Show Us Your Stuff

Today the Houston High School Marching Band had its last extra practice before the first competitions (two in the same day). CJ (top center in khaki shorts) rans through the routine one last time before calling it quits for the day.

Now I'm not saying this band is big, but they have their own freakin' semi! Look at the second picture above if you don't believe me (laughs). It's not a rental, either. This rig bearing the band's logo has a permanent parking pad right outside the bandroom door.

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings for the kids. They've sure worked their tails off. Unfortunately we won't be able to attend these contests because of Sam's recovery, but we hope to make it to Vanderbilt in Nashville next weekend.

We're Home!!!

Late this afternoon Sam was released from the hospital. It was so nice to get home. She still has pain, but the insurance company and her soon-to-be ex pediatrician seemed to feel she was ready to go home anyway. Despite being dog-tired after so many nights in the hospital with Sam, I still had to read a while before falling asleep. Adrenaline will do strange things...

Wheel of Fortune!

The local Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores donated a mini TV studio of sorts to the LeBonheur hildren's Hospital. On it, Child Life staff present daily game shows like Wheel of Fortune and Bingo. The winning children see a prizewall on the TV, and after the show their chosen prize is delivered by the "TV stars".

After winning a round of Wheel of Fortune (she solved the puzzle before any letters were even on the board!), Sam chose the adorable plush brown lop-eared bunny pictured here. She named him "LeBonheur" after the hospital. Samantha even passed up her time at the teen play room to greet and thank the stars in person.

Later that afternoon, she met two young men (both also patients around 15) in the teen room. They took her under their wing and taught her the finer points of playing the Nintendo Wii. The boys were stunned when she knocked them out in boxing (laughs)!

Just when we thought Sam was getting well enough to go home, the severe pain would strike again. Her primary doctor is a total @$$. The woman refused to heed the advice/thoughts of specialists I had to insist she call in. Fine. She's now Sam's EX pediatrician. In any case, we're getting close to a release. At least we better be, because we've forgotten what home looks like!

Oh Brother

Chris wasn't about to show any emotion over his sister's ordeal, but it was clear by watching him when he visited on Sunday that he was rattled big-time. The place made him visibly uncomfortable. In fact, he spent most of his time huddled under a desk by a window playing with a Latex glove. He was trying to blow it up to make a turkey.

When Sam woke from her nap with a high fever and major pain that required Morphine, he curled up in the far end of the bench seat and sat silently. I think CJ hates hospitals almost as much as his daddy does!

All Settled

Eleven hours later, Samantha was taken to her room on the 6th floor of the hospital. The nurses seemed pretty nice, but all of us were grumpy between the stress and not eating since dinner the night before. After scrounging up food from the cafeteria for everyone, Wayne went home to be with Chris, who had spent the whole day home wondering and worrying. Thank goodness for the cell phones, because we were able to update him, but still it was weird for him to be alone so much.

As per hospital rules (not that I'd have it any other way anyway), I spent Saturday night in the hospital with Sam. And Sunday night. Monday night. Tuesday night, until finally she was sprung from the place on Wednesday. I wasn't fond of our pediatrician before, but now I pretty much loathe her. She seemed very unconcerned and unsympathetic about Sam's condition, and was unwilling to consult specialists until I DEMANDED she order them. A lot of good it did. The woman ignored them anyway. Ugh.

Anyway, it wasn't all bad. We met some wonderful people there and had some fun experiences too, which I'll share in a later post.

ER

I'm backdating these posts to help people get a better sequence of events. On Saturday morning, Sam woke up with severe pain in her lower right abdomen and a fever of 102.7. Thinking it was appendicitis, we took her to her primary doctor for evaluation. By the time we got there her temp was up to 103.6. Agreeing with our assessment, the doctor sent us to the hospital for a CT scan. Since Sam has hypothyroidism and juvenile arthritis, they wanted us to go to LeBonheur Children's Hospital on the opposite side of Memphis instead of our local hospital. We got there around 10:30 a.m., and each bump in the road was excruciating to her.

