Johanna (Cataholic) & Sister Jessica continue to Request Prayers for young Samantha

[Logan]

Bless her heart..........praying for good things for all of you.

Logan

[luvofallhorses]

Prayers from Montana and {{hugs}}

[popcornbird]

Sweet Sammy, I continue to pray for you. Hang in there. You've come a long way, and I know God will help you as your health returns to normal. Stay strong little one!!! {{{hugs}}}

[Barbara]

I am so sorry for you- but we knew always it could happen on her long way to recovery. All the best thoughts to you

[Cinder & Smoke]

Tuesday, July 19, 2005 at 04:43 PM EDT

Well, as always, wait a little while and the plan will change.
We are still on the rehab floor, but not technically on rehab's "service",
which means Sam's only having therapies once a day (like during the latter part of her ICU stay), and under the primary care of a nephrologist instead of her rehab doc.

It looks like she has a UTI, which they are treating, and is not much of a surprise, considering she had a catheter for quite some time. The nephrologist thinks she can stay put -- sparing her another move, esp. a short-term one -- and they'll watch her for a few days, and then (hopefully!) be able to return her to rehab's service.

Sam had a pretty good day today, and
is officially allowed to drink from her sippy cup.
Of course, once actual liquid was put in the cup, she decided she didn't want a drink after all! That all changed when Daddy showed up, and pretended to drink from her cup, then handed it to her --
she took her first sip!
(Apparently, Mommy wasn't nearly as impressive when she tried the same stunt earlier.)

She's smiling a lot more now;
I put her sunglasses on her stuffed rhino, and that caused quite a grin.

She wasn't as sleepy today as the last few days, and we're looking for her to continue to perk up, once the infection is brought under control.
Her ICU nurse, Katie, came by to see her yesterday;
as nice as it was to see her,
we are relieved that we're not heading back there!

Sam appreciates your prayers, and she's working hard to get better.

Thanks,
Jessica

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Sammy ~

Thanks for Workin So Hard to get Better ~
We'll Keep On Prayin!

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[DJFyrewolf36]

glad to see Sammy had a better day today!

[Karen]

New update from the CarePages

67 July 21, 2005 at 10:43 AM EDT
And the plan changes yet again...we came back to the ICU late yesterday afternoon. Sam's bps were low, due to infection, and one of her ICU docs came down to take a look, and it was decided that Sam could use a closer watch until the infection was under control, and that the appropriate place right now was ICU. If all goes well--she started a new antibiotic yesterday, as the bacteria causing the UTI is resistant to the other one they tried--we will only stay 3-4 days. Her bp is fine again, and after sleeping all day yesterday, Sam was quite perky in the early evening, and played with Aunt Johanna, Mommy and Daddy. She sat up for a couple hours, danced to the Wiggles, and gave us lots of smiles. The vomiting is still an issue, and they will be checking into that again. Some good news, though, is that she hasn't had dialysis in a week, and her numbers still look good enough. We just need to clear this UTI, and get back to rehabbing. Send some good thoughts Sam's way; this is just another setback, but we'll move forward again!
Thanks,
Jessica
******

Good news on the dialysis front, that's fabulous. Sorry about the slight set-back and infection, but we hope things continue to improve for *our* Sammy! (She does know she now has hundreds of aunties and uncles and grammas, right? )

[Barbara]

Oh Sammy, am I allowed to make a bad joke and tell you that we all know the UTIs from our kitties

So you will have to take the antibiotics (and I hope they have the right one now) until you are finished.

But it is true that life begins to be a little more fun- like dancing and drinking out of the sippy cup and not having had dialysis in one week (which is simply great ).

So things WILL look up

[luvofallhorses]

We're still pulling for you, Sammy!

[popcornbird]

Awww, Sammy! You must have been so happy to have played with your mom, dad, and Auntie Johanna! Still praying for you. Wonderful news that you haven't had to have dialysis in a whole week! Stay strong, little one! Things will get better soon!

[Cinder & Smoke]

Sorry these are late - we've been a lil busy ...

Friday, July 22, 2005 at 04:45 PM EDT

And we're on the move again...
we have left ICU and are now on a regular medical floor,
where Sam will have her rehab. The powers that be have decided that she really needs close medical attention along w/rehab, so we should finish out our stay at Children's where we're at -- hopefully!!

Sam is still on the antibiotics, and the infectious disease folks will be following her case, making sure they get rid of the bugs; nephrology will also be watching her, but she's under the "primary" care of general pediatrics.

Still no need for dialysis today, so that's encouraging.
Sam has been awake all day--same thing yesterday--and very alert. She fights her midday nap w/all her might, and wiggles around and reaches out for me when she feels herself nodding off. I guess she figures she's spent enough time sleeping these past few months. She's had some of her therapies as well.

I'm sure this latest transition will be tiring for her,
but it could be the final leg of our Children's stay,
so we have our fingers crossed!

Thanks,
Jessica

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Tuesday, July 26, 2005 at 04:30 PM EDT

Sorry for the delay;
All is Well w/Sam, and she's pretty much settled into her new room.

I'd like it to be her last room here, but there's still talk about
moving her back to the rehab floor... who knows.

She still hasn't needed dialysis, so things are okay w/the kidneys right now.
They are doing further studies on them, so we'll know more soon.

The vomiting is still an issue, but it's happening a bit less. Sam is sitting up really well now, and can roll over and pull up into a sitting position on her own. She also likes to pull on her feeding tube, so we really have to watch her.

It's so nice to see her sitting up and playing w/her toys.
They are still weaning her off the meds, but on Saturday night, she experienced some withdrawal, likely from the anti-anxiety med she's been on, and she screamed so loud I could hear her, and I heard "mommy" for the first time in ages! I guess if Sam gets upset enough, she can talk over the trach. I was upset, too, and made sure the docs realized the taper was a bit too quick, and Sam got a small dose to ease her discomfort. She slept until noon on Sunday, after such a hard night. They are continuing to wean her, but keeping close watch for any signs of withdrawal; they have a protocol, but there is no exact science.

Sam's also been having fun playing in the sink, and engaging in one of her old favorite activities--washing her hands! We're seeing lots of smiles from her these days, and her personality is really coming through.

We're also working on reintroducing food & drink. They looked at her airway today, and said it's fine to start working toward removing the trach; apparently, all looks okay in that area, so hopefully we'll have Sam talking again really soon. It would be nice if she could lose the new dialysis catheter soon, too, but they will likely want to wait a few months, just in case she needs dialysis.

So, all in all, we're moving in the right direction.
I'll have some more pics posted soon.

Thanks,
Jessica

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Sitting up, Playing with toys, *Hollerin* for Mom -
sounds like the Lil Kid is back!

Prayers for Continued Progress!!

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[captain]

Fantastic news.

Thanks for keeping us posted Phred!

[Barbara]

I was looking at this thread daily and willing to think that no news is good news

I think it is very exciting that she didn't need dialysis for quite a time now.

I never realized that ant-anxiety drugs were also among the meds she got. Yes of course! What a good thing to do- but of course they have to sneak out of them right now.

It is still unbelievable what medicine can do these days- and now I have the impression that Sammy's steps are getting bigger

[DJFyrewolf36]

I've been gone for a couple of days and am glad to see things are improving! hooray for Sammy!

[luvofallhorses]

I'm glad things seem to be improving, Sammy and family you are still in my thoughts and prayers {{hugs}}