all. Your grandchild Elijah will be the miracle baby.
I feel optimistic that your grandchild-Elijah will soon be coming home from the hospital. Nowadays we're very lucky to have the latest wonders in neonatology. Baka magstay yang bagyang malambat keng NICU i Elijah, hangang sumikan ya; then, the whole family, and all friends & relatives will enjoy the baby.
(Pls believe me, I can empathize with you and Elijah's parents; my Christine had a miscarriage before having our grandson-Maddox. I believe in prayers, and miracles. This may not be the time for me to tell you stories but ing kapatad a Elmer, NICU ing specialization na. He'd advise us to keep the faith.)
Pasensiya na kayu mu at eku pa mekayaus kekayu keng telepono; pabalik-balik ing laryngitis ku.
Take care, and may God bless all & always.
Dandy


Congratulations.
Children are a blessing from the Lord!
We will lift Elijah up in prayer. He will be well. We have friends who gave birth to less than a pound baby (2 of them) and they are doing fine.
They are 8 and 10 years old now.
Blessings,
Roger and Bevs

Our prayers are with you. Ing technology keni ay advanced at dalubhasa la deng Doctor. Malati yang masyado pa ing Apo yu pero miracles happen.
Rosa

Ing tauli cung apu queng anac cung babae 8 mos. pre-matured ya. Pero ing calupa na ning apu mu, itang anac na ning pangunacan nang Jette, 6 mos. pre-matured ya naman. Cabie nang cabie ngeni at ane caragul. Ali mu isipan a pre-matured ya, much more 6 months.
So, ali ca migaganaca. Aquit meng dagul ing apu mu.
Maglambat ya mu ping bagya queng ospital. Siguru at least 2 months.
Ras

We will be praying for Elijah and a special Rosary will be offered for him. I will also include your special intentions in my Holy Family Prayer Group this Sunday.
The Lord be with you also Rey and Donna. The Lord is Good All the Time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lann and Alex


So sorry to hear about the sad news. Yes, our prayers are offered for Elijah.
Elaine & Gene

Dear Rey and Donna,
Pag calungcutan mi quing capalyarian a me Emergency ya ing manuyang a Rachel.
Sana antabayanan ne ning mayupayang Guino quing pamalagi na Ospital macanyan mu naman quing Apu yung Elijah,sana dinan neng sikanan ban alagpasan ing pag subuk a ini at quecami ati yu careng Pangadi mi.
Dan at Imelda

Pangadi mi king Ginu ing kalam at lugud king pusu yu...

Mon at Ann

Wa, jo, pangadi ta ya.

Lits

Congrats Lolo, yeah will include Elijah in our prayers.

Angel

Akabyusan yu ngan iyan at ing panalangin mi alang patugut at sebianan ku la mu naman deng kaluguran ku na iyabe dako ngan king panalangin da lalung lalu na I Elijah.Malugud ya ing Apung Guinu at balu ku makiramdam ya keng kekatamung panalangin at antimo ing sinabi ku kang Donna pakisabian at bulungan ye I Elijah na lumaban ya at maging masikan.

Josie and Rey

Dear Pare and Mare,

Congratulations on the birth of Elijah, your first grandson. We'll keep him in our prayers and wish him good health and may he grow to be a fine young man. Our prayers for Rachel as well for her speedy recovery.

All our best,

Pareng James and Mareng Celia

The Pangilinan family extend our greetings, and we'll pray for the safety of your daughter-in-law and grandson.
Congratulations at sana salese ya ing first apu mu.
Ness & Daisy

Rey and Don,
ngayon lang namin nalaman ang nangyari sa inyong apo. pinagdadasal namin siya. maragul ing tsansa alampasan neyan. advance na ngeni ing medicine. all our prayers are for Elijah and Rachel.
Allan and Neneng

My thoughts and prayers are sent your way.. Hope the baby pull through.
CONGRATULATIONS too sa first apo ninyo... So long and keep us posted...
cora fuhrman

Uncle,
I'm glad Rachel is doing ok. Lots of prayers for baby Elija! I hope that our strengths and prayers will transcend to him. Regards to all.
Love,
cin

Uncle,
I'm sorry keng milyari keng apu mu, we will pray for Elijah. Atin kung kaluguran na 1 lb and some ounces ya naman ing baby na anyang mibayit ya, Eku mu balu kung pilan yang months keng incubator ing baby pero fighter ya ing baby, that was 16 years ago, talagang healthy ya ever since, alang asthma, alang alwang complication.
Please give my love to my cousin and his wife Rachel, we will pray for them.
Love,
Lani

No problem, Uncle. And please, send them (to the couple) my love too.
And yes, everything is possible with God. Let approach Him with humble prayers.
Love and Kisses,
Mina

