Samantha Update

Thanks for all of your prayers. My cousin Samantha has come through the first surgery with flying colors. Please continue to pray for her and her family as she faces more surgery in the coming week. Please read the following email from my Mom:

Most of you have called or read Sam’s message posted on the Caring Bridge site last night. We asked all of you over the years to pray for Samantha and you have always come through. For this reason I am once again sending an update as of Wednesday after actually seeing Samantha. Some of you have called and many of you had posted requests for updates on our computers. Please feel free to forward to anyone I may have overlooked or to your extended family or prayer groups. Having spent yesterday in the Le Bonheur waiting room, I can tell you that the prayers were certainly felt. We witnessed several real answers to prayer………the doctors never stopped trying to come up with a better plan for accomplishing the ultimate for Samantha with the least invasion.
They finally decided rather than opening her chest, they would enter her side for the first stage of surgery. They were able to do so with minimal affect on the diaphragm and other organs. The doctors were able to remove cushioning in five different areas of her spinal column and found it very easy to manipulate. This was done in 2-2 ½ hours instead of the 5 or 6 they were forecasting. They were able to take her off the breathing tube in a very short time. What the doctor’s originally thought was to be a tough surgery, absolutely thrilled them in that optimal results in preparation for next week’s surgery were achieved.
I was able to visit Nicey and see Samantha in the ICU this morning for a few minutes. She was sleeping peacefully on painkillers as they are trying to keep her as free as possible from pain. She has already started breathing exercises. I don’t think Samantha really knew I was there this morning, but she was as beautiful as ever. As Sam stated on the Caring Bridge site, they look forward to moving into a private room as soon as one becomes available today.
The groundwork has now been laid for the lengthy second part of the surgery next Tuesday, March 25. Yesterday the doctors freed up Samantha’s spine so they could better work with it. Next Tuesday, they will have a much longer day as they open her back and re-align each vertebra. Once this is done, I understand a rod will be affixed to each side of the spinal column to stabilize it. The doctors are very pleased and optimistic that Samantha’s spine will be almost perfectly aligned after next week’s surgery. So…don’t stop praying for the healing from the initial surgery, giving praise for God’s answer to prayers and for strength and good health for Samantha’s family as they sit, stand, sleep and cope with all the wonderful world of the medical institution.
Remember this next surgery will be a long day for everyone involved and will need to be bathed in loving prayer and support like yesterday. Sam will keep the Caring Bridge site updated until Samantha takes it back over. You can imagine how full their days are with round-the-clock watch and care.
This email comes with love, hugs and many thanks for your continued prayers. May this Easter be a blessed one for each of you and your families. May we all remember that our God is a mighty God and He Lives!