OT: Samuel Update

[Falconer]

Well, This is now my forth installment of the Samuel Update. :) This has been a rollercoaster year. It started off awesome. A lot of you pitched in to help bronco610 build an awesome bike for Samuel. We rode the new bike as soon as it was delivered by Conklin. He loved it and we were getting great use out of it.

However in October, Samuel had to have surgery on both of his hips. This was the hardest thing to go through since he was born. It wasn't that it was life threatening. It was that the amount of pain he was in was very difficult for him. They actually had to break his left femur to insert a metal plate, and then put it back into the socket. It seemed he varied from being in pain to being out of it with the oxycodone and valium he was taking.

Things started getting back to normal for him by February or March. Now he is back to his old self. He loves the bike even more than before. I think he was in some pain even before we knew he needed the surgery.

This summer he is participating in a baseball league for children with disabilities. It is awesome! I ended up being the coach for his team, and I cannot tell you how great of a time I am having. Tonight is our final game. I think that I will take him out of his chair and help him get around the bases. He really prefers to be carried anyway.

I am also including a few pictures. The first one is of my wife and him.

[Falconer]

Here is one we had professionally done.

[Sassy]

Awww...thanks for the update/pics! Happy Father's Day , Falconer!

[Falconer]

Here he is in his swing.

[Falconer]

Here he is at the game.

[Falconer]

Here is his sister cheering for him.

[Falconer]

My artistic black and white.

[Falconer]

Sam just being Sam.

[Falconer]

His relaxing pose.

[Hotwheelz]

His relaxing pose.

Holy ****! Your son looks eerily like Tucker Max.

http://www.autoblogger.net/tuckermax.jpg

[Conklin]

thats great to hear man!!! i've been wonderin how he's been, but wasn't sure so i was afraid to ask!!!!

[Spider]

good news Falc ...... Sam sure has came along ways

[crush17]

Those pics are great!
He's always smiling :)

[smalltowngrll]

GREAT to hear Falconer! The pictures are awesome and it's always