Prayers and positive thoughts continue for Sammy and her family.
Prayers and positive thoughts continue for Sammy and her family.
Keep fighting little one.
Prayers and positive thoughts still going on for precious Sammy and her family.
Still praying for little Sammy!
:)
June 07, 2005 at 06:59 PM EDT
Sam is just now on her way down for the dressing change --
must have been a busy day in the OR.
She's having a cat scan done immediately after.
A physical therapist was in yesterday and today to
gently work her arms & legs; the guy today got a big surprise when
he lifted her blanket back to find a big pile o' poop. He patiently waited
for the nurse to clean her before he worked on her.
Today she opened her eyes all the way, and looked right at me!
She was fairly awake for quite a while, and
we were able to talk and sing to her, and read her a story.
I can't tell you how it felt to look into those eyes again.
But the biggest news is that I was able to hold her today,
for the first time in over a month!
For about an hour and a half before they came to get her,
she was in my arms, and I was able to rock her to sleep.
She'll be heavily sedated when I see her next, of course,
but once she gets a break from all the surgeries,
perhaps we can start seeing a more alert Sammy.
They will also check her lungs again tomorrow, and
try to determine why part of one is collapsed.
Well, they should be finished shortly, so I'll post again tomorrow.
Thanks for keeping Sam in your prayers!
I'll dream of holding her tonight, and hopefully
she'll have the same dream!!
Jessica
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WOW!! ;)
That's all pretty GOOD News!!
Keep on Improving, Lil Sammy!!
More Prayers on the way!]
This news just brings tears to my eyes and they are burning.
My prayers have never stopped. Bless you Jessica..........what joy it must have been for you to hold her and sing to her.
The new update brought tears to my eyes. What wonderful news. Little Sammy, keep getting better and better. You are such a strong little girl, and God has been taking such good care of you throughout this.
{{{hugs}}}
What great news!! glad to hear Sammy is improving!
What a wonderful update and how great it must have been to finally hold your little girl again!
I'm glad to hear she's on the right track:)
My eyes are burning as well. LES is just a crazy, happy circumstance. Oh thank you so very much for sharing this with us and letting us share your happiness.
OH, this just brought tears to my eyes. I can picture you holding sweet Sam now. What a wonderful feeling that must have been and to see her look at you had to bring such happiness to you.
I'm always thinking of Sam and keeping her in my prayers. Keep on fighting Sam you can do this. We are all sending positive thoughts and prayers your way still.
Robin
Ohhhhhhh, thank you, God!!!!
I am so happy for little Samantha!
Yay! :)
:)
June 08, 2005 at 09:49 AM EDT
Sam had a restful enough night,
and we are now waiting for the pulmonary team to take
another look at her lungs, and
physical therapy might show up today as well.
Her cat scan looked okay last night, but the official report was not in yet;
the attending physician didn't see anything distressing, though.
Her right hand--which looks good--is undressed and visible now.
The PT will start working w/it, and getting those fingers moving.
It's so nice to see a little hand again!!
She was very active yesterday, and had her eyes
fully open earlier this morning, too.
The plastics team will do daily dressing changes at bedside now,
and some regrafting (most of the grafts took, though)
will take place over the weekend or early next week.
I'll post again later if there's any news.
Thanks,
Jessica
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THANKS for Your Help, God!
Good news! That most of the grafts took! And that you can see that sweet little hand.
We are still with you, Jessica and Sammy-girl! Hang in there:)
;)
June 08, 2005 at 03:06 PM EDT
The pulmonary team did their thing and suctioned her out.
They were also able to "puff out" the collapsed parts,
so we'll hope it did the trick.
The attending was in to talk with me prior to this, and give me the current game plan: they want to try and wean her off the breathing tube entirely, as well as start weaning her off some of her (drug) drips, by sedating her less, but still giving pain meds. If they can't wean her off the tube within a week or so, they'll trach her temporarily so she can start rehab. They also want to tinker w/the dialysis, to make it so she can start rehabbing more, by maybe making it intermittent instead of continuous. Even if she needs the trach, they close right back up, so it's not a permanent thing. It looks like she'll do her rehab here at Children's.
The best part about the whole conversation was that she was speaking in terms of rehab and "when she goes home," which was awfully nice to hear. This doctor seemed to think that as long as we can avoid another major infection setting in, Sam should pull through this, w/lots of love and rehab.
From a skin perspective, things look good --
the Dr. said that 85% of the grafts taking is great.
Keep praying for Sam's continued strength,
because she's going to need a lot of it for rehab.
