3/28 - Sam's Journey - Day 107

For those of you who cannot view Jim's Facebook page, thought you'd like to see this. Sam is home!

3/27 - Sam's Journey - Day 106

For a very long time, Easter has always been my favorite holiday. In fact, it is so significant to me, that I often have trouble getting through the opening hymn, I am that affected. I love everything about that church service--the celebration of it all, the music (especially the music!) and the promise we are given. Like so many things since December 12th, it has taken on new meaning. As I listened to Jim playing the prelude (you killed it, by the way, dear) I read what I've read the verse from Psalm 118 a million times before, "This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." And it struck me. This IS the day. This is the day that has carried us through this awful time. This is why it's all going to be ok. Many times over the last 3+ months, God has literally brought Sam back from the edge of death. Today is the day we remember that we have ALL been brought back. Never before since all of this started have we clung so tightly to the promise of the resurrection. As we get ready to bring Sam home tomorrow, that promise is still our greatest hope and bears us through whatever comes next. Today, though, we hold on to it, not in the desperation we felt in December and January, but in absolute faith that it will all be ok. As our family celebrates this day of new life, and as we prepare for Sam's homecoming tomorrow, we celebrate with you, not just what God has done for Sam, but for all of us.  So, dear #TeamSam, Easter blessings to you ALL.

Many of you know that one of our Easter traditions is to take a family picture in church. Since we are all spread far and wide, and we refuse to take a family picture without Sam, here is one from a while back. Sam's the one with the pocket bunny.

3/24 - Sam's Journey - Day 103

Sorry for the delay in posting. It's been a little crazy around here. We're trying to get everything ready for the Sam's homecoming, which in the middle of Holy Week is kind of a hot mess. I usually don't see Jim this week anyway unless it's in church, so we're just adding a new and different layer of insanity on top of that. We are grateful for all of the help we are receiving from so many people, from providing meals to cleaning up (thank you boy scouts!) to making sure everything is in place (thanks Jim!) We thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Sam did very well on Sunday at the concert. The only real issue is that he shifted in his chair and was a little uncomfortable, which was easily fixed during intermission. He also just about jumped out of his skin at the beginning of the Chichester Psalms, which is a little jarring if you're not ready for it. (In fairness, he's not the only one who jumped.) He just kind of smirked and settled in for the rest of the piece. The only other issue he had was that he asked us several times to stop making him laugh, which in the grand scheme of things is really a nice problem to have. It is good to see him laugh. The concert was beautiful, and we are very touched that one of the pieces was dedicated to us. Prior to the concert, we even managed to get a family photo for the church directory. When they got him back to his temporary home, it didn't take long for him to fall asleep, and he was pretty tired the next day for rehab. Overall, though, it was a very good day for all of us. Thank you all for being respectful of his space! You helped make this outing a smooth one for him.

He continues to make progress as he gets ready to come home. Aaron is home for Spring break and has spent time with him in Dallas. They have been playing Wii games, which has been great for Sam's recovery. He continues to make forward strides in so many different ways. The biggest one this week--to me, at least--is that he is working on speech. While there is not a lot of talking going on, he did work on one word in particular. For the first time since December 12th, he said, "Mom." It was one of the sweetest sounds I have ever heard.

We are so excited to finally be back together as a family under one roof. While everything might not be completely ready physically, we are ready in every other sense. This crazy journey has kept us apart far too long, and we are overjoyed that we can finally be together again. Thank you for your non-stop prayer support. Just one reminder that if you wish to order your #TeamSam shirt, the deadline is approaching. The orders will stop being received on March 29th. The link (if it chooses to work today) is #TeamSam Shirts  Word has it that they're great for a half marathon!

I should probably get ready for work, but I'll end with a picture that one of our friends took at the concert. Sam should be easy to spot!  Have a phenomenal day!

3/19 - Sam's Journey - Day 98

I have been very much out of the Sam loop this week, but the updates I'm getting from Jim are good. He continues to make progress in mobility and speech, and apparently, he's a beast at playing Uno. If you choose to play him, you have been warned. 

