The Final MILESTONE!!!!! Return to School..OUR THOUGHTS ON LIFE

Hi Everyone,
It has been a while since we last blogged. That is good news. Sam has just today, returned to school (Tues. Dec. 2nd, 2008). He was sooooo excited to return to school, he even was up before 5am. One would think, knowing Sam, that the excitement was more so for the social venue than the academics. But we think he truely is also excited to get back to a familiar routine, his mental signal that all is "WELL" once again. He reluctantly completed his NOVA Net courses, (I guess multiple choice gets old), got another hair cut........!!!!!! and some new clothes that fit his still ultra skinny (woops, swvelt) body. He has managed to gain 6lbs. and now weighs in at 111 lbs. He has been advised to use the hand sanitizer every couple of hours while in school, as the doctor does not want Sam getting sick again, not even a cold. This may present a challenge with flu season in full tilt. He still has a couple outstanding health tests to complete, which they need to give him the OK on. A more recent development has been that he is losing his hair....this is apparently common when ones body has been through extreme truama. He goes back to get another xray on Jan. 19th....we will start getting closer to the final image of Sam's damaged lung. By end of March the doctor thinks the lung will be where it will remain to be for life (more or less). In the mean time, Sam can play basketball, bike, and do all that stuff as well as he can without any problems. He needs to listen to his body and stop when he is winded or tired. Of course Sam wants to start to have sleep overs every weekend and to begin the process of burning the candle at both ends.....but the doctor and Mom and Dad don't think Sam is quite ready for that. We have told him he can have a sleep over party at our place on his birthday (Dec. 31st). Whether he has a sleep over away from home before that remains questionable.

Now, the burning question most you parents may have, after we as a family have been through this traumatic experience, what has this done for our family dynamics, the depth, the mental attitude towards life, the MEANING of LIFE???? Well, it's the old folks that have significantly changed. Of course the obvious, count your blessings daily, take nothing for granted....it has brought the family closer together etc. But what has really changed is the old folks attitude towards Sam, as our son and a teen. You know, the teen years are tough, and all parents have an expectation as their kids mature into young adults. Well, we have dropped much of that mentality. We now have little in terms of expectations, we spoil Sam more than before, (sorry you guys out there with teens). We just want to love our kid and try and try to live in harmony for the few years that Sam remains living in our house. Pretty simple conclusion....seems like a no brainer, but to all of you that have not gone through this, take it from us, it makes sense.
So....just think about it for a while.
Next up date .....after January 19th..next xray.

In case you are all wondering????? How's Sam???

Yes, we have been very lax in our blogging lately....we've just been enjoying having Sam home again. He is busy with various Doctor appointments each week. The infectious disease doctor does not need to see Sam again. The pulmonlogist saw Sam last Friday, and has given the OK to drop the 2x daily respiratory and nebulizer treatments. The x-ray showed some improvement, however, the right lung is 1/4 to 1/5 th smaller than the left lung. It is not known if this is permanent or not. The scaring from the hole has not resolved itself clearly enough to know at this time. Sam is getting stronger all the time and has gained 4 pounds!! He eats a lot now (eat your heart out), but it is taking time to put the weight on........if only .......say the middle agers. Sam is currently planing to go back to work on week-ends starting with half days this Saturday. He also plans to try and start back at school Dec. 1st, providing he has caught up in his missed classes. This is entirely up to Sam who seems to waste a lot of time each day......not doing his NOVA net class work. Either way if not before Xmas, Sam will be ready to return to school full time in January. The only other development has been an injury in his rotator cuff, which will be looked at with an MRI this Wednesday. This was done while over doing it, trying to do a push-up. If the MRI shows significant damage, Sam will have surgery. Let's hope it is minor....he's had enough trouble for the moment. His spirits are generally up and we are pleased that his mental attitude is positive. So for now........Cheers! And Happy Turkey Day!!

P.S. Sam has finally gotten that hair cut...and looks much better for it.

Routines

It's tuesady night, sam has slipped rightinto his old "vcation mode" routine. Sleep till noon and hang out till 1am. He has been introduced to his tutor and started on an online curriculum. It has this "get of jail free "clause.......if he can complete a set of multiple choice questions (about 100 questions) without too many mistakes apparently he then is awarded the course without further study!!!. The best part is he can look up the answers on line and there there is no time limit . Its like an unlimited time, open book final exam BEFORE you start the course. Any how he's right into this and will likely complete the entire semester over the next couple of days....All done to teen time table, "school" doesnt start till he chooses, around 4 or 5 pm and finishes around 8 so he can catch up on myspace................eat your hearts out cousins. Sam started physio therapy today to0, that'll be a couple of times aweek . The rest of us have also returned to the old routines, Cam catching up on her realestate and me back to completing the final touches to the house and getting the boat up and running again (justin !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Our Family , once again complete. Welcome home Sam!!

We are so over joyed that today our son has come home, to complete our family once again. We thank you.....our words are not enough to express our feelings of gratitude for your continued love and support throughout this frightening experience. Never under estimate the power of collective thoughts and prayer....... we are humbled by its' powerful presence and strength to save Sam's life.
We will miss your daily presence, here on Sam's blog......but know this experience has touched us all in a special way that lets us know that human bonds are extraordinary, powerful, beautiful......Thank you. We love you all.

The Kortegast Family (Graham, Cam, Sam, Marne, Kathryn)

The last night in hospital

Sam goes home tomorrow morning....25 nights in hospital, 11 completely sedated on life support. He's lost more weight now as he transitions from the drugs. Once home we still have breathing treatments 2x a day and physiotherapy but he gets his own bed and Mum's cooking. Downside (maybe ??) for Sam is that he starts back to his studies....we got all that sorted out today with the school and the tutor. He has to catch up with what he missed and keep up with whats current so as not to repeat a course but he's been reassigned to a less demanding curriculum so we are hopeful he'll cope. Time will tell (and Sam's own level of effort ) when he can return to regular high school. As I write he is hooked up to that infernal vibrating vest --for the LAST time. He's now completely weaned off the drugs, and has a few aches to show for it but the prospect of going home has him all smiles.....it has us all smiles too.

day 25 ,Wednesday 11pm

Got word on the Xrays taken yesterday and they look improved. The air bubble is no longer apparent , much to the pulmenologists amazement. The latest prognosis is that Sam will have near 100% recovery. The left lung apparently is normal and the right lung shows little signs of scarring. Sam will be mountain climbing in no time. We are still on target for release in 36 hrs !! Then Sam is back home for convalesence ....we have the hospital-home bound tutor arranged so Sam should be hitting the books come monday...he has a lot of catching up to do. Barring some complication (eg. flu, which will knock Sam about in his weakened condition) the prediction is anywhere between 2 and 10 weeks before Sam is strong enough to return to regular school. The suggestion is that he start on 1/2 days next month sometime then to see how it goes.

Day 24 ......List of "to do" when Sam's out

OKAY....so it is really going to happen...this going home thing. Sam has a few things he wants to do when he gets out of here......

• Sleep in his own bed
• Eat his Mom's cooking
• Hang out with his friends
• Get a freaking haircut
• Go on MySPACE
• Lots of other stuff...too numerous to mention
  

They took another xray this morning and will let us in on the results tomorrow. As they have said that it could take up to 3-6 months for the lungs to completely clear, we don't expect a huge change. Sam gets to take home a nebulizer with some treatments to take several times each day at home and Mom & Dad become the in-house respiratory therapists. We need to accompany each nebulizer treatment with 10 minutes of percussion (cup your hand and thump on the back/chest....it should make a hollow clapping sound). I'll tell you what.... this whole ordeal has been a real education for the old folks!