February 12, 2006
February 12, 2006 | Updates
Some of you may not have noticed that I posted twice last week. If not, visit the photo gallery and you can see a few pictures of Samuel smiling.I do have some not so hot news to report today. Samuel was really sleepy this morning and then took a long morning nap. That is unusual for him since he rarely sleeps more than 10 or 15 minutes at a time during the day. Around noon, I realized that his forehead was warm and sure enough, he had a temperature of about 101.5. He has held that temperature all day and to say the least, we have been a little worried after the whole ordeal the last time he ran a fever. He has definitely been more sensitive to touch, more easily startled, more irritable and very sleepy all day. I’m not sure what is causing it. He did throw up tonight about 8:30 p.m. but it had been about 3 hours since he had been fed, so it wasn’t too bad. We’re hoping it’s just a short lived and small thing. He is still awake right now, though, and just seems too uncomfortable to sleep, so it may be a long night.
On to better news, though. I took Samuel to see an endocrinologist (sp?) this week since I can’t seem to get any answers from his rehab doctors on the results of his parathyroid tests. The doctor we saw reviewed several tests with me. Basically, the calcium in his blood is slightly high, but his parathyroid hormone levels are actually a little low and the test they run to see if his bones are giving up calcium came back negative. So it seems that his parathyroid is not taking calcium from his bones. So why his calcium in his blood is a little high, they don’t know. But his vitamin D levels also looked fine, so we are just going to recheck things in a few months to make sure nothing major has changed. That was good to hear. (Also, his rehab doctors said his albumin was high, but I saw that test myself and it is totally within the normal range. So, I’m not sure what they meant??)
Samuel is still moving around a lot. It is when he is posturing though. But it is getting so I can’t really leave him alone much at all. He will roll himself on his stomach and kick his legs (because he’s mad) and scoot himself across the floor. And tonight, I put him in his bed with the pulse ox monitor on and the baby monitor on and him surrounded by pillows thinking that would be sufficient. But when I came back, he had rolled on his stomach, moved himself to the top of his crib (away from his pillows), turned himself across the short length of the crib and had both his legs sticking through the slats! Aaaaaahhhhhh! I’m not quite sure if I should be happy or sad about it :)!
The best news is still the smiles. And they are coming at times that make us feel like he really still understands what we are saying. There are two stories I want to share with you. First, the other day, Samuel was sitting in his tumble form chair and Ben came and asked me to comb his hair. Now you have to know that before Samuel’s accident, when I would comb all the boys’ hair, Samuel would have to be first, and we always obliged him. So I sprayed Ben’s hair with the spray bottle and started combing it and happened to look over at Samuel. His face was scrunched up and little tears were streaming down his cheeks. He wasn’t posturing or upset, but he was crying. I said, “What’s wrong, baby.” And then I asked him if he wanted his hair combed. So I sprayed his hair and combed it while he calmly sat and let me. When I was done, I said, “You just have to tell Benny that it’s your turn.” And he broke out in a smile!
Second, I hollered downstairs to Wesley to get his chores done. (Seems like I’m always doing that :)) And when I turned back, Samuel was watching me. Well, I remembered how funny he thought it was when I was lecturing Tanner the other day, so I started in with, “You tell Wesley to get his chores done. He’s sure a pain in the butt!” Now I have to interject here and tell you that around our house, Tom has made it an “honor” to have your butt kicked. That means that if he says, “Who wants their butt kicked?” all the kids run over and fight over who gets to have Tom kick them in the butt. Strange, I know, but Samuel used to run over there with all the other boys and fight for his turn. So the I asked him if we should kick Wesley’s butt, and he broke out in the biggest grin I have seen yet. Well, I called the boys up and we would ask Samuel if we should kick their butts and he’s smile, so I’d kick them in the butt and he’d smile again. It went on for about 10 minutes until I’d smiled so much my face hurt! It was SO apparent that he understood. And for the past 3 or 4 days, all I have to say is, “Mommy’s gonna kick your butt!” and he will break out in a grin. It’s so amazing that he remembers and OBVIOUSLY understands it all. WOW!Well, I need to end this, but wanted to give you a link to a story that was on the news a few nights ago about a 22 year old girl serving a mission now who nearly drowned in a Sandy creek when she was 2 years old. She is in the Guiness Book of World Records for being under the water the longest and surviving. It’s an amazing story that she told herself and then off she walked tracting from house to house. What a miracle! http://www,kutv.com/video/?id=12876@kutv.dayport.com
I also wanted to quickly share with you about a boy that attends school with my sister (a senior in high school). He fell in a river when he was 3 years old and was under the water for 30 minutes. He now attends mainstream high school and my sister went to school with him for 6 months before she learned of his accident. She had no idea anything was even wrong with him because he walks and talks just like the rest of us. His mother said he postured horribly for 6 months before he even began to stop. His heartrate was often 300 beats per minute and they have pictures of 6 people trying to hold him out of his posturing to give him some kind of a break from it. His mother said it took 5 years before he could really communicate with them. But now, he can do nearly everything for himself.
It is amazing to me that of all the stories I have read (close to a hundred), the 2 most miraculous stories are of children who were blessed by the priesthood. The priesthood is a powerful thing. And I don’t exactly know what God has in store for Samuel, but I know that whatever progress he makes, it will be because of the blessings he has received.
Well, Samuel is crying, and I’ve rambled long enough. Keep praying! It makes all the difference.
Love,
The Jewkes
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