A few days before Christmas holidays, Eli Drobnik was a healthy five-year-old boy. Within a matter of days, he was admitted to Children’s Hospital in Vancouver and diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, says family friend Rachel Aube.
“He went from right as rain to chemotherapy in a few days,” Aube said.
Eli’s mom Bianca Drobnik said the family, including her husband Thorsten and their other two children Ruby, 8, and Ira, 2, all had a stomach flu near the end of last year, but Drobnik said Eli’s facial colour never went back to normal.
“He started getting tiny bruises,” Drobnik said of Eli. “Once I saw those, we went to urgent care.”
Drobnik said Eli got blood work done and then he was sent to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital where she said they determined it was leukemia and they decided to send Eli to Children’s Hospital.
Drobnik said they were expecting snow that night and they weren’t able to fly to the Lower Mainland. They had to wait until the next morning when they took the ambulance by ferry to Children’s Hospital.
Since then, Drobnik said Eli has been trooping along.
“It’s hard. There’s times where he’s better and then he sleeps for three hours. It’s quite emotional,” said Drobnik, who is an occupational therapist. “I never thought I’d find myself on this side.”
Drobnik and her family immigrated to Canada from Germany in early 2008. Then when she was on maternity leave with Eli, the family made the move to the Island where they now live in Qualicum Beach.
Drobnik said since Eli’s diagnosis the family has been staying in the hospital and Ronald McDonald House, but they don’t know how long they’ll be in the Lower Mainland.
“It was such a crappy time too because everyone was on vacation,” said Drobnik, adding that their oncologist has been on maternity leave until the end of this month.
Also at the end of this month, Drobnik said, Eli will get his next lumbar puncture and bone marrow biopsy.
“Pending those results, we will see if he needs to stay here or come monthly,” Drobnik said.
Drobnik said that because Eli’s number of white blood cells was so high, he’s considered high risk.
“In the hospital, they say to take it day-by-day. The first month is the hardest,” Drobnik said. “We’re taking it hour-by-hour. It would be nice to know the plan, but it’s not possible.”
Aube has created a crowd-funding campaign on YouCaring (www.youcaring.com/elidrobnik-721526) with a goal of $20,000 to help the Drobnik family with any medical costs. As of Jan. 20, $11,328 has been raised.
A post on Jan. 13 said Eli was back in the hospital fighting an infection.
“This is the new reality for the Drobnik family,” said the post written by Aube. “As any sign of sickness means that Eli will need urgent medical care.”
Aube has also organized a bottle drive on Saturday, Feb. 4 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Parksville Bottle and Recycling Depot (611A Alberni Hwy.) People can also drop of their bottles on Feb. 3 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Arrowview Elementary.
If people have any questions, they can email Aube at rachaube1@gmail.com.
