WE’RE HOME! (June 9th)

Hi Everybody!
WE’RE HOME!  :)  Ah!  How we’ve waited to say those words!  And it’s wonderful to be home!  Yesterday afternoon Sam was released from the hospital and we pulled into our driveway around 1pm and were greeted  with a huge welcome home sign, balloons and streamers.  It was great!  We are so blessed with such great family and friends.

Sam’s attitude and personality IMMEDIATELY changed once we stepped foot into our home.  We saw that little twinkle in his eye and some smiles for the first time in a long time!  Nothing better!  He enjoyed sitting on the couch going through all of the goodies and cards you all have so graciously sent to him with a little smile on his face.   It looked like Christmas over here!   You can tell that he is loving being in his own environment, with his family (and even Champ..Geesh!)  and without the sounds and smells of a hospital.  And he actually  stayed awake until about bed time…one of the longest periods we have  seen him awake since his surgery.  And he had quite an appetite!  So
good to see!

Last night we were able to finally have a family dinner together.  It  was wonderful and meant so much to have each of us sitting together at  the same table sharing a meal.  Ah!  The things we took for granted.   It’s funny how life experiences make you look at things  differently.  :)  I’ve honestly always been one to appreciate the simple things in life, but this just takes the cake!

After a nice warm bath for Sam, we all hopped into our bed to hang out  and build one of the many new Lego sets Sam has received.   Again…family time…that’s what it’s all about and something we just treasure even more now.  Sam slept with us last night so we could keep  an eye on him and he slept comfortably.  I know, though, he is anxious  to get back to Jack’s room, where he can sleep in the twin bed next to his brother and back to his normal.

Sam’s neck is still very sore and stiff from the surgery.  He is cautious to move it from side to side (who wouldn’t be!) so that is something we will be working on.  He has been walking around also, but with assistance, since he is still quite wobbly and feels a little  dizzy when he is up and about.  Dr. Boaz said this is normal.  But  when he’s up, he’s up and I even find myself asking him to slow down a  bit!  He even climbed the stairs last night (with our help) for his bath.  He is determined to get around and that little fighting spirit is just what he needs for the road ahead.

So where are we headed?  Jere and I met with one of the oncologists Monday, Dr. Pradhan (Dr. Shi’s partner) to discuss Sam and his journey.  He feels very positive about Sam’s case (yet another doctor that feels positive about Sam’s case!  We LOVE to hear that as you could imagine!) saying we have a lot of things in our favor.  Here are  the positives:

1.  Dr. Boaz was able to get a total gross resection during surgery..
(there’s some new vocabulary terminology for ya!..We LOVE Dr. Boaz!)

2.  According to the MRI scan taken after surgery, there doesn’t seem
to be any residual tumor left.  (Again, love Dr. Boaz and his amazing,
God given skill.  He’s definitely on the Christmas card list this year!)

3.  Also according to the MRI, the tumor does not seem to have
spread.  AHHHH!   We are so grateful and blessed.

4.  Dr. Miller, our regular pediatrician, seemed to have caught it
early by ordering a CAT scan 12 days ago after  Sam’s 10 day bout of
vomiting.  (Again, the vomiting would really just happen about once a
day, usually in the morning, and once he was sick, he was on his way
to school, riding his bike, running around and doing the slip ‘n
slide…just being normal ‘ol Sam.  I guess most doctors would continue ”monitoring” this vomiting a bit longer, or so we hear.)

5.  Sam’s age.  This tumor typically strikes between the ages of
something like 2-10 and the older you are, the better.

6.  I can now fit into my skinny jeans.  (Okay, so that’s not so much
about Sam, but it is a positive.  And although I wouldn’t recommend
this “diet” to anyone, it is quite effective!)

On Monday, Sam will be headed back to the hospital to be put under for a few procedures.  First, they will do a spinal tap to check his spinal fluid to be sure that there isn’t any bad cells there.  Dr. Pradhan said this is just procedure and if the MRI came back clean, so  will this, and he would be shocked if it came back otherwise.  Just being cautious.  That’s fine with us.  Dr. Boaz will be doing this procedure for us as well.  He will also have a port inserted into his chest to get ready for the next phase of his journey..radiation and chemo therapy.   And, they will also take out his stitches in his head while he is under.

Yes. Radiation and Chemo.  That is the plan.  We are giving it the ‘ol  ”one, two punch.”  He will begin radiation sometime this summer and  then probably begin his 8 rounds of chemo sometime late summer, early
fall.  Sam will begin second grade this fall and will probably be in and out during the year as he is receiving treatment.  I believe a tutor can be provided for him, but what do you know…Mom is a teacher.  Humm.  Funny how that works.  My friends always say, “Erica, do you think you will ever go back to teaching? ” Usually I’d respond  with, “I don’t think so!”  Well, guess what?  I’m going back and am  really excited about my class size.  :)

Soon I’ll be switching these updates over to our own personal website/blog for Sam.  That way, if you’d like to follow his journey, you can just log on and read all about it.  I’ll keep you posted as to when I launch the site.  Here on Sam’s blog we will be able to share with you his progression, share pictures, and if you’re lucky, I might throw in a recipe or two.  Ya know, to keep it fresh and interesting.  :)

Jere and I plan to get back to our “normal” here very soon.  He will begin traveling again next Tuesday, and I plan on rescheduling all of  my cancelled photo sessions this week.  You can guarantee that during each session, a family picture will be taken of my clients.  Most usually elect not to have this done, wanting mostly pictures of their child, but I bet that after they hear my story, I can talk them into it!  Family is so precious.

And again, we feel truly blessed to be surrounded by such love and  support from you all.  It’s amazing.  It really is.  We are just blown away by all of your well wishes, prayers, phone calls, emails, texts,  nice gestures…I could go on and on.  The amount of people praying for Sam’s recovery is mind blowing.  Thank you all SO VERY MUCH for  supporting us and praying for us during this “unscheduled event” in  our life.  You all are so amazing and we couldn’t go through this without you.  God is so very good and I know he is proud of all of us (meaning you guys too!) for how we are handling this.  I’m sure he is beaming with pride.  I  just know he is.  :)

Until next time!

We love you!
Erica, Jere, Jack and Sam

Waiting for Daddy to bring the car around to take us home!  See that little smile?  He was so excited to go home!

He was on heavy meds upon leaving the hospital, but was still able to show us how happy he was to be going home!