Dear Rey,
Cayabe ya i Elijah at pengari na keng kanacu at kecaming pangadi.
With love, proper care and prayers your little angel Elijah will grow and develop as a healthy baby, a beautiful child of God.
Take care and greetings to Donna.
Love and prayers,
Sr. Lita

Dear Rey and Donna,
We are one with you in praying for young Elijah. We should be strong and we should never lose our faith in the Almighty when we are faced with challenges like this. We are confident that everything will turn out well.
Though from afar, we shall continue praying.
Rey and Em

Elijah Quizon Maniago

Eph's mother-in-law, Rose, has been telling us stories about Rachel and her high tolerance for pain. Yesterday morning I got a call from Eph saying he had to take Rach to the hospital for some bleeding when she went to the bathroom. Less than an hour later it was found our that she was dilated and he said doctors had to perform an emergency C-section because the baby was breeched with his feet already on the way out of the birth canal.

Elijah Quizon Maniago was born at 9:59 am, January 14, 2009 at 23 weeks so he was rushed to the hospital NICU.

We immediately drove to the hospital upon hearing the news. When we got there, they were preparing to move Rach to her room so Eph took us to see the baby at the NICU. Dan joined us a few minutes later. We suggested to Eph to tell the nurses that we feel the baby be informally baptized by any of us preferrably Eph by pouring water on him. But they told us they have a resident chaplain who can do the job properly and he should be available in an hour. While we were waiting to for the elevators to see Rach, one of the nurses caught up with us and said the priest has shown up early. So we immediately went back. He took some information from Eph and it turned out the baptism he performed was official and Elijah need not be baptized again in church. When the ceremony was over he said, "Welcome to the club." I thought he meant welcome to the Church but he said he was a preemie himself with a shoebox for his crib.

We stayed with Rach most of the time and all kinds of friends and relatives paid her a visit. Donna's cell phone almost went dead due to all the calls she received. The nursing staff was amazed that Rachel wasn't feeling any pain with her surgery even after the anaesthesia has worn off and that's when Rose told us a time when Rach was in college and she was feeling some discomfort thinking she had an upset stomach. It turned out her appendix has ruptured. We assumed she was experiencing labor pains yesterday when Eph took her to the hospital but she wasn't really feeling them.

They told us the first 24 hours will be critical for Elijah's survival and it's 10:25 now the day after.

Please pray with us that Elijah prevails.

JASHS Class '70 USA Meeting 1-10-09

A couple of days ago I came across my niece Lani's Friendster account, and I was able to 'lift' a few of her pictures. It's nice to see some old ones with my late Mom and sister. Thanks, Lani.


Yesterday afternoon, we went and visited Cecille in her place in LA and dropped off some Capampangan tamales which she loves so much. She treated us with some El Pollo Loco chicken for dinner.

On the way home Donna and I decided to watch the movie Gran Torino at the Edwards Theaters in Cerritos. It's about this grumpy old guy (Clint Eastwood who directed and starred in it) and his Hmong neighbors. Good movie. A few in the audience applauded when it was over.

Today, Boy and Remy along with their daughter MaryJo picked us up here in La Mirada so we can go to the JASHS Class '70 meeting at Cora and Arnold's house in Long Beach. Boy had me drive his new Toyota Sienna - very nice ride and great handling. I've never been to Cora's house so Boy's Magellan GPS came in handy.

When we arrived, Ed and Odette were already there as well as Gene and Elaine. Rey and Josie didn't make it because he had to work some overtime, Roger and Bevs had some previous engagement, and Mon has a gig. I'm not sure why Bert and Nestor didn't come. At around 6 pm while we were having dinner we started the meeting. We talked, mostly, about the upcoming 40th Anniversary Grand Reunion in 2010 and the classroom that we decided we'll adopt as the next project of the group. We called Rey and inquired about the funds that's currently in his account. He said he'll mail me the check. Unfortunately, he also added that he's resigning from his position as treasurer of the group. Cora was nice enough to volunteer (actually she got volunteered by all those present!) as the new treasurer and Arnold committed to be her assistant!


When Imelda and Dan arrived a bit later, we updated her on our meeting and once we adjourned we went inside to eat some more and sing Karaoke. Once again Cora was able to wow us with her newfound skills as a Karaoke performer! Thanks a lot Cora and Arnold for hosting our meeting.


Remy and Boy dropped us back off here in La Mirada and they made sure they went in the house for their tamales to take home!


While I was uploading the pictures I took, I checked my eMail and I found one from classmate John Andrade and he's attached a bunch of pictures from their Reunion at Gigster last Dec 30, 08.