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

[krazyaboutkatz]

This is wonderful news!!! Lots of prayers and positive thoughts are still being sent to Sammy and her family.

[Cinder & Smoke]

June 18, 2005 at 05:54 PM EDT

A quiet day for Sam--nothing wrong with that!

She's been mostly sleeping, but has opened her eyes a few times,
and looks right at us.

She has a little fever, but nothing too major.
A dressing change is scheduled for tomorrow,
so we'll hope the graft sites look okay.

Thanks,
Jessica

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A little at Dad tomorrow
will be a nice "Dad's Day" Gift!

Happy Father's Day, Rob!!

[slick]

Rob...I, too, wish you a Happy Father's Day tomorrow. May you be graced with that precious little smile on your special day.

A quiet day is a good day for little Sammy. Dear girl, you've never strayed from my thoughts or prayers. Sleep well tonight little angel.

[Cinder & Smoke]

June 19, 2005 at 10:17 AM EDT

Well, she had her dressing change,
and the new grafts look fine at this point.

Her bps were a little wild yesterday, though, and she kept spiking fevers,
so the current plan is to put her back on the antibiotics they recently removed.

It's the same cycle: baby steps forward, and baby steps back.

The pain management team is continuing to tweak things as well,
as they want to lessen her sedation while keeping her comfortable -
it's a difficult balancing act. They haven't had rounds yet,
so I'll post again later if there is more news.

Oh, and on behalf of Sam, Happy Father's Day to all the dads,
especially her own,
as well as Grandpa Hutchins and Uncles Jay, John, Jerry and Jeff.

Thanks,
Jessica

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Sammy ~

You Feeling Better will be a Great Dad's Day present!

[Cinder & Smoke]

June 20, 2005 at 12:39 PM EDT

Sam was spiking fevers again, but Tylenol seemed to take care of it.

She has an infection in her stool, though, and she will be moved to the isolation room, which is right next door to her current room. That precaution is mainly to keep hospital personnel from spreading the infection to other sick kids up here. This type of infection is very resistant to treatment, but since it's only in the stool, the infectious disease folks are opting not to treat it, in the hopes that it will just exit the body on its own. Also, the drugs used to treat it can have toxic effects, so they'd rather not take that risk.

They have increased Sam's sedation and pain meds, as she often seems uncomfortable. The ultimate goal is to continue enough pain meds to keep her comfortable while weaning her off some of the sedation, but she's not ready for that quite yet.
They also want to give the intermittent dialysis
(hemodialysis) another go this week.
Her trach tube will be changed Wednesday.

Please keep up the prayers; Sam has a lot to overcome.

Thanks,
Jessica

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More Prayers on the way!

[Barbara]

This update shows us how many more wonders we still need. Oh Sammy and Jessica- my heart bleeds for you.

[popcornbird]

Little Sammy, I continue to pray sincerely for you, Feel better soon!

[sandragonfly]

sheesh, look what our little samantha have been going through! (definitely much worse than my days)..

I thought, when you grow up...(as I hope these present days you're having will be the only last, hardest days you had and that you survived through most of it!! (thank goodness you're little, you don't have to remember all of these.)

this little trooper've been hanging above me in my thoughts and more are sent! glad you could update us almost daily now... take care, jessica!

[rg_girlca]

Prayers and positive thoughts still on the way for you sweetheart.

[Karen]

From the CarePages:

42 June 21, 2005 at 10:08 AM EDT
Sam had a rough night, and was in a good deal of pain; there will be another meeting w/the pain team to iron out a better plan. It's horrible to see her like that and be powerless to help. She's much more comfortable this morning, and is finishing up a round of dialysis. The major events this week will be continued hemodialysis, a trach tube change, and more tweaking of the pain control plan. I'm thinking plastics will be checking the graft sites again, too, perhaps later this week. Hopefully they will find a way to keep Sam comfortable around the clock--that's my biggest concern right now.
Thanks,
Jessica

*******

Prayers for relief on a more steady basis from pain, oh, Sammy, we love you, and your mom and dad, too. Bless the doctors and nurses in whose care she rests, and help them help her.

[gini]

Sometimes I truly have difficulty reading the updates from the Care pages.

This morning, all I could think of is what Jessica must be going through every minute - and I was ashamed of myself.

I have and will continue to pray for Sammy and her family.

[lvpets2002]

Pleanty of Prayers & whisker kisses coming from myself & all my babies..

[Cinder & Smoke]

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 at 03:01 PM EDT

Sam is still not doing great;
she has had high fevers since yesterday,
and they think a new infection may have set in.

She's back on the antibiotics. She's more sedated now, and on higher doses of pain medication, so at least I don't think she's hurting too much. The Dr also pointed out that at her age it's hard to differentiate between physical pain, fear/anxiety or even hallucinations (caused by the drugs), as far as when she cries. Not that any of that makes it easier to bear.

She's on her way down for a bone scan, because radiology detected a darkened region on the femur, which could be infection or just more necrosis.
Either way, it's not good.

She will continue treatment at Children's;
she will not be returning to Shriner's, mostly due to politics, and the plastics team here has done everything so far and feel it's best to continue w/the same team.

Her trach hasn't been changed yet; ENT is busy in another ICU pod.
Her hemodialysis went okay again; they may not come again until Friday.
At this point, whirlpool should resume tomorrow, and the plastics team
is also supposed to look at her again at that time.

I wish I had better things to report,
but Sam is having a rough time.
Please continue prayers.

Thanks,
Jessica

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{{{Hugs}}}, Jessica - for you, Rob, and of course, Sammy.
Prayers on the way.

/s/ Phred

[Barbara]

We are still here Sammy- with the PT web of thoughts and prayers especially for you. I am sure that you can feel it like the softest of blankets.

[Karen]

Poor Sammy, more prayers, fervent prayers for the infection to go away, for there to be no more necrosis, for healing and for peaceful sleep for the sweetie.