Pastor Connie's Blog

I want to introduce you to Sam. Sam is a really awesome seven-year-old in our congregation. He’s funny, creative, and insightful. He also has mind-boggling medical challenges. But this kid continues to amaze me. I haven’t known him for very long, but I am really glad that I do know him!

Recently Sam has been in and out of the hospital because of his medical needs. And when I say “in and out,” I mean for like a week or so at a time. It was basically coming down to complications with his feeding tube and his stomach’s ability to process nutrition. It has caused a lot of pain and a lot of concern. Sam has some great doctors, but the complications and issues are crazy. Everyone has been doing all they can for him, but nothing was really working like they wanted it to.

Then there was yesterday… Here’s what his mom posted on their CaringBridge Journal this morning:

Sam has now been getting g-feeds (through his stomach) for a little over 24 hours.  Along with formula and meds through his feeding tube, he’s also been eating small meals throughout the day by mouth.  This is where it gets good.. 

When we last tried that, as recently as Sunday, he was retching hard after no more than 4-5 bites and complaining of tummy pain because his formula was backing up into his stomach.  After a rough morning yesterday, where we ended up having to stop his feeds for a little while and then resume with diluted formula instead of full strength (30cal/oz), we managed to get through the day at a much higher rate than we’d thought possible.  He did need several short breaks from feeds throughout the day but ended up going to bed pain free that night!!  No levsin (pain), no phenergan (nausea), nothing.  From everything we’ve seen, this shouldn’t have been possible..  There’s no explanation for the success of this other than God answering our prayer.  We could not have made this happen on our own. 

Even if he doesn’t continue to tolerate g-feeds long term, at the very least it’s buying us enough time to come up with a plan for how to proceed.  We’re home, not stuck in the hospital.  Sam’s no longer on the brink of dehydration like he was on Tuesday.  He’s still not taking in enough calories to maintain his current weight, let alone gain, but it’s a much better start than we were expecting.  Praise God! 

Sam’s advice for the day is that sometimes you just have to try as hard as you can and never give up.  That’s exactly what we’re doing.  Thanks for all of your support, and especially for all of the prayers that have been going up on Sam’s behalf.  This is definitely not something we could have accomplished on our own.  

“Never give up…” I can tell you that Sam really does believe that. He also really does believe that God is the One who helps us never give up. The times I visited Sam in the hospital or sent him messages on facebook, he has amazed me by his simple trust that God really can and will help him. And in the middle of all of his complications, he has joy. Circumstances are not always what he wants. He will still have to try again tomorrow. But he is teaching me that when God is with me, I really can keep going. God really does give me what I need to “never give up.”