Sam is a very lucky individual...and he also has an excellent nurse. Sam's PICC line has not been working well for the past few days...   more »

Sam has had a rough time of it lately.  He has had a very bad case of pneumonia for the past week and a half and it got bad enough at one point that my mom was five minutes from taking him into the hospital.  I was away from the house for a week (hospital for pre-term labor) and it was frightening to see how sick he looked when I returned.  I have no good memories of lung problems with Sam, obviously--just some really scary ones. 

But some good things are happening, too.  He is on some heavy antibiotics and seems to be responding to it well.  His lungs are much clearer and his oxygen is MUCH better!  (During some of the crisis times it got down to 87%)  But my mom has been VERY vigilant and really has helped turn this pneumonia around. 

On the rehab front, when I returned from the hospital I noticed that his enunciation has really improved--he is pronouncing both the beginning and ending sounds in words WHEN he speaks slowly.  He is still working on pacing his speech and putting spaces between his words.  So instead of saying, "ireallywanttowatchamovie" we are trying to get him to say "I really want to watch a movie".  He just needs to develop the habit.  He hasn't had a lot of practice with walking since the pneumonia, he has had to use all his energy just to get better. 

But tomorrow he gets a repeat chest xray and another white blood cell count to see how he is fighting this sickness.  And just over a year ago Sam was on his way back from another chest xray, but didn't make it home again for eight months.  Yuck.  But most of us have decided that instead of being scared and sick over the approaching Valentines Day, we are going to celebrate as the day Sam defied the odds (one day of many).  I might just stick red hearts everywhere and be completely corny, or maybe just ignore it all together.

So keep praying for Sam--that he can kick this pneumonia and be healthy and happy and continue on the rehab road.

--bec

My Aunt Jayne had a wonderful idea.  As Valentine's Day approaches we all hold our breaths for the year anniversary of ...   more »