Friday, April 6, 2012

ONE YEAR!!

I had posted on facebook the day of her scans the great news but got too busy to make a new blog post until now. Her scans came back incredible. Sammie Grace has had 9 MRI's since August, all of which showed the cyst around the same size. The last scan before the one in March was in December. I am so happy to share this photo. This is the before and after....


WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!!! We also found out in our March visit that brain tissue was moving back into the space in her cerebellum where the 2nd shunt was placed because of excessive fluid back in August. Her neurosurgeon said that he couldn't be happier with her scan. This was the biggest blessing. People have asked what happened to shrink the cyst this much and my only answer is God. The entire week before this last scan I was so worried. I couldn't sleep and my stomach stayed in knots. On the way down I was just crying and I asked God to either make it where we would do surgery to take care of this so that I could stop worrying every time she sneezed that pressure was building up OR just to give me peace. I can honestly tell you PEACE is exactly what He gave me.  So we celebrated her first birthday with such joy this year. It was emotional to see just where she had come in a year. She loves sweets so it only took her a millisecond to dig into her cake. Here is one of my favorite photos...


She actually spent her first birthday sick with a stomach bug, so I was so glad we celebrated the week before. She is still not 100% back to normal but she is getting there. She has found out that she likes to make noises with her tongue. We have spent hours communicating in Sam's new tongue language. I had to record it because she is just too cute. 



So she still is not crawling or walking or standing on her own. She is however sitting up on her own, feeding herself, drinking from a cup by herself, and now says DADA, MAMA and BABA. Gwen is about to die to hear her name or some form of name come out of Sam's mouth. She can also roll over and get from a sitting position onto her belly. If she can get her strength back from being sick, I think she will be on the move in no time. I originally started this blog to not only keep people updated but also to post for other parents who might one day go through some of what we have gone through in Samantha's Journey. If you are reading this and you are faced with similar situations, know that miracles do happen, life is a gift and enjoy every moment. I look forward to the day I can post a video of her walking! Thanks so much for your continued support and prayers. God is Good... All the time!