Friday - Home is good

We made it. We came home on Tuesday and it is good. I guess the fact that I haven't written an update since then is evidence that we hit the ground running. Tons of work (THANK YOU to everyone who's doing it) has gone into the ramp area and the bathroom. Between therapy and work, Ran & I feel like we haven't had enough time to do more of it ourselves (guilt, guilt) but we're SO thankful for what you guys have been doing for us and for Sam.
It feels like we're beginning to get a rhythm going again around here.
Sam is so great. There is so much he just learned or relearned a few weeks ago in therapy that he's doing so easily already. We are very proud parents.
Tonight Sam, Luke and Randy are going to be sleeping in the Tent Sale tent at Great Lakes to 'protect' the furniture. I hope they'll all have a fun adventure. They have the X-Box, movies, plenty of food and 'weapons' (I'm not sure which kind) to scare off anyone who would dare to grab furniture during the night, so they should be all set.
The big news for next week is that Thursday is Sam's last IV antiobiotic treatment so they can remove the PIK line Thursday night. We are really looking forward to that. It's an internal IV that goes into his right arm and down to a large artery in his chest, and the end that comes out of his arm is always in the way. Last week he was leaning forward in his chair and it got stuck in his spokes and almost pulled out (not good). Also, he can't get it wet so that means no swimming. So, it comes out Thursday night and Friday we'll get him in a pool to see how balance, etc goes while swimming. We are hoping to camp at the Conference Grounds the following week and swimming/pools will become very important.
Guess that's it for now. We're planning on having a great weekend and I hope you all are too.

7/24 Saturday

It's official - we leave Mary Freebed next Tuesday at 11am. Yeah!
Each time we stop home with Sam lately it feels like we should stay. I guess that means we're ready to handle all this stuff by ourselves. I guess....
Sam's done a few new things in rehab this week. On Thursday Chris (the PT) put braces on his legs and while holding onto parallel bars, Sam actually stood up for a few minutes. Then on Friday, Chris put some patches on his legs and ran electricity through them and Sam's muscles responded well (his legs jumped around). What does this mean?
Well, taken with the bummer info from the last MRI that his spinal cord is severed, it means that while it will take God to bring his legs back, Sam would be a candidate to do standing and electical stim therapy if he chooses. It's a TON of hard work and requires great balance and muscle tone but if he chooses to, he could 'stand' with braces or 'walk' with a walker and electical stimulus to his legs. In addition to feeling good about standing or walking, it is just really good for circulation and bone density to stand or walk.
We're learning that good circulation to his legs and a strong cardiocascular system is really important, so we'll be looking for ways Sam can get a workout while going easy on his back for the next year. Also, being healthy is important so that if any new research comes out in the future, he would be a good candidate for that.
Sam & I (Kris) were at the house on an day pass this afternoon and the ramp was taking shape. I think seeing that ramp hit home for Sam. He was pretty quiet as we drove to Holland to go fishing with his cousins (which was a 4 fish success for Sam).
Anyway, with being in a wheelchair becoming what 'real life' is, we'd appreciate your continued prayers for courage and energy. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

MRI results

We just finished meeting with Dr. Brown a few hours ago. He stopped by about 9pm to chat with us about what they saw. When they did the first MRI before surgery, the spine was not lined up at all. Since the pictures are 2d, they had to make some guesses as to the level of damage. Now that the spine is lined up, they can get much more accurate information. It appears that the cord itself is transected or basically broken inside. There is also a disk still pushing on the cord itself. If the cord is transected, that does not matter much. On Friday, Dr. Brown will review the pictures with some other experts and work with us to decide on some next steps that may include leaving it as is, or going in for another surgery to remove the pressure the disk is placing on the cord. Pray that they and we make the best decision possible. The net out is that we need to continue planning on long term paralysis while praying for a miracle. We have been doing that and ask you to continue joining us for the miracle part. I guess we need to look for the positive in everything. Even though this news is disappointing, sometimes when feelings do come back, they are not useful feelings. Feelings of constant itching or feet on fire or severe pain that needs to be controlled by serious drugs that can mess with your mind, attitude, and/or feeling of well being over time.

On a positive note, Sam was released from quarantine today. The antibiotic that he was using may have been killing his white blood cells leaving his immune system very vulnerable. He is on another drug now and his white blood count has moved back to normal. Although Kris looked interesting in a gown, gloves, and mask, it is good to dress normal around him again.
We finished ordering Sam's wheelchair. He tried out a ton of them and finally decided on one... in orange! I don't know how that will look with his purple converse high tops, but oh well!

