10/15 - Sam's Journey - Day 308

Another normal week has come and gone, and normal, as it turns out, is really good.  Despite having passed the nine month magical recovery time, Sam continues to tick things off of his "to recover" list. As we hit the 10 month mark and moved into the 300's in days, we realize how very fortunate we have been in so many ways. We are thankful for that, and for all of you for following all of the twists and turns in the path we've been on. Thanks to everyone who sent or brought paper towels and water, and for those who hopped on the meal train! We are grateful!

In the last post, we had a couple of meetings coming up. The first was the visit to the gastroenterologist. We wanted to get his thoughts on getting the tube out permanently. In addition to replacing his current tube, the shelf life of which is significantly shorter than a Twinkie, he said we could start giving everything by mouth for hopefully 2 months straight. Barring significant weight loss, the tube could be out by February. That's great news! We have been completely tube free for a full week now, and it's going pretty well. We have to get going much earlier in the morning. By we, I mean me, since I'm the food person around here, and if you know me at all, you know I loathe mornings. We've been working so hard to keep Sam alive this year that we don't want to lose all of that hard work by having Jim step into the capacity of chef. We've even managed to figure out how to get him his meds orally. The trick is applesauce. Sam's preference is strawberry applesauce, but since they only make those in individual cups, we're probably going to make the switch to plain old apple-flavored soon. For not being able to taste anything since he's been eating, he's pretty insistent on strawberry flavored everything--yogurt, oatmeal, ice cream, you name it. If they make it in strawberry, he wants it. He's always been that way, though. Given the choice between that or chocolate, he always goes for strawberry. This is a huge aberration in the family, and for a while we thought they might have switched babies on us when he was born. We've settled in on it being a super recessive gene. While we're on the subject of flavors, Sam seems to think that his taste is coming back a little. So far he's been able to differentiate between sweet and salty, and has been able to taste garlic and parmesan. That's good since I can't imagine how hard it is to eat enough when everything you get is mush and it has zero flavor. 

Our other big meeting was about potential school decisions. In addition to reviewing the massive report of all the testing they did--about 50 pages or so--we discussed what he needs extra help with, and where he's headed academically. He's been doing really well with the homebound classes he's taking. In fact, if by the end of this semester he's able to pass English 2, and all signs point to that happening, he will be able to start at Plano Senior in January! Not only that, with a little of creative schedule planning and a lot of hard work on his part, he has every chance to graduate on time. ON TIME. Taking into account the events of the last year, that is nearly unfathomable. But, such has been his entire recovery, so I shouldn't be surprised. He is positively elated about this, and when I told him, he was literally bouncing up and down in his chair he was so excited. For a kid that rarely emotes, it was a welcome sight. He still has a ton of work ahead of him, but there is no question that he will get it done! 

Other than that, it's just the normal craziness around here. Teaching is always busy, and Jim's operating at full-throttle with his regular job, along with the extra accompanying gigs he's doing. Sarah is doing well in school, although her combo AP class is kicking her butt a little bit. During all of this, she has made it into the All-Region choir and has been practicing for the next step on the road to state. We're pretty proud of how she is handling everything, including all of the vexing stuff in the life of a junior. We're also starting to look ahead to the big trip to San Antonio in December. Since my best mode of planning could be qualified as "think about everything that could possibly go wrong and obsess about it", I'm considering our concert seat location (will there be too many steps?) how do we eat (do I drag the Nutribullet with us if we eat out?) and where the heck are we staying? A very good friend has offered her home to stay in, but the five of us can be quite cumbersome, and I'm not sure how to manage the Sam sleeping situation. I'm sure we'll figure it all out, but if anyone has any fabulous ideas, please feel free to share!

The other thing that happened was that I have been in contact with a family whose son was in a four wheeler accident and suffered a brain injury a few weeks ago. They were taken to Medical Center of Plano as Sam was initially, and I went to visit with them there. Not having been there since Christmas day, I was a little nervous about going back. We didn't exactly leave under ideal circumstances, and this was where this all began for us. It was the darkest part of the journey for us, and the one with the most uncertainty. I'm going to go ahead and say it's probably in my top three of least favorite places. Ever. Other than the smell of the place immediately transporting me back to last December, it was actually ok. I also got back to the floor Sam was on and left a note for the nurses, since the last time they saw him it was very bleak. I am so glad I got to meet this family, and I am hopeful that their son Corey can get the great rehab that Sam has been able to receive.

In addition to lifting Sam's continued recovery up in prayer, I'd appreciate it if you could also keep in mind:

• Corey and his whole family, who are currently all at home, but in need of a great facility for continued recovery, and peace as they go through the challenges they now face together.
• Ben, the boy who had the bike accident early in the summer, and his family. He has had a bit of a setback in his own recovery. 
• A very good friend and her family at the unexpected death of her mother-in-law, for peace as they mourn her loss.
• And finally, for my former student, whose laugh and genuine cheerfulness brought joy into my classroom every day she was there, and who was unexpectedly taken from us. Also, for her family, friends, classmates and school community who are reeling from this, that we can all carry with us that light that she had as a constant reminder of what a spectacular human being she was. 

I'll close with a couple of pictures. One is our latest installment of "What's on the Pizza Box?" We love our friend at Papa John's!

And last, but not least, I always bash Sam for his hatred of selfies, but low and behold, guess what he has on his phone! It's not bad for a selfie novice, but I feel compelled to tell you that he does indeed still have a mouth and opens his eyes on a regular basis. Peace, friends!