January 12, 2009

Sunday morning Sam woke up without a headache...thank you Lord! He was feeling a lot better and he convinced Ger to take him to the in-town ski hill. He met up with some friends and boarded for a few hours on a beautiful afternoon. He came home, ate dinner and watched some old movies of Ger 's growing up days. Sam thinks they're hilarious!

This morning before leaving the hospital I put Emla on Sam's VAD site to numb it. When we arrived Christine accessed his VAD, took some blood samples, gave him some liquid ondansetron (anti nausea medicine) and then hung his Vincristine treatment. When that was finished Christine numbed 3 sites on his legs and he received his last (we hope) PEG intramuscular injections. He dislikes these immensely. He slept half the day, tried to eat, but his stomach was not interested in that at all. At the end of the day we watched a movie together.

Sam's blood work counts came back and his hemoglobin counts are very low. So we'll head back to the hospital again tomorrow for most of the day for a blood transfusion. It's a mystery why Sam can do what he does when his counts are so low. Adults with counts higher than his would have passed out and here he is boarding, sledding and going on short walks with Lucy. Amazing! However, when he is not doing these activities he is usually lying down resting, hanging out in the family room, or watching a movie. He can absolutely use the most of what little energy he has to do something active and fun. (This does not include school work). He was like that in the summer too. Go figure! Monica, his primary nurse in Vancouver, tells us that Sam is NOT typical. That's the power of prayer in action and we give God the credit for Sam's positive spirit and tenacity to cope with so much.

Sweet dreams,
Debbie