NO MORE CHEST TUBE

Kyle, Taylor, Jesse and Sam.....holding him for the first time.

My sister Jody holding Sam for the first time....he was still on oxygen at this point

Sam was free from tubes except his IV...we went for a walk around the hospital...it was very exciting to leave the PICU for the first time.

I was so done with hospitals and needles IV's etc. I just wanted Sam out of there. I was so grateful to the Stollery and what they had done for Sam.....without all of them Sam would not be here. God creates miracles through other people...the gift of being a surgeon and having the amazing ability to operate on such tiny little hearts is truely a gift from God. I had reached my limit though and I was done. I was boldly seeking a miracle from God. I know that the path ahead of us did not look good, but I believed so strongly that Sam was going to be able to leave the hospital very soon. I even had a date in mind...now how bold is that. Here is the list of things that needed to happen in order for us to be able to leave the hospital. Sam's chest tube needed to be out, his lungs healed, feeding on his own and gaining weight...he had lost weight everyday since he arrived....his IV medications for his blood infection needed to be done, breathing completely on his own with no assistance....so no extra oxygen. This was quite a list of things to accomplish...considering they had told me that he had to have the chest tube in for approx 6 weeks...it was pretty unlikely that he was going home anytime soon. I believed so strongly that he was going to be going home soon.....His chest tube went in on a thursday.....I boldly prayed that we would be able to go home the following friday....how unrealistic is that. I honestly believed so strongly that I was surprised when I walked into the hospital to find Sam still had his chest tube in. The staff though, was surprised to find that Sam was no longer draining fluid from his lungs....they thought that they had to adjust his tube and that it had somehow missed the fluid. They tried for 2 days to find fluid and when they couldn't the tube came out on tuesday. That's 5 days.....not 6 weeks!!! Sam had a lot to accomplish if we were going to meet the goal of going home by Friday......I got to work and so did sam. While we were trying accomplish some things to be able to bring him home...we were able to let his brothers hold him for the first time...no more tubes....this was a big deal and we were so excited to bring the boys to the hospital so they could cuddle their brother. The biggest hurdle was the IV meds. Sam was no longer on any central lines or pic lines because the infectious disease doctors said it was way to risky. He was getting his medications by IV which only staff could do...his IV's often came out and he was poked and prodded so much that he began to cry constantly. This was not good because he was burning all of his calories and not gaining weight. There was still a lot to do before he would be released, but for now we were enjoying Sam without all of the tubes hanging from him. I wasn't focused on that I was just so glad that God had answered what seemed to me to be the biggest hurdle...we would tackle the rest another day.