11th Update

I’m sure most are waiting to hear how Samuel’s day went on Friday. At about 10:30 his little room was filled with people; doctors, nurses, respiratory, photographer, family and others. Mom dressed Samuel for his pictures and when everyone was ready they removed the feeding and vent tubes. Things went well for the first 10 minutes; we got some pictures with Mom, Dad and Samuel, then his secretions started clogging his airway. They put him back in bed to clear and suction and to get his oxygen saturation level back to normal. After that, they returned him to Mom and we were able to get pictures with the whole family before his secretions clogged his airway again. They put him back in bed and we decided to re-insert the ventilator tube.

Once he was back on the ventilator and they were able to suction his lungs; the suctioning pulled up secretions, blood and milk. The blood was probably just irritation and broken blood vessels from pulling and re-inserting the tube, because within a couple of hours it had stopped. The milk was a sign that he aspirated. It is routine for them to x-ray after inserting the tube to check for positioning; the x-ray did show that he definitely did aspirate. The doctor started Samuel on antibiotics right away in hopes to prevent any symptoms from pneumonia. Saturday afternoon they did another x-ray and he does have what they call aspiration pneumonia, but he is not having any problems so far.

Samuel has bounced back from Friday’s excitement and he is again breathing over the vent with low settings. The doctor said that Samuel didn’t appear to be having any problems breathing without the vent, but the lack of the gag reflex is what prevented him from doing well. We now know for sure that at this point we will have to do the tracheotomy and G-tube until the time his gag reflex is established.

We did get a surprise on Saturday morning. Samuel partially opened his left eyelid. We could see his eye moving as if he was looking around. A little while later, his eye rolled back and the eyelid finally closed. We assumed he went to sleep. Later that day his left eye opened again and this time it was half-way opened.

We ask for prayer to protect him from any adverse effects from the pneumonia and that the antibiotics would clear it up. For continued healing of the brain so that both eyes would open and he would have sight. Pray that we can have both surgeries scheduled at the same time, so that Samuel only has to go under anesthesia once, not twice. We also need prayer for my family’s health. I think I am coming down with a cold or something, so I haven’t been to the hospital. No one else has any symptoms and we hope it stays that way…

I thank everyone for their emails of encouragement. I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to answer them all. I thank God for all of you who lift Samuel up in your prayers and for all the other blessings that are being poured on our family. May God bless you and your families.

Yancy

10th Update

As usual, it has been several days since my last update. There is still no definite gag reflex. He doesn’t like it when they try to gag him, but it’s just not there yet. Samuel has been doing well and has had no problems with his breathing since my last update. His ventilator settings are set as low as they can without removing the vent. Tomorrow (June 26) at 10:00 am we are going to remove the ventilator tube to see if he will continue to breathe on his own. We have coordinated the photographer from Footprints to take pictures right after we remove the vent tube; that way we can get photos without the vent or feeding tubes. As soon as I have the photos, I will post some on the website.

I ask that you continue to pray for the following: gag reflex, healing to the damaged areas of the brain, protection from pneumonia and that Samuel’s breathing would remain strong and constant after we remove the vent tube. If Samuel does not tolerate breathing without the vent, then we will have to replace it and they will schedule the tracheotomy; if he does not develop a gag reflex then the G-tube surgery will have to be done before he goes home. Pneumonia is a possible concern because without the gag reflex he can aspirate (his saliva goes into his lungs instead of his stomach). Without the gag reflex, which also causes swallowing, Samuel’s mouth will have to be suctioned frequently to reduce the possibility of aspiration.

After many repairs and attempts, the RV is finally ready to come up to the hospital; however, we just found out that an apartment is opening up at the Ronald McDonald House. We are not sure if our family is next on the waiting list or not, so the boys and I will continue to sleep at my office on the floor until we find out. The apartment has an occupancy of six and would be the ideal situation. I will be out of vacation and sick days, so I return to work next week. The Ronald McDonald House is only 5 minutes from my office. If the apartment doesn’t work out, we have the RV as a backup plan.

