Update on Samuel

Samuel is doing really well.  He is having some complications though and is back in the hospital for another procedure because the nephrostomy tubes are not working properly.  He had to drop his Summer II Biology class because he missed four days when he was in the hospital last time. Blinn College has been wonderful about working with Samuel.  He only needs his two Biology classes and Spanish and then he can get his Associates degree and will be transferring to Texas A&M University. 

 

I have a new prayer request in addition to Samuel's needs. Back in June we were turned in to Adult Protective Services with accusations of abuse and medical neglect of Samuel.   The social worker came out, visited with Samuel, and quickly realized that the accusations were false and that this was just some malicious hateful person who was trying to create problems for our family.  Well, last week she called again and they've turned us in a second time. She already called home health and people in charge of assisting us in caring for Samuel. This time there was the same allegations and they are using the infection he had as a base for their accusations.  Obviously they are using the updates on our blog and Facebook to hurt our family. I share the updates because I was requested to do so by many people and I understand the power of prayer and that we have some strong prayer warriors who have fervently prayed for Samuel through this whole ordeal. Unfortunately, Samuel will have many infections due to the nature in extent of his injuries. The particular infection (VRE) that he had though is only found in hospitals and is in his blood stream, but not actively in a wound at this time. It is very common in people who have spent many months in the hospital. Our family and Samuel's doctors are doing everything humanly possible to give Samuel the best of care. Please pray for the hearts of those who are using this difficult time to fulfill themselves by adding additional stress to our family. Our case worker told us she has 30-33 cases at one time. It is sad that she is having to waist her time following up false reports when there are people out their who really do need help.

 

Samuel's procedure will be at 9:00 AM this morning. I will post an update when he is in recovery. Pray that the procedure goes well and that he can eat and possibly go home this evening. Thank you for all the love, prayers, and support you have shown our family. You can't imagine what it means to us, we are truly blessed. 

Friday Morning Update

Friday - 9:00 am

Dr. Kozar came by this morning and we working on irrigating some of the tubes that weren't working properly. She is going to let us go home today. We won't really know what the hole will do right away.  We will just watch for any signs of problems and we talk to Dr. Kozar every day through text so she will stay aware of how he is doing.  She also said that as Samuel starts to mend, he can do anything he feels like he can handle safely, including riding horses.  I don't think he feels that well yet, but it is nice to know that he can do it when he is feeling better.  God has plan in all of this. We are just taking it one day at a time. 

Thursday - 2:15 pm.

The JP drain did erode a hole into the small intestines. :(

It can do three things. It can close up on it's own, it can remain the same or it can get bigger. If it gets bigger, he will have some additional problems, especially with nutrition. He will need a central line and TPN lipids again if the hole grows. He will need to stay here tonight to see what happens. They replaced the drain with a shorter one. I haven't seen him yet. Dr. Kozar just called me and told me what was going on. 

Thursday - 1:15 pm

They just took Samuel back for another procedure.   He ate breakfast this morning, so they cannot use anesthesia that could make him sick in his tummy.  He will be awake, but sedated. They are going to do a fistula gram to inject dye into the JP drain and see where it shows up. Then if they can, they may replace the JP drain. We really want them to replace it at this point because it has been a problem for the last two weeks.  I didn't have to go to Brenham for the closing.  They worked it out where Jay can do it without me. That was a relief.    Thank you for remembering Samuel and our family in prayer. I will post an update when we know more. 

Thursday -- 5:30 am

Samuel was moved to the Observation Care Unit during the night.   He is in isolation because he has an antibiotic resistant bacteria. It is resistant to Vancomycin, which is the drug that kills staph.  Everyone entering his room must wear the blue gloves and gowns like when he was in STICU.  We are getting some answers,  but they aren't good.  The latest tests indicate that the JP drain may have rubbed a new fistula in his small intestines.   They aren't sure why this was not picked up on the CT scan.   They did blood work and cultures all through the night.   We are both exhausted. We don't know what the plan is from here.  I'm sure Dr. Kozar will be by soon.  I have to drive back to Brenham today for a closing on a property we sold.  I really hope we have some answers by then.   

Update on Samuel - 7:45 pm

We are still in the Trauma ER.  We've been here the entire day. They have been saying they were moving him for several hours, but we are still here.  It has been a very busy day here. We share a trauma pod with a lady who has been having seizures all day. Each time it happens it brings me to tears. I cannot even imagine going through all that she is having to go through. Please pray for her. I don't know her name, but she is in bed 1.  Each time a she starts a seizure, I go get the nurses.  She came in this morning right after us.  There's so many ER cases today that they had to line them up in the halls and only give the ER beds to the worst of them.   I am so ready to be out of this area. 

