MADE IT!

 Graduate

 I am going to start off with a picture of my graduate.   That is all that is really important; however, the past 2 weeks getting her here was rocky.  The week after prom, Samantha was feeling under the weather for most of the time.  She made it into school on Friday only.  The next Monday and Tuesday were finals, but she woke up on Monday with a 102.5 degree fever.  I took her into the doctor and her strep test was positive. The doctor gave her antibiotics and we thought we were good to go.  


On Wednesday, after she missed all her finals, she still had a high fever and was feeling worse.  We went back to the doctor and this time he took blood.  He determined that she had an infection in her lymph nodes and changed her to 'super' antibiotics.  This time it worked; however, the worry was that she had missed all her finals and graduation was on Monday.  


On Friday the school counselor called and explained that even with the zeroes for missing work - Sam had passed all her classes.  She could graduate!  PHEW...

All my kids!

Now it was time to prepare for her party.   Even though she was a big tired and still recovering from feeling so awful, she had a really nice time.  We had her party with Samantha's best friend and her family.  It was wonderful.  So many of our friends and family showed up to wish her well.  We are blessed to have such a big support system!  


The party was on Mother's Day but so many folks took the time to stop by.  I hope everyone had as much fun and I did. It was nice to finally relax and enjoy everyone's company.

My Girls all pretty for the party

Proud Mom with Samantha

Samantha looked so beautiful - and is super grateful for all her gifts and well wishes.           











Monday came and Samantha was a bit worried about walking down all the steps with her classmates.  But she did it without her crutches.  I think it brought tears to our whole family!

Jeremy captured it on video but it is too big for the blog.  Here is a link:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP8yZ_iFBJY  It is on YouTube.  


I also have other pictures of her and I will  post those on Facebook - go take a look!


The ceremony was wonderful as well.  The student speaker talked of how they had fought 'dragons' and won.  I know that each student had their own situation, but I couldn't help but think the speech had been written specifically for Sam.  She beat cancer and fought so hard to keep her foot.   She started High School in a brace and on crutches - went thru 5 more surgeries after the first reconstruction failed.  She did another year on crutches and with a brace.  Finally her Junior year, she was walking with no crutches - no braces.  Even though pain was a constant, it was manageable and she was able to be 'normal' - have  job and hang out with friends.  Even though her Senior year wasn't exactly what she had planned, she came thru it beautifully.  She is looking forward with a positive outlook.   I am bursting with pride!


We have a few weeks left before our trip to Italy (we leave on June 17th for 2 weeks).  The focus will be for Sam to get her strength back.  She lost some weight the past 2 weeks.  She also has a spot that hurts a bit more than usual, so we will be working with Dr. Heare and the prosthetist to address that.   We meet with both at the amputee clinic on Tuesday.  I am hoping they can modify the socket a bit to take some of the pressure off the spot that hurts.


Jeremy put together a YouTube of Isabella's Spanish festival.  Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW-fZ-8gbN4.   Isabella has school until June 1st.  We have a couple weeks of fun activities as that wraps up and then there is Camp Wapiyapi.


All three kids are going this year.   Daniel and Samantha will be companions (this is the first time for Sam) and they are super excited.  Camp Wapiyapi is a cancer camp for patients and their siblings.  It is a week where Samantha can be completely normal - no one stares because everyone there has their own issues and understands. 


Isabella went for the first time last year and just loved it!  Every camper under 15 gets their own companion to hang out with - their own special buddy.  


Jeremy and I are ramping up for a busy summer consisting of bike and run races, trips and the Courage Classic.  I will probably post less since this is our busy season, but I will try and keep everyone up to date with Samantha's progress.


Thank you to everyone for all your support and love - it makes such a difference!  more than you know.


Love to everyone!