1/17 - Sam's Journey, Day 36

If you happened to catch my Facebook post this morning, I was right. Today was a really good day. Right after I typed that, Sam was pretty alert, so I thought I'd try out the communication system we've been working on. We are supposed to ask yes/no questions, and if he blinks once, it means yes, and if he blinks twice, it's a no. Our base question was, "Do you have cats?" After he blinked once for a correct answer, I thought I'd keep going. Just so you all know, Sam does not have a cat named Roger, but he does have one named Chester. He also used to have one named Poe, and his favorite nurse is Meagan. (She asked the last question.) This is incredible progress! I went to the cafeteria for some coffee and came back up to the room. While I was gone, the doctor came in, and the nurse couldn't wait to tell me about their 'conversation.' The doctor had held his hand and asked, "Would you grab my hand, Sam?" to which he replied with two blinks. She then asked, "Do you want me to go away?" One blink. He's definitely never been one to hold back his opinion!

Later in the morning, he was in the middle of a breathing treatment. They're awful but necessary to bring up all the garbage in his lungs. During the treatment, the respiratory therapist (who was very good) kept saying repeatedly, "You're doing good, Sam." One time after saying that, she turned to me and said that she could have sworn he had rolled his eyes at her. I had to stifle a laugh, because I could almost see the thought bubble over Sam's head. "Doing good, like not doing evil? It's WELL, woman, WELL!" Our boy is coming back to us.

One other development of note today was that he had several successful trach collar trials free from the vent. The last one went 3 hours, and he did fine. The doctor whom Sam had summarily dismissed earlier told me they might do a sleep study to see his breathing patterns to determine what kind of support he might need at night. Today was the kind of day we have been waiting for, and we're hoping for many more like it to come. We know there will be hard work and potential setbacks ahead, but today was a very good day. Thank you for your continued prayers and support!

I got a couple of pics from one of Sam & Sarah's fellow choir members. She pointed out that Sam apparently had the uncanny ability to photobomb her snapchat pictures. I also snuck a copy of one on the choir director's door. Since a little bit of his personality started to emerge today, I thought they were entirely appropriate. Have a great day!