The doctors are very confused about what's going on with Samuel. The CT scan with all the contrast showed "no abnormalities."  Now they don't know what to think. They know something is wrong, but they don't know what it is. The drainage in the JP is a different color and smell than anything Dr. Duke or Dr. Kozar have ever seen. No one has any answers. They want to think on it for tonight and then try to come up with a plan tomorrow morning. You can tell that it is really bothering both of them that they can't figure this out. They come by occasionally and check for things that randomly cross their minds. They are very puzzled by the whole situation. Samuel has a low grade fever and still has a heart rate of 110-120. His pain has lessened throughout the day and he sleeps for short periods between doctors and nurses coming in and out.  Pray for wisdom and direction for Samuel's doctors. Pray for rest and complete healing for Samuel. Dr. Kozar did confirm today that Dr. Duke was correct and it will take more like 8-9 months instead of the 6 months we hoped for to be able to go back in and start repairing things. She recommended that Samuel attend college in the fall and plan for surgeries next spring. So that's the plan if we can get over this latest obstacle. I know we will in time and I do trust that God has a plan for Samuel.  

Headed back to SIMU again! :(

Dr. Kozar was here and she is just as wonderful as she has always been. It looks like Samuel has some sort of infection and a few other issues too.  They are taking him to do a CT scan. He had to drink the contrast for that.  They gave him some nausea medicine to keep it down. I think I may have forgot to mention that he has been sick in his stomach too.  They have reserved a bed for him in Shock-Trauma Intermediate ICU (SIMU) and he will go there after they do any procedures today. He will be heading into the operating room again today to change out some drains, clean out the area they think is infected, and take a look at what may be going on inside of him.   If things go well, he won't be in SIMU long, but he has to be there at least until tomorrow.   We will know more after we get the results from the CT scan.   Thank you for praying for him and for being so supportive through this whole ordeal.  Sometimes it just seems like there are so many fronts that we don't know which one to fight first. 

Wednesday Morning

We had quite a night. The IV antibiotics brought his fever down from 103 to 101 and they sent us home at midnight.  Basically the teams are not communicating. We got home around 2:00 am.  Dr. Kozar was asleep and didn't get my text until 5:00 am.   She had us come back to the hospital. The only way you can see a trauma doctor on a day that isn't clinics is to go through the emergency room.  They did all kinds of tests and we are awaiting for the results now.   Dr. Kozar is in the operating room with trauma cases and we haven't seen her yet. Samuel continues to have a fever of around 101.5.   There is a very strong smell coming from the open part of the wound and the JP drain.  It actually makes your eyes water and gives you a headache.  He didn't have that until yesterday so my guess is that he got some sort of infection that is not even associated with replacing the nephrostomy tubes in his kidneys.  During the night the left nephrostomy tube started working again, which is good news. We are exhausted. Everyone talks about us being so strong, but we aren't strong. We are in survival mode and have been for over two months now.  We know that we cannot keep going at this pace. It isn't just Samuel we are dealing with. We have so many other kid situations and we just feel worn out. Please continue to pray for Samuel and our entire family.   

PS - I have no phone service in the trauma ER. 

Samuel is out of the OR! :)

Samuel went in at 3:20 pm. Samuel came out of the operating room at 4:50 pm and is now in recovery.  The procedure went well. They actually upsized the tubes and he will need to have them replaced again in about eight weeks. For some reason his body just doesn't deal with the tubes into his kidneys as well as some do.  He is awake and doing very well.  I am sure he is very hungry being that he has not had anything to eat or drink since 10:00 pm last night.  They said they will bring him something to eat in about an hour.  If he can tolerate food and his pain is under control (he is still under the pain meds from surgery), then they will release him in a few hours and we will head home. Thank you Jesus!!!  

Update on Samuel - 7/8/13

Samuel Update - 7/8/13

Samuel has been doing really well and we were thinking it would be good for him to spend a little time away from home keeping his mind busy. This afternoon he went online and signed up to take a Biology class at Blinn during the Summer II session that is only about a month long.  He is looking forward to finding some normalcy in his life again.  By the afternoon though, he had a little setback. Tomorrow Samuel will be heading back to the operating room once again to have the tubes in this kidneys replaced.  If it goes as planned, he will be released from the hospital tomorrow night.  Of course we didn't know any of that when we signed him up for the class and paid his tuition.  Our plan is for him to go to class tomorrow morning at 8:00. Then explain to his teacher that he must leave at 10:30. They will admit him to the hospital at noon and then take him back for the procedure.  Please keep Samuel in your prayers. This whole process is filled with peaks and valleys, and we have entered another small valley.  I will post another update when he is in recovery tomorrow.