Baby Ellie

Last night I received a text message from cousin Cyprian. He invited the whole family to his youngest child, baby Ellie's birthday party. Being a blurry person that I am, I didn't realize that's not exactly a birthday party but to me that could be the last earthly celebration Cyprian and his wife Donna can do for the little one.

Ellie was born on 14th August 2021 with a rare health condition called Biliary Atresia. What exactly is that? I'll put it simply as " a blockage in the tubes (ducts) that carry bile from the liver to the gallbladder. This congenital condition occurs when the bile ducts inside or outside the liver do not develop normally. It is not known why the biliary system fails to develop normally." (Thanks Google!) I'll put a link here on elaborated explanation: 

👉BILIARY ATRESIA Facts👈

I asked Cyprian how's the baby doing so far, he replied she's not doing well. I felt a little regret asking him that when I suddenly recalled I saw him posting a photo of a priest coming over to their house more than a week back to give Ellie the Sacrament of Anointing the Sick. For us Catholics, that's the sacrament given when a person is dying. After the short conversation with him last night, I began to imagine things that might have occured before the last sacrament was given. Had the doctor confronted Cyprian and Donna and told them there's a slim chance for Ellie to recover? How would've they both reacted? Weeks back Cyprian did tell me that they might need RM100,000 to cover the surgery cost for the baby. 

I could not sleep well last night thinking about this, sat up and Googled up for articles on Biliary Atresia. Most of the articles explained that majority number of children who suffer from this condition may not live pass the age of two. My heart broke learning about all this. Ellie's even barely one year old this month.

This morning I talked about this with Apak over breakfast. Like everyone else, he's also not familiar with this sickness. I even told him we got invited to the baby's little party, but of course, Apak being Apak knowing the virus is still around, he declined the invitation for everyone's sakes. Yes, the government has issued endemic phase nationwide but that does not mean we can go all out to do things in public, he said. Apak added on "Bear in mind, we are not EXACTLY in endemic phase for now, it's more of TRANSITION phase from pandemic to endemic. There could be high probability of public contracting the virus in massive number". As I am writing this, the decision to accept the invitation for now. I had a little scare few days back when I felt a little unwell upon waking up, with sore throat. Did the RTK test twice that day, so far the result turned out NEGATIVE. However, I needed to monitor myself within few more days, hence I had to work from home. Grateful for this part time job on the other hamd.

I feel sorry for Ellie. As her distant relative, there's not much that I could do but offer prayers for the little one. We dread the day the Lord calls her to Eternal Home, one can only hope for miracles but who are we to question what's been written in the Book of Life? Ellie's presence is also a reminder to everyone, anything in the universe created by the Maker, is not everlasting. Life is indeed brief.