As was expected, the wait was long. But once they did her initial assessment, she was taken right back ahead of other children the nurses deemed less needy. Once doctors seemed convinced she'd need surgery, an IV was started to relieve dehydration. Sam HATES needles. I realize no one likes them, but seeing one is enough to make her hyperventilate and toss her cookies. She was brave though. The poor kid also had to be catheterized to obtain a "cleaner" sample.

Instead of confirming appendicitis, the CT scan found something different: pyelonephritis, or a kidney infection. One that was severe enough to warrant IV antibiotics and admission to the hospital.

Everyone Loves a Man in Uniform

Finally, a picture of CJ in his marching band uniform. He looks so handsome, even if he DOES look like he's ready to collapse after running the halftime show in hundred degree weather.

The First Video

Well here it is...the first of I hope many YouTube videos we plan to share. This one's of Samantha's jazz band back in May. On bari sax, you'll hear her low "honks" that keep the beat. She LOVED playing that song and was happy to find some old fart music she actually liked!

Smile for the Camera

Wow, I just noticed how long it's been since I updated this! Time flies this time of year...

Finally, after much screaming and yelling, we got Sammy's MRI scheduled for September 21. Her blood tests for tumors, muscle damage, etc. came back normal, so everyone's more stumped than ever. Her school and teachers have been wonderful through it all though. Her bus driver picks her up in front of the house now, and the teachers aren't pressuring her to race between classes. Sam's still pretty stressed by it all though. She's having trouble sleeping and is nervous about being stuck in the tube. But I think most of all she just wants some answers as do Wayne and I.

Chris seems to spend every waking moment marching these days. The band is gearing up for a month and a half of competitions every weekend. He finds the crowds at football games a little scary, but he's doing well considering he didn't march in middle school like most of the other kids did.

The whole family has been bitten by the photography bug again. CJ was even resorting to taking pictures of hamburgers frying and boiling water! It sounds hysterical, but I have to admit it looked pretty cool. The animals are well-documented now, too. Chris says Kokomo (above) looks better on film (figuratively of course, since we're digital photographers) than in person. Well THAT was sure mean!!!

HAPPY 70th BIRTHDAY, BUCKY!!!!!!!

Wish you were here so we could treat you to another awesome rack of ribs or a night at Hooters...

"Boner Bulletin"

The Houston High School Marching Band performed at their first game just over a week ago. The 270-member unit snaked into the stadium single file. While the leading end was making its way to their reserved section of seats at the far end of the stadium, the tail end was still spilling out of the band room at the opposite end!

They sounded terrific in the stands and impressed hundreds on the field. I couldn't video tape it because it was so hot, I thought the tape would literally melt! As it was they skipped their heavy wool uniforms for show shirts and shorts. I did call grandma and grandpa during halftime so they could listen over the cell phone. It didn't sound the best that way, but it was better than nothing I guess.

CJ's on the left in the picture above.

Samantha and the Knee

Since I last posted, Sam has been through a few more specialists, including a pediatric rheumatologist. Nothing stood out at the physical exam, but it was clear that Sam's pain was severe enough to affect her mobility. They ran a couple more obscure blood tests that reveal tissue and muscle damage (we have yet to get the results) and are in the process of scheduling an MRI.

Since something needed to be done for her pain, the doctor tried Indomethacin, a medicine my dad has used with great success. Let me tell you, I don't know what's in that stuff, but it sure is good! In fact, I'm calling MY rheumatologist to beg for some tomorrow! Sam went from crutches to an almost perfect gait in 36 hours. I kid you not! There's still lots of swelling after time on her feet so we still need to find the cause of the problem, but the relieved pain will make the wait a WHOLE lot easier!

Anyway, I posted a belated picture of Sam's SpongeBob birthday cake. Not your typical girl's 13th birthday cake, but hey, she's anything but typical!