On a side note, someone asked me if I was aggravated with the doctors or hospital about the issue of “pulling the plug.” My answer is absolutely NOT. The doctors, nurses and staff have been wonderful and we appreciate everything they are doing for Samuel and our family. God has gifted them with exceptional knowledge and ability. I respect their opinion and asked them not to sugar coat anything. I just don’t agree with some of them on this subject. That doesn’t mean I am specifically angry at anyone – they don’t agree with my worldview and I don’t agree with theirs, it’s that simple…

As always, thank you for your continued prayers…
Yancy

Samuel's Candle

Andrew and Lisa of AandLCandles.com have graciously offered to sell candles for Samuel to help with the Emery's medical expenses. Here's what you do. You buy a Samuel Candle for $15 and $10 goes to the Emerys for Samuel's medical expenses. To find out more watch the video below and to purchase a Samuel candle visit www.aandlcandles.com/Donations.aspx

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:a8bd0f00-a82e-46e9-92d3-a6bb5463f610&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Samuel Candle">Video: Samuel Candle</a>

9th Update

Samuel has had some ups and downs since my last update. Today he is doing well in all areas, except still no gag reflex. In my last update I spoke about trying to remove the ventilator and see how he tolerates it and replace if needed. They were slowly weaning his breathing and had lowered it to a rate of 14 breaths per minute. Samuel decided he was really comfortable with that rate, got lazy and decided he was just going to let the vent breathe for him. The last few days he has been very inconsistent with his breathing. They did another EEG to see if Samuel was getting into a sleep cycle which caused him not to breathe over the vent. The results didn’t show definite sleep cycles, so we again started the discussions with the doctor about the tracheotomy and G-tube surgery. Last night he decided he didn’t like those discussions, so he did well breathing thru the night. This morning he was still doing well, so the doctor decided to lower the support rate to 10 breathes per min and he is doing well with it. We are back to talking about removing the vent in the next couple of days…

Main prayer requests: Gag reflex and swallowing, consistent breathing – especially when we remove the vent, and healing of the brain areas.

Today we spoke with an organization called Footprints. One of their many services includes professional photos of the baby and family. We are going to try to coordinate these photos at the same time we remove the vent and if Samuel decides to cooperate with our plans, I will have Anita post them on the blog.

As always I thank you for your prayers and support. If anyone on this list is in need of our prayers, we will gladly lift them up with ours.

Yancy

8th Update

Samuel’s condition has improved since my last update. He is maintaining his blood pressure, body temp and breathing. They are weaning his breathing support at a very slow rate to allow him to equalize each time before moving the settings down again. Today when the doctor checked his eyes for pupil response, as they do every day with a flashlight, Samuel had an immediate response in his left eye and a sluggish response in his right eye. They have only seen a sluggish response in one of his eyes on the day they did his EEG testing and nothing before or since then. This is a very good sign because it shows increased brain activity.

Samuel’s gag reflex still has not developed. We started to see positive signs last week until his rough day last Saturday. Today when the doctor checked for this, he did not have a gag, but he did squirm more than he ever has before (he definitely didn’t like it).

He is now off of all IV’s, catheters and medications. The only tubes are his feeding tube and the ventilator tube. Samuel is up to full feedings of 70cc (approx 2 ½ oz) every three hours. He is digesting 100% after most of his feedings and now weighs 9 lbs 8 oz. If Samuel continues to be stable and consistent with is breathing and gas levels, then we will try to remove the ventilator tube, the middle of next week and see how he tolerates it. We will be checking his oxygen saturation level and heart rate, plus they will add a nasal cannula (oxygen tube at his nose) to help him become accustom to not having the ventilator tube. We will also have to determine how much his mouth will have to be suctioned, since he still doesn’t have his gag reflex and swallowing capabilities.

Please specifically pray for his gag reflex and swallowing to develop before we try removing the ventilator. Samuel cannot remain on the ventilator with the tube down his throat for a long period. If he doesn’t tolerate without the vent, he will need the surgery for the tracheotomy and G-tube. Also pray for protection from secondary issues, such as pneumonia. This is always a concern for babies in Samuel’s condition.

We thank you for all of your prayers! God is definitely answering them…

I said I was going to send pictures to Anita, who has created a website for Samuel and is keeping it updated, but I haven’t yet; however, my oldest daughter has created a short picture video and Anita said she was able to upload it to the website today.