I will have more specific Sam progress later in the weekend, if getting my grades done allows it. I'm writing now because I wanted to talk about what will be going on this weekend for him. If you've seen Jim's Facebook page and his announcement about the Texas Voices concert this weekend. He had a very vague post about a very special guest coming. If you haven't guessed by now, that guest is none other than Sam himself. We've done some practices getting him in and out of the car, and his stamina is good. However, this is going to be very strenuous for him. There will be much more stimulation than he's used to, and even if everything goes perfectly, it's going to be exhausting for him--and all of us. 

We are excited for all of you to see him, but we want to make sure that Sam has the best experience possible, and that you do, too. If you are planning on being at the concert, here are some things we'd like for you to know and consider:

• We will probably be seated near the back in case we need to make a quick exit for any reason. We will also probably get to our seats right before the concert starts so there's not too much excitement for him.
• We know you have missed seeing him. We are asking that you keep your interaction with him to a quick "hello", "good to see you", "we've missed you", etc. We're trying to avoid a receiving line that would rival one on Black Friday.
• Sam is NOT a big hugger. Never was. No hugs, PLEASE. However, he is good on high fives, hand shakes or fist bumps. 
• Not everyone will see this prior to the concert, so if you could spread the word, we'd appreciate it!

We're really looking forward to tomorrow, and we appreciate your help in making it a great day for Sam!

3/14 - Sam's Journey - Day 93

Good evening, friends! Today was another very good day for Sam. He was evaluated for the next step in this journey, and they said he was the "perfect candidate" for their program. As we get closer to that transition, I'll give you more details. Also today, they weighed him on the standing scale. His weight continues to go up, but more importantly, they weighed him while he stood up on his own. When Sam wrote "Bigger," I'm not sure if he intended it to be my new mantra, but it's certainly looking like it will be! And finally, in terms of his progress, in honor of March 14th, he wrote out pi to the 5th or 6th place. That boy. He also got a visit from a friend who sent this picture. I call it Sam and Walter: Reunited and It Feels So Good.

While that's all good news, that's not really why I'm writing. A very good friend with much greater organizational skills than I possess has set up a T-shirt sale for #TeamSam! I'm going to execute my cut and paste skills and share the info with you. PLEASE don't feel compelled to buy one. If you do or if you don't, please know we are grateful for your support, whatever form that may take!

Friends/Family of the Loeffler Family (Ann Bougher Loeffler and Jim Loeffler). I have attached a flyer for ordering ‪#‎TeamSam‬ T-Shirts as a fundraiser for the family. I hope you can see the details in the picture below but if not, I've copied/pasted here as well. The store will close on March 31st and then the T-Shirts will be made and delivered to me for mailing/delivery. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to private message me. (If you want to contact Sue, let me know and I'll facilitate.) Feel free to share this information with anyone and everyone…let's fill Sam's room with pictures of his friends and family wearing #TeamSam T-Shirts!

"Please go to https://teamsambenefit2016.itemorder.com/sale or to the Triple Crown Website and click on the Online Store athttp://www.3crownusa.com

Details: Sue Ferretti will be mailing the shirts out after she receives the order (3 weeks after the store closes). For each shirt sold, the Loeffler Family will receive $9. $2 of the purchase price will help offset the shipping expenses. There is Maryland tax and a small processing fee for the online store. You will enter your name twice…once as Player’s name and then again as Customer’s name (sorry for any inconvenience). There is an option at the end of check-out to print your receipt, I would recommend you do so. Please enter the shipping address so Sue know’s where to mail/deliver, and email and phone number in case she has any questions (this information will not be shared with anyone). If there is any grammatical errors here, please disregard…I’m not a teacher. Thank you for your order and for helping out the Loeffler Family. Go #TeamSam!

  

3/13 - Sam's Journey - Day 92

I'm not going to write a lot since my last post was pretty lengthy. Since the trach has been out, the last two weeks have been great for Sam. Because we were on Spring Break this week, I got to spend time with him during his rehab sessions, and I saw him make some really good progress. In the last few days alone, he has made some significant leaps forward, and I wanted to highlight a few of them for you.