Thanks,
Jessica
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:D
We **LIKE** to hear Good News!!
Thank you God for keeping watch over this little miracle child. Major LES going on here right now, but very happy tears!
Thank you Phred for posting these updates.
Prayers continue to be prayed for all. The news sounds very good and I hope it just keeps on getting better by the hour! I know you have too much going on right now, but please keep us updated and let us know if there's ANYTHING you need or we can do for you. I'm on your side!!!!!
What great reports!!! I haven't posted in awhile but I have been keeping up with Sammy on the CarePages website. Little one you are always on my mind and in my prayers.
Such wonderful wonderful news! Come on Samantha, we're all still pulling for you and we know you an beat this! :)
Does anyone else around here feel like going up to Heaven and giving God a great big hug for taking care of Sammy and answering our prayers? :D I know I do. Yay for Sammy! Keep getting better, sweet child!
I too have been watching the care pages with the updates. I always look at them first. I am glad things are getting better, any improvement is so encouraging. Keep your spirits up, she's going to make it through all this. :) You are all in my prayers every day.
Sammy has been in my family's thoughts and prayers. I'm so encouraged by the recent news and could not hold back tears when Jessica wrote about getting to hold her baby girl for the first time in many weeks. :)
Prayers continue to come from Hawaii for Jessica, Rob, Sammy and their entire extended family.
I hold my breath by reading all that!
It is so good to hear that under these tough and worrying circumstances all indications point in the right direction.
We'll keep our thoughts with you, little Sammy.:)
June 09, 2005 at 09:37 AM EDT
Sam's dressing change went okay,
and they did an ultrasound of her kidneys;
unfortunately, they didn't see much flow in that area,
but that's pretty much what they suspected at this point.
We'll just have to take it as it comes regarding the kidneys.
Her lungs tested positive for a bacteria called pseudomonas,
which she had before; it's one of those opportunistic ones that
strike when the system's down. She's on antibiotics for it, and
hopefully they can wipe it out.
She was alert for a bit this morning, and I played one of her
favorite toys for her -- the Leapfrog alphabet toy
from Uncle Jerry & Aunt Ginny.
Rehab was in later yesterday, working her arms and hip joints,
and they want to start "whirlpooling" her soon as well.
The doctors are making rounds right now,
so I will find out any other news a bit later. That's it for now.
Thanks,
Jessica
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Prayers that the Lung Bugs go away quickly!!
June 09, 2005 at 12:10 PM EDT
Another update so soon...
mostly because they are putting a new line in,
and I was booted out of her room.
The new line is because they have to pull one out of her groin area,
so she can start her whirlpool deal--hydrotherapy, in other words.
That's supposed to start tomorrow,
when they are also going to try to switch her from continuous dialysis to the intermittent kind; they're worried that she might not tolerate it, esp. in terms of blood pressure, but in order to start some things necessary for rehab, they want to try and get her off constant dialysis, which gets in the way of everything else.
She's been pretty alert this morning, but they assure me she's as comfortable as possible; I worry about not only pain, but the fear that must be there, too.
One of the kidney docs talked to me briefly about the ultrasound results, and his feelings that things don't look too good in that area. It's likely Sam will be on dialysis for a while.
In better news, the pseudomonas was negative on the last test--
apparently the positive reaction was from when her old tube was in, and she received a new breathing tube the day before yesterday, and so far, that's been clean. They'll retest in another 24 hours, but so far, so good.
Keep the prayers coming, as she has a lot going on the next few days.
Thanks,
Jessica
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Sounds like a Prayer or two for Sammy's Kidneys is in order ...
*DONE*!
Cinder & Smokey offer to keep her company in the Hydro Tub ...
Bowser says he'd rather just *watch*.
:)
June 10, 2005 at 10:44 AM EDT
Sam is now on her way to the whirlpool;
the actual therapy only lasts 20 minutes or so, but the
prep/transport/unwrap/anesthesia, etc. makes the
whole deal several hours long.
Then they will try the intermittent-type dialysis; lots going on today.
One of the residents just asked me if anyone had talked to me about Sam possibly returning to Shriner's for the long haul; apparently, it's been discussed, which was news to me, so who knows what the story is. It wouldn't be until she was stable enough. The official discussion hasn't taken place yet, but at least we've got a heads-up. Maybe they feel her recovery would be quicker over there, since skin is their specialty.
I'll post more on this development later.
Thanks,
Jessica
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Prayers that the Wrirlpool Therapy *helps*!!
Still praying for little Sammy!
