January 31, 2007

Samantha has had a lot of ups and downs since we returned home from Gainsville. She is facing a lot of frustrations right now, not being able to open her left eye for one. She is also having some trouble speaking clearly at times which makes it very difficult for us to know what she needs. She has been in bed for over a week and spends most of her days sleeping. We have had some issues with her heart rate being to high/to low but she seems to have stabled out for the moment. Things change so fast you almost hate to write them down.
On a better note she did eat yesterday for the first time in a week. What a fighter she is. We will be starting her, today, on some (about 10) new homeopathics that are supposed to help her immune system as well as detox her body. We pray this will help her regain enough strength to continue fighting this monster. Of course we are still filled with hope that she will get her miracle and can't wait to be able to spread that good news.
Please continue to pray for her strength and healing.
With love & hope,
Audra, Kurt, Christopher, Samantha, & Jason

January 24, 2007

We took Samantha to Shands this weekend for her appointment on Monday but things did not go very smooth. Before we were able to find out what the doctor had in mind for treatment Samantha had major problems going on. Luckily we were in a medical facility and they were able to somewhat stablize the situation. We were told that she was close to the end of life and that she may not make it home. Well luckily they don't know "OUR SAMANTHA" and we held on to our hope for her. She did make it home, in a medical plane with mom, and she is resting comfortable in her bed. We are still not certain if Samantha had a bleed in the brain or if it was swelling that caused this episode but we are trying to keep her comfortable and hoping she can regain her strength and full consciousness once again.
Please continue to pray for her as she continues her battle with such courage. We appreciate all your support and prayers for our family more than we can ever express.
With love & hope,
Audra, Kurt, Christopher, Samantha, & Jason

We have had a few busy days since our last update. Samantha has been able to walk with assistance. Her balance seems to be declining though. We had a CT scan done on Monday to check her ventricles and they looked fine. It seems her physical abilities had gotten better but are starting to get worse again. Mentally we are seeing a pretty significant decline as well. It varies by the hour, sometimes the minute. It is quite frusterating for all of us, especially Samantha.

We went to meet Dr. Holyk yesterday who is a hollistic doctor not to far from us. We have put her on a few additional supplements/hollistics he recommended to try to boost her energy. We have also started laser therapy with the accupuncturist we have worked with in the past. It seems her seizures are starting up again and that is one of the areas we are working on with different forms of accupuncture.

As for conventional medicine, we have a tentative appointment at Shands Childrens Hospital in Gainsville, Florida on Monday. We had sent her scans to them for review and received a call yesterday with an appointment time for Monday. We are, however, waiting to hear from the doc there to see what she has in mind for Samantha. We are pretty opposed to any chemo therapy so it would be a waste of time if that is what she is thinking. There are some new clinical trials using other agents to target certain receptors (one of which Samantha has an elevation in) that we may consider if they suggest one.

Ironically Monday also is one year from diagnosis. It is hard to believe that she has been battling this monster for a whole year on the other hand it feels like it has been going on for an eternity. It blows our minds that we walked into the ER with a happy, otherwise healthy little girl and we were led into the biggest nightmare of our life. Many people don't endure in a life time what our baby has had to face in one year. She is quite amazing. Either way she/we have had enough and are ready for our miracle. Please continue to pray for Samantha and us in our decision making for our sweet princess.

With love & hope,
Audra, Kurt, Christopher, Samantha, & Jason.

January 8, 2006

Samantha has shown significant improvement over the past week. She is now able to sit up on her own, feed herself, and talk again. She is back to eating a regular diet as her swallowing is back to normal. We are working on her strength in her legs in hopes she will be able to walk again. She continues to brighten our days with her beautiful smile.

We are currently giving her some supplements and hollistics to cleanse her system and strengthen her body the best we can. We have not decided on the next course of treatment and are still waiting to hear back from one additional doctor then we will move forward from there.

As Samantha continues to amaze us we pray we will make the right decisions to help her. Please continue to pray for her and for us in our decision making. We appreciate all of your support as always.
With love & hope,
Audra, Kurt, Christopher, Samantha, & Jason