-The therapists have been working on finding a way for him to communicate more effectively beyond yes and no, and the limited sign language they've taught him. This week, they gave him some paper and a pen to see what he could do. He has some minor issues with fine motor skills, left side attention deficit, and perseverating on (repeating) some letters. Despite that, he has now written sentences up to 11 words long. He's also writing some pretty intricate stuff.  Although sometimes he has to rewrite things because it's illegible, he has been able to communicate clearly. He has asked to listen to specific music (yes, he can still spell Magnificat correctly,) requested food (burgers, if you were wondering) and expressed some pretty significant emotions. What has become abundantly clear through the new writing system, is regardless of whatever parts of his brain may have been damaged in the accident or removed during treatment, he is as sharp as he was prior to December 12th. As far as we can tell at this point, his memory and his knowledge base are solid. Before all of this, he had a really sharp wit, and that has not changed one bit. As an example, I was having trouble reading something he'd written. I said, "Sam, you have to write bigger." So he wrote this:

-Yesterday in OT, he opened and closed his mouth on command for the first time since this all happened. Because that's tied so closely to speaking and eating, I was over the moon when he did that. When Jim went in last night, he texted me to tell him that he got him to make sound! He could only do it a couple of times, but it was a start. Today when I was with him, he was able to make sound more often than he couldn't. When he tries to speak and 'misses', he makes the "H" sound. I had him touch his throat so he could feel the vibrations when he did make sound, and that seems to be helping. Whenever he was successful in making a sound, we both got so excited and did a fist bump. I was downright giddy on the way home. (And believe me, it's not because we're going back to school tomorrow.) It was a very good day. 

-Finally, Sam had some visitors this weekend. It was so good for him to interact with other people, and I'm grateful for the time they shared with him. A couple of friends brought him a hat which he absolutely adores and wears all the time. It's great at covering the wonky hairstyle after all he's been through. He's even created a little salute with it.

The thought I'll leave you with is this: My gut has been pretty accurate throughout this whole process, and it's telling me this is going to be a really huge week for Sam with some amazing leaps forward. I'll let you know next week if it was right! (So much for not writing a lot--my apologies!)

Thanks for your continued prayers! We have some friends going through some tough situations with family health issues. If you could include them when you're remembering them, we'd really appreciate it.

Finally, here's a picture of Sam with his buddies.

3/10 - Sam's Journey - Day 89

Sorry for the posting delay. We're on Spring break this week, which means it's time to catch up on a lot of things around the house while spending as much time as possible with Sam AND getting the house ready for his return. I had written several times last week with all of the excitement, so I hope that was enough to tide you over until now. 

Highlights of the week so far:

• As you probably know by now, the trach is out! No one is happier about this than Sam. When they brought him back to Children's, his admitting nurse was one that he had had a lot prior to moving to rehab. She was floored by how far he had come since she had last seen him. It's always nice to have that perspective since we see him pretty much on a daily basis, and the changes can be harder to see for us.  The bronchoscopy went well, and there were no issues with the decannulation procedure. When they take it out, they let the stoma (the hole where the trach is inserted) close up on its own. It's kind of like when you pierce an ear, and shortly after you remove the earring. It just kind of takes care of business all by itself. If it doesn't do that automatically, they sometimes put a stitch or two in, but Sam didn't need that. As of Friday, the nurse said that it was about the size of the head of a pin. Sam's doing great, and his oxygen levels are holding just fine. Because the trach is out, he was moved to the non-respiratory wing today. So far, it's been a good move--at least for us. The room is bigger and there's some flexibility in how we can arrange Sam's bed, which I'll talk about below.
• Sam's been making more good progress in all of his therapies. In PT, he has been on the treadmill and doing more work with his left leg. They have also started doing electric stimulation on his left side, which gets the muscles to contract and hopefully wake them up some more. He doesn't like it, but he doesn't put up too much of a fuss when they do it. The big news of the day is that (with a boatload of supervision and spotting) got himself into his wheelchair today by himself. Jim was here for that, and he said once he was in his chair, he smiled. Sam knew that it was a pretty big deal, too.
• OT has been busy with working his muscle groups and making sure he doesn't lose range of mobility for when that left side starts moving. He is sporting some spectacular "racing stripes," which are 3 thin strips of medical tape that run the length of his arm all the way up to his shoulder. The idea is that they will call his attention to the arm (read "irritate him into noticing it,") and hopefully start moving it. He is also looking left of midline much better, but it is still a big effort for him to do that. We try to make him do as much as possible to the left to keep him working on that--sitting on his left side and having him look at us, putting things to reach for on that side, etc. When we moved to the new room, we were able to put the right side of the bed against the wall, so now everything happens to his left. It's a good thing!
• In neuropsych, I saw him do some writing. He was able to write his name, middle name included. He thought it was 2015, but that's understandable since that's when the accident happened. Frankly, I sometimes still think it's 2015, too. Maybe it's a genetic anomaly. Anyway, my favorite part was when they played a color game. The doctor gave a category and set an egg timer. She would write something in the category and Sam would have to write a different word in the same word family. In the color category, she wrote red, and he wrote blue. Then she wrote green, and he wrote...turquoise. Yes, it was spelled correctly. Cognitively, he seems to be just as sharp as he was prior to the accident. He completely understands what we're saying to him. I've even spoken to him in Spanish a little, and he seems to get that as well. This is great news!
• Sam's speech pathologist has also been working very intensively with him. He works not just on speech with her, but drinking and swallowing as well. His therapist has been phenomenal, and Sam really responds well to her. Unfortunately, this is his last week with her, since she is getting very close to having her baby. We will miss her a lot, but we are grateful for everything she has done, and we are glad that she's leaving for a happy reason. In any case, speech and swallowing are some of the areas--other than left side movement--that seem to be plaguing him most. His voice is fine physiologically, and his brain knows what he wants it to do. However, the message is not getting to the muscles in the right way. This is all injury related, and it can be very hard to watch, especially when his voice was such an integral part of his life pre-accident. The very good news is that his brain just needs to make new connections on how to make the speaking and controlled swallowing happen. This brain has done amazing things so far, and we are confident that it will happen. As it has been throughout much of this process, this one's up to God and Sam to sort out, and we know they'll get it worked out.

Other than that, Sam's personality has been really coming through. He has an uncanny comedic timing, and frequently has all of us cracking up. We continue to be impressed with all of the incredible progress he makes, and the trach being out has really helped with that. Thanks for staying with us in prayer last week as we rode that wave all the way the shore. It was wild, but we all made it! For now, our prayer requests are:

• that his left side continues to recover and regains movement. This is not just for the obvious reasons, but it will also mean an end to the injection he gets to prevent blood clots. It's the only shot he gets as the rest of his meds go right into the feeding tube. Twice a day is two times too many for our preference, and we would love to not have to worry about doing that once he's home!
• that his brain finds a way to make those connections so he can start speaking and swallowing, and eventually eating. We know this will happen! Prayers for our constantly-tested patience muscle would also be appreciated!   

We love you guys and appreciate all of the support, whether it's through meals, gift cards, good thoughts or prayer. It is all appreciated, and we love you, #TeamSam!

3/2 - Just got a call

THE TRACH IS OUT!!!!!

Click Here for our reaction:

Happy Dance

3/2 - Another quick update...

Just talked to Sam's nurse at Children's. He has been taken down for the bronchoscopy (i.e. they're taking a picture of his lungs.) If that all goes well, immediately following that, he will be decannulated. Prayers for a safe procedure are appreciated! We'll keep you posted!

3/1 - Prayer request

Good morning! All is well, but I wanted to ask for prayers for smooth sailing over the next couple of days. If all goes according to plan, Sam will be trach-free by Thursday morning. And, as you all know, nothing has gone according to plan throughout this whole saga. Sam will be temporarily moved back to Children's, where he will undergo at least one invasive test, in addition to several other not so intrusive procedures. We'd appreciate your prayers for Sam's safety, the medical staff's wisdom, and that everything works out the way it's supposed to.  Thanks so much~have a great day!