SAM IS HOME!!!!
YESIWILLPRAY
A PRAISE REPORT from Rachel:
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Sam and Martha cried pulling into their home driveway today. That pretty much says it all for explaining their joy. Yep, tears of JOY!!! (with a bit of exhaustion and homesickness thrown in, of course!) >probably more than just a bit< Sam was released at noon today after saying his 'good bye's' to the medical staff they have come to know so well through these past months. Martha drove him home by way of stopping to give his Peachy Dog some lovin' as they went by Sam's own house to check on her. Martha said it was obvious Peaches wanted to jump in his arms, but luckily she's too old to make it. Unfortunately, she has to stay away a little longer until Sam is a little more sturdy on his feet to handle being around a big dog again. Another week and she can come home (to Vanderpool's) too, probably. Sam is still weak but he managed to work hard and get himself home - passing all of the necessary tests they require for release. Now he's ready to sleep for a week and eat some homemade food when his eyes open even momentarily. Martha is determined to get some meat back on his bones ASAP! :-) Good news: His albumin level came up another point today - 3.0 now. MINIMUM level is 3.5 so he still has some protein eating to do ahead. Protein intake is directly associated with the albumin level and the albumin level is directly associated with eliminating the fluid build up (swelling) Sam continues to have going. Prayer is still needed to target the albumin numbers to climb. 'Normal' is more like 5 or 6, I'm told. Please pray for Sam's appetite to increase. I told Martha he might just need to smell food actually cooking instead of having hospital smells the precursor to having a tray of food placed in front of him to eat. Bake a turkey or some rolls and see how hungry he gets! Might work. Hope so. Bad news is that his white count went up again, but not enough to sound an alarm for the doctors (but it makes Martha a little on edge). His white count has been erratic lately with no obvious reason why. They figure his new liver is just causing his body to have to adjust to having a liver that actually works now. Sam was sick for so long his other body systems had to adjust to the diminished capacity of his failing liver. Now they are having to 'remember' how to work correctly and get back in shape. It's all part of the healing process and time will play big in making the positive changes for Sam's overall health. *For now, please refrain from visiting the Vanderpool residence.* Martha is putting a note on the door asking for no noise/no visitors so Sam can get caught up on three months of lost sleep. She needs it too, believe me. :-) She said, "We both just need to sleep for a week and we'll be fine." Her phone is off the hook (until further notice) and I told her I'm not going to call HER ... SHE can call ME if she needs anything. Amy did her grocery shopping and delivered the goods to their house today, which was a huge relief to her mother. Martha is still going to have to drive Sam back to the U Med Center on Friday morning at 5 am which isn't sounding particularly enticing to either of them right now, but they'll adjust. It's not like they have a choice, right? Yep, twice a week Sam will be going in for check ups and a progress report for the next several months. It's part of the Package Deal when you get a new liver. :-) Prayer for Martha to get up at 4:00 AM will be much appreciated, but I'm not telling her I put that request in this update. :-) OK? What a path we have been on, gang. All of you have gone over the bumps and down in the valley's with us and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the companionship. It's hard to explain how much it has helped knowing there were people along with us for this tumultuous ride. I've felt it all along, and I know the Vanderpool's have too. Sam isn't out of the woods yet so the ride continues, but we're praying it will be smooth sailing with the Lord's hand still guiding Sam through. Wasn't it just amazing to have a front row seat to witness His healing power and miracle making? WOW ... this has been a faith building experience like none other for me. I really didn't think I was lacking in that department, but God showed me growth so apparently I needed it. It was a nail-biter many times, but God showed His favor on Sam and we are grateful and rejoicing in His love. I think it's time for me to go shed some tears of JOY too. How blessed we feel to have a battery of believers who have prayed with us through an amazing time in Sam's life. As it turns out - in all our lives. God's tentacles of blessings reach far and wide when He goes into action! May you all be richly blessed back for your kind support and holding us up before our Lord when we so desperately needed it. In Christ's love, (Aunt) Rachel*** ohhhhhhhh man, I forgot to put anything in about the blood drive in OSO! Okay, it was GREAT! More people showed up to give blood than the bus could hold. The Blood Bank folks managed to get their fill to capacity of blood from the donors who managed to get in to give. THANK YOU! Unfortunately, there were so many people who dropped in that we couldn't accommodate all of the people who had signed up to give on Sam's behalf. The sun was shining and people were glad for the opportunity to give their life blood for others in need. Thank you to Elaine for organizing this important community event. Those of us who didn't get to give in Oso will go into Everett and donate there instead this week. I was told 32 pints of blood were collected on Monday! :-) wow Special note: The blackberry pie in the firehall was YUMMY! Cherry pie too, I was told. Yep, God took care of the details there too! Thanks to the bakers who made pies for the donors and workers to enjoy. Very special touch indeed.