The plan is to be discharged on Tuesday. We will need to take him in to Mary Free Bed 3 times a week for awhile to continue Therapy. Sam is looking forward to being home again.

Some friends from Rockford Construction are working on changing Sam's new bathroom to make it accessible and comfortable for him to use. Kris's brother and Dad will be doing the tile work. Ted DeJong is having some guys out Saturday to build the garage ramp and some other structural changes to get Sam into the house during summer AND winter. For this, Kris and I give huge thanks for taking some of these issues out of our minds while we dive into the many decisions for how to handle the extended medical supplies, equipment, insurance stuff, and all the other crazy things need to be dealt with.

Thanks again for your continued prayers and encouragement. It is not only appreciated, it is felt daily.

Two new pictures of Sam

If you haven't seen Sam recently, he's looking great! Want proof? Check out these pictures (click on the pictures to make them bigger):

7/18 Sunday update

Wow! This was such a great weekend.  Sam had his first overnight pass so he came home after Saturday rehabs and didn't need to be back to Mary Freebed until 8pm tonight.  Saturday was our 'get the house ready for remodeling' day.  Tons of family came to help out and we got SO much done.  I hadn't ever gotten around to planting flowers this summer so my dad did that - the house looks so much nicer.  We cleaned, sorted and painted in the garage to get it ready for the ramp - which will hopefully be built this week.  We moved Sam's bedroom furniture down in to our room and ours upstairs to his, along with all the clothes, ect.  We even did a bunch of landscaping work which was long overdue.  I am overwhelmed with the help and generosity of all of you as a think of the help at the house, the yummy meals and the encouraging cards.  Thanks and thanks again.  I honestly don't know how we'd be along without all of our wonderful friends and family. 
Oh, and Friday was a great adventure too.  We cleared Sam's afternoon rehab sessions and he, Luke & I (Kris) went to watch an Adaptive Waterski Clinic.  Very interesting and fun-looking.  Sam won't be able to do that jarring of an activity for about a year, but it's great to know it's out there.  Then we drove to the Conference Grounds in Grand Haven and hung out with friends.  We hope to camp there the 2nd week of August so it was a good practice run for Sam to check it out from a wheelchair perspective.
Our next big news will probably come on Tuesday.  We have a meeting with the doctors and therapists and should find out when Sam will be discharged.  We'll let you know.
Hope you all had as good a weekend as we did.

Wednesday & more tests

Sam is doing quite well. He is trying out his 3rd wheelchair. Currently he is trying a nice Titanium one. He is tending to go too fast down the halls while popping a few wheelies. Good thing that the hospital has a "wheelie bar" policy.

Sam spent Sunday at home helping us make decisions about some changes that need to be made in our house. He gets to move to our bedroom while Kris and I "downsize" to the upstairs bedroom. It was a good day, but it also was a day where some reality set in with Sam. Looking at the trampoline which he loved, his bike, and then asking if he could ever get to the other floors of the house again... It was a healthy thing, but is also brought a few tears again to dad(me) that night. Sam's positive fun loving attitude (except for the first hour of some days) is really helping with his rehabilitation. The nurses and thearpists all have a great relationship with him.

Today Sam had an MRI to see the current status of the Spinal Cord. Understandably, we are anxious to hear if there has been any changes since the first MRI that was done the day of the accident. The results do not change anything as far as rehabilitation, but they might tell us more about the extent of the damage. He still has no feeling our movement from his navel down. He told me yesterday that he has already forgotten what it was like to feel his lower body... that this "lack of feeling" seems normal now. He is able to get in and out of bed without aid of a "transfer board". He is sitting up on his own (with effort) and is dressing himself (with less effort than before). They are working him hard to attain independence.

We will not know the results of the MRI and additional x-ray's for a couple days. When we find out we will do another post.

Again, Kris and I have been blown away with your responses, cards, notes, emails, and prayers. Without them I don't know that we would be as healthy as we feel. Thanks.