Prayers and get well wishes for Sammy have never stoped and they will continue until she's back home and well on her way to recovery.
Prayers still going strong for Samantha and her family. (((hugs)))
:)
June 10, 2005 at 03:31 PM EDT
Sam's had a good day, and surpassed everyone's expectations --
she tolerated both the whirlpool and the dialysis,
which is just wrapping up right now.
She didn't even need the vent during the whirlpool, and
was pretty much breathing on her own.
During the dialysis, her bp only dropped -- very briefly --
once or twice, which really surprised the docs.
All in all, she was a SuperSam!
We talked w/one of the docs again, and she thinks that though Sam could probably go without the vent now as far as her respiratory needs, if they took it out & didn't do the trach, they'd have to keep putting the tube back in & out for every surgery/procedure -- and there will be many surgeries. Keeping her as pain-free as possible is a top priority, so they're thinking a trach would be better all around: her face would be free, and she could be more interactive; and it would be much easier to deal w/in surgery.
So a final decision will be made sometime next week;
if they do the trach, she'll be in ICU at least 5 days after, to make sure it's healed properly. And it does seem like they think Shriner's can do the best job w/the skin, so we're still waiting for the final verdict on that as well.
Right now we're just thankful that today went as well as it did, and we'll deal w/the rest as it comes.
Oh, and they found time at the end of her whirlpool session to wash her hair, and new piggies were put in as soon as she was back in her room. Hopefully she'll rest well tonight after her big day.
Thanks,
Jessica
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WOW! :cool:
Quite a list of *accomplishments* for lil Sammy in just one day!!
Let's hope & Pray there are many MORE like this one to come!!
Sammy it is amazing what you are doing! What a busy day. Love you with your new piggies:)
June 12, 2005 at 07:56 PM EDT
After Sam's heroic day, she had some setbacks over the weekend.
She was very agitated and in pain Friday night, and they had difficulty making her comfortable. The hospital's pain management team is now handling the treatment plan for this, so the pain control will be consistent.
Unfortunately, the pseudomonas is back, and causing Sam to spike fevers; the trach will be put off until the infection is resolved. It is likely getting in through her very compromised skin, and she is being treated w/antibiotics and a topical cream, as dictated by the infectious disease dept. It's imperative that this--or any other infection--not enter Sam's bloodstream, as that would be devastating.
Please pray extra hard for Sam, so we can get her past this.
She was off dialysis for much of the weekend, but is now back on the constant kind (CCVH), as the intermittent kind (hemodialysis) is more intense/taxing, and they want to go easy on her until the infection is taken care of.
In other news, I was able to hold her again Friday night--yay--
and she has whirlpool treatment again tomorrow,
so we'll hope that goes well again.
She's resting comfortably right now, and
I'm hoping for a peaceful night of rest for her.
Thanks,
Jessica
--------------------------------------------------------------
Prayers that the lung bugs go away ...
and for a Peaceful Night for both Sammy and Mommy!
Sending lots more prayers and love Sammy's way.
Sammy we think of you and all our thoughts weave a blanket as fine as a spider's net;)
June 13, 2005 at 12:16 PM EDT
Well, Sam's back up from whirlpool, and she did fine.
She was a bit "sleepier" this time, so didn't do much breathing
on her own, but tolerated the treatment and was comfortable.
She has a fungal infection along w/the pseudomonas,
which is common in patients w/conditions like her.
The plastic surgeon took a look at the skin while she was in whirlpool,
and wasn't too bothered by what he saw;
he plans on grafting more early next week.
It looks like her trach might go in Wednesday;
they feel she will have been on the meds long enough,
and it would be safe to do.
One possibly positive development:
the nurse said there was a semi-decent amount of urine in her diaper.
We'll take anything we can get.
As always, it's day-by-day here, and
we'll continue to hope & pray for the best.
Thanks,
Jessica
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Prayers from here, too!!
Sammy's still in our prayers.
Samantha is still in my prayers. ((((hugs)))))
Still in my prayers little one.
Samantha is in my prayers. I'm sure she's a strong girl...
:)
June 14, 2005 at 11:55 AM EDT
Another problem-free whirlpool treatment,
and she's back upstairs and napping away.
The plan so far is to do the trach asap--the ENT folks had said they could maybe do it later this week, but the ICU folks want it done maybe tomorrow, so we'll see who wins that one.
The pain meds seem to be working, so we're grateful for that.
Other than that, no new developments,
which is usually a good thing.
Thanks for the continued prayers,
Jessica
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Glad she likes her *Swimmin* sessions!!