Well, what a poetic way to end 2012 - Sam came home on New Years Eve at around 1:00pm. I have not been putting details of his surgery or time away on this blog, so here is a recap:
On December 2nd, Sam and I flew to Baltimore. We went to the Ravens/Steelers game, dined at Kona Grill (delicious!) and had massages at 921 Salon & Spa. It was our "date" before his surgery - we wanted to have some time together to relax and have fun because we knew we had a long road ahead.
On December 4th, we took a cab to Johns Hopkins at 5am to get Sam checked in for his first surgery. The surgery took about 14 hours, and they successfully removed part of the tumor, and began building the cage to replace the vertebrae. I left that day to come back home to be with the girls.
After the first surgery, Sam developed a blood clot in his lung and was having trouble breathing, so they put him on blood thinners and gave him a breathing tube. His second surgery was supposed to be on December 7th, but it was delayed because of these complications.
On December 7th, my sister, Taylor, Maddy, and I flew to Baltimore to visit Sam. We spent the weekend taking turns spending time in his room, since children are not allowed to be in the hospital. It was a wonderful trip and the girls did great on the plane!
On December 11th, Sam went in for his second surgery. During this second surgery, they removed the L4 vertebrae and tumor, and completed the cage and synthetic vertebrae. Sam developed another blood clot, so they put a mesh screen in his leg to keep them from traveling to his lung. He also had some trouble with swelling in his stomach, so a tube was put in his nose down to his stomach to keep it empty. He was very uncomfortable. I came to visit him for the day on December 14th, and during this time he was able to get the tube taken out and felt much better after that! He was moved to the inpatient rehab center at Johns Hopkins on the 22nd, where he began a regimen of intense physical and occupational therapy. I visited him again December 26-27 and he was already walking with a walker, and practicing going up and down the stairs.
He came home on December 31st and has been adjusting to being back home again! We missed him so much and are so happy to have him back here! He loves spending time with the girls, and is amazed with how much they've both grown just in the month that he was gone. He has been doing great with recovery. He gets around the house with a walker, and can go up and down the stairs (very slowly!) on his own now. We are very proud of him and his strength and determination.
Thank you so much to everyone who has helped out during this past month. We want to particularly thank Sam's mom, Gloria, for staying out there for the duration of his stay at Johns Hopkins. We are extremely thankful and grateful for the love and support shown to us by our family & friends (and even complete strangers!). I can't say it enough - thank you, thank you, THANK YOU.
What can I say about 2012? Many of the events of this year have shaken us and left us feeling very vulnerable. This holds true not only for the things that went on in our lives, but in the lives of our friends and family, and in the news as well. However, we were given a precious gift in September when our daughter, Madelyn, was born, and she and her easygoing, happy personality have been the biggest blessing. We also feel that we've been shown so much compassion, love, support, and strength by others that we will leave 2012 taking only that with us. So we begin 2013 with the will and determination to rebuild what we've lost and learn from the love that has been shown to us during this past year.
If I were to pick a theme song for 2012, it would be John Mayer's "Heart of Life", purely for these lyrics:
"You know it's nothing new, bad news never had good timing
But then the circle of your friends will defend the silver lining.
Pain throws your heart to the ground, love turns the whole thing around.
No it won't all go the way it should, but I know the heart of life is good."
Happy New Year everyone! May God bless everyone with health, happiness, and joy in 2013.
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Cheryl,
ReplyDeleteAlthough miles separate us and forced a wedge into our friendship I want to say you are someone who has forever touched my life. Your attitude, determination, strength (and many more attributes I could continue listing) are and will always be an inspiration to me. You and Sam are in Rob"s and my thoughts and prayers constantly. God gave you each other for a reason...and put you both in my life as an inspiration. I pray things continue to look up for your entire family in 2013! And if you ever need to get away and think a sleepy, little town is the answer, please know our doors are always open to you all!!! I am certain our girls would have too much fun together. Love, love, love...Lauren McClain :0)