Friday July 9

There's so much new stuff every day around here. Progress....
The IV antibiotics have been cut from 3 times to 2 times per day. We think that may be helping to calm his stomach and the high temps have been less often also. This is also helping him sleep alot better. What a relief to feel better and just concentrate on rehab.
Sam's been working hard on transfering from wheelchair to car and back again. Yesterday we went to Best Buy to shop and also test the tranfering in the real world. It went pretty good. It seems so nice and 'normal' to just go to Best Buy and shop.
Today friends came for lunch and we walked down to the Cottage Bar (another real world test for going longer distance in traffic and on uneven sidewalks). The food and company were great.
Sam's been doing alot of weightlifing in rehab, which is fun because we can work out right along with him. I'm not sure how much he'll be able to do in gym next year, but the upper body stuff should be a cinch.
If you're looking to stop by for a visit, the lunch hour (11-1) is great other than on Wednesdays, otherwise anytime after 4 works well. My cell is 437-2124 in case you want to call first to make sure he'll be around. (He's in room #339 at Mary Freebed Hospital.)
Have a good weekend. We're hoping to go see Spiderman 2 tomorrow so that should make it a good one for Sam.

The good and unknown

Sam has been doing quite well in rehab. He is doing things I did not think he could do. They are trying to teach him how to move from the floor on to a sofa or back into the wheelchair. He continues to have a good attitude and a will to learn. He has been enjoying his new xbox and visiting with friends. Today he did his first outing with some other teens on the floor. They went bowling at Woodys. They let Luke go along to help out. Sam said is was much harder doing it from a wheelchair than it was before.

The unknown part is that Sam has been experiencing some fevers again. It appears that the original infection is under control, so they are doing many tests to try to find what is causing this. Please pray that they find it so it can be dealt with. The just told us today that his body seems to be winning the war against the original infection and they will be cutting back his IV's. That will give him some more freedom.

If everything goes as planned, he may be discharged in 3 weeks. Looks like we need to get moving on the ramps and home changes. It is our hope that he will be off the IV's by then. If I were Sam, I would not trust Dad to handle that process!

Next week we will do another MRI on the spinal cord to see if we can see any changes in the extent of the damage.

Thanks again for holding Sam up in your prayers!

Great 4th of July weekend

What a great weekend. Rehab is 7 days a week, but lighter on weekends so we had some time to get Sam out of the hospital and into the real world. On Saturday night we went to see the fireworks. We sat at Ada Christian to watch them so we ran into lots of school friends, which was nice.
Then on Sunday, we all went to Keystone Church together. This was the 1st time Sam had been in the new building for church and his 1st concern was to find where the snowcones were being served from. It felt good to be there as a family again. My (Kris's) parents and brothers with all their kids came to Keystone too and then we grilled over at our house for lunch. It was a sweet way to celebrate the 4th.
It's Monday morning now and Sam is still sleeping - I can tell the weekend tired him out. It's another light rehab day so maybe we'll both snooze a little extra.
Hope you're all having a lovely holiday weekend.

Visit to home - Friday 7/2

The big news for today is that Sam came home for a few hours. His physical therapist brought him home so he could see how Sam got around the house in his wheelchair. The carpet wasn't a problem and the main floor is easy to move around on. We talked about what renovations will need to be made to the house. Looks like a few doors will need to be widened or removed, some ramps built and some changes will need to be made to the mudroom and one of the bathrooms. We're also wondering if there's a way to give Sam access to the basement or upstairs.
We're also thrilled that we can spring Sam from here and take him to see the fireworks on Saturday night. If you're at Ada Christian to watch the fireworks, look for Sam - I'm sure he'll be wandering about.

More positive steps

Today (Thursday) Sam had another good day. We practiced transferring between the wheelchair and a flat bed, the front seat of a Buick, and then how to go up and down curbs. I can't believe the progress he is making! If things continue to improve like the last 3 days, they will to allow us to take him to the fireworks in Ada Saturday evening AND back out to Church on Sunday. Today I (Randy) got trained on how to properly pick him up and place him back in his chair in-case he wipes out, tips over, or flips over backwards. We had fun practicing. We tipped Sam's chair backward (with him still in it) so that he was laying with his back and head on the ground (simulating the result of doing a wheelie without the wheelie bars in place). Yes he looked a little silly still strapped in his chair with a big smile on his face, but I got him back up ok.

His biggest complaint the last 2 days is his sore back resulting from the Doctors and Nurses tearing the tape / bandage off his back to see how the incision is healing. He has learned to tape and the hair it pulls off.

On Friday we will get to take him home for a few hours with the physical therapist for a "home inspection". We will go through the house with Sam and make decisions on what renovation need to occur, equipment that needs to be purchased, and anything else that needs to change so that he can be as independent as possible when he gets released in later July or early August (best guess).

Thanks again for your prayers! Sam has enough candy to handle Forest Hills at Halloween. It works out great when his friends come over to visit! Kris and I continue to be overwhelmed with the acts of kindness exhibited by soooo many people.