Once again, we cannot thank you all enough for your care and support,

Yancy

7th Update

Samuel has had a rough couple of days (June 6th and 7th). His blood pressure was high and they gave him one dose of blood pressure meds, which brought it down too far and it has been difficult for him to maintain since then. He has also had problems maintaining a consistent body temp and he has been back on the ventilator. Last night he started doing better in all these areas. This morning he has started to breathe over the ventilator again and they have started the process of weaning the support down.

On the morning of the 6th he started to show some possible signs of developing his gag reflex. He did not “gag” but he did squirm a little. He did not do this on the 7th, but did squirm again this morning. We hope this continues to develop because they are talking about doing a tracheotomy in a few days if it doesn’t.

In one of my previous updates, I mentioned that we had a room in the Ronald McDonald House (RMH) across from the hospital. I did not mention that due to fire codes they only allow 4 people to stay overnight. We now have seven in our family, so we have not been able to all be together during this time. This has not set well with me since I think it is very important for us all to be together. Yesterday I spoke with my friend, Bruce (he was also my former pastor), and he said we could use his RV and park it outside of the Ronald McDonald House. I ask the hospital security if there was any issues in doing this and they said it was not a problem. This was an answer to prayer. In a few days we will all be together. The guys will sleep in the RV and the girls in the RMH. The hospital is only a few minutes from my work, so when I am done using my sick and vacation days, I will only be a short distance away.

We ask specific prayers for Samuel’s gag reflex, breathing, blood pressure and body temp. We thank you for your prayer support and ask that you not grow weary as this may be a long road.

Yancy

6th Update

I know that many have been waiting for another update and I’m sorry that it has taken 4 days to send this one. We received a call from the Ronald McDonald House that they had a room for us. So Tuesday I moved into the house that was about 3 miles from the hospital. Wednesday I received a call that the house across the street from Cardinal Glennon had a vacancy, so I moved out of the one and into the other. During that process, my brakes went out on the van and I had to get them fixed – Just some of the excuses for not sending an update sooner…

Evette is healing well, but still tires easily…

I want to sincerely thank everyone for their prayers, God is graciously answering. Much has happened since my last update. Everyone knows that Samuel stopped breathing on his second day of life, but I have not updated you on the results of his MRI. The MRI was completed on day 3 and we reviewed that evening. The doctor painted a very bleak picture. They stated that all major areas of the brain was affected including the brain stem. The results of the MRI, the no breathing issues and the fact that the initial EEG (brain wave test) was basically flat with the exception of when he breathed; I believe this is what prompted them to discuss the subject of “pulling the plug.” Their assessment included: Samuel blood flow to the brain would not be sufficient, causing further problems, he probably would not be aware of his surroundings (wouldn’t feel anything), he would probably not be able to see, hear or speak. Without saying it, they were telling us that he would be a vegetable. We told them we understood their reasoning and respected their knowledge of the situation; however, we did not agree with their opinion and that “pulling the plug” was not an option.

Today is Samuel’s 10th day of life and we are praising God for the miracles He is working each day. I believe that has a lot to do with our prayers. We thank you for them and ask that you continue and continue to ask others also. We know that God already has Samuel’s days numbered, whether that is 10 days or 100 years and we thank Him for each one of those days. We truly believe that children are a blessing, no matter how God gives them to us.

Samuel is breathing well on his own (something they said he would not do) and they have the ventilator settings as low as they can without removing the tube. He had an ultrasound of his head to check the blood flow to the brain. Surprising to the doctors, Samuel has normal blood flow to his brain (something they said would not be sufficient). He had another EEG (brain wave test); the initial one had flat waves, but the second one surprisingly showed Samuel’s brain wave activity is now that of a 24 week (5 ½ month) premature baby and he can feel touch and pain (they said he probably would not be aware of his surroundings). My last update I specifically ask for prayer for Samuel to develop his “Gag Reflex” (another function they didn’t think would happen). Well on the doctor’s exam this morning, he still didn’t have a gag reflex, but started moving his body when she would put her finger down his throat; something he has not done before… ARE WE STARTING TO SEE A PATTERN HERE???

We are thankful for his new doctor. She is another blessing and supportive of our decisions.

Samuel’s blood pressure has been elevated and last night they put him on meds to lower it to an acceptable level. He has a small hole in his heart, which is normal and will probably heal on its own. He had 8 tests yesterday and all revealed normal results or nothing major. They removed his urinary catheter again and we hope they don’t have to put it back in. He is being fed Mom’s milk (though a tube) every three hours and is up to 1 ½ ounces each feeding. He is digesting it well. He is no longer being warmed because he is maintaining his own body temp. He is getting daily physical therapy to keep his body from becoming stiff. All systems seem to be operating in the normal range with the exception of the following:

Please pray that his breathing would continue to remain strong. We would like to see him taking deeper breaths. Pray that God would continue the normal blood flow to the brain and for increased brain activity. That God would heal the damaged areas of the brain. His gag reflex is still the next big miracle we need, without that, they cannot remove the ventilator (unless we do a tracheotomy and G-tube). We need his blood pressure to come down and his bladder to consistently empty on its own.

On a similar subject, I ask that everyone pray for all the children who are hear in the neonatal ICU. There are approximately 40 babies here with us, who I’m not sure are being prayed for. Babies as small as one pound to babies who have been here over a year. Thru this email list I know of a boy who was born two days after Samuel and was air transported to Children’s Hospital. His name is Austin Timothy Groat and he is in serious condition with breathing problems and pneumonia.

Our friends, Anita and her daughter Erin have created a blog for Samuel. They will post all the updates and I will be sending them pictures to put on the site in the next couple of days. I continue to ask that you send to anyone who will sincerely and earnestly pray for him. They can send me an email and I will add them to the list – yemery2009@hotmail.com

We have seen many miracles and we expect to see many more. Thank you, we are exceedingly grateful to you all.

Yancy

5th Update

Today was a good day. As I stated in my last update – Defying the wisdom of the doctors, Samuel began breathing at 6:30 this morning and it has grown stronger and better throughout the day. It’s still not the consistent steady breathing we need, but we are going in the right direction. They have continued to decrease assistance from the machine. “…With men this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

The last two days Samuel was receiving his nutrients thru an IV; today he was given his first feeding of Mom’s milk thru a tube into his stomach and he digested 100%. They are feeding him every three hours and he is doing well.

He was assigned a new doctor today.

Yesterday they removed his catheter because his urine output was good; however, this afternoon they had to put it back in because he was not releasing it as he should.

I ask that everyone continue to pray specifically for his breathing. The next miracle we need is for God to establish Samuel’s “gag reflex.” Without the gag reflex, they will not be able to remove the ventilator tube because he would constantly choke on his saliva. The only option for removing the tube would be to perform a tracheotomy (cut a hole in his throat so he can breathe) and a G-tube (cutting a hole in his side to feed directly into his stomach). We would prefer not to go there – please pray so we don’t have to…

It is 11:30 pm on June 1st and Samuel’s blood pressure has started to rise. It is not at a level that they need to treat; however it is at a level of concern…

I am going to end for now. I still need to send an update about the results of the MRI, I will try to send tomorrow. Please continue to send to anybody who will sincerely and earnestly pray for Samuel. If anyone wants to be added to the update list, send an email to yemery2009@hotmail.com – you will be added to the list and I will send you all the update thus far…

Thank you,
Yancy

4th Update

It has been a couple of days since my last update. Mom arrived here at Cardinal Glennon on Saturday morning, so I have been busy tending to her needs. Everyone got to hold Samuel for the first time last night. I sent Mom home last night (Sun) for a couple of days to hopefully get better sleep and to spend time with the kids. She is recovering well.

On my last update I asked everyone to pray specifically for Samuel’s breathing. Two days ago, Samuel stopped breathing on his own. The doctors told me that they did not believe he would regain his own breathing. My last update I also said they did not believe in miracles or the power of prayer. At 6:30 this morning, I was holding his hand and talking to him, when his respiratory number on the monitor when up into the 70’s. This has happened a few times over the last two days, but it has just been water in the lines or bad sensor reading. They cleared the lines and the numbers went back up into the 70’s. They checked everything and it was Samuel breathing. The doctor then disconnected him from the machine and he was breathing at a rate in the 40’s. She then reconnected him.

Samuel Ian’s name was given to me for a reason “God hears our prayers and answers graciously.” This is an answer to our prayers and I ask that you continue with us in this. Samuel is far from breathing without the machine, but he is farther from where the doctors said he was; which shows that God is in control, not the doctors. Please pray for continued improvement in his breathing…

I have a consult with his new doctor today and will try to send another update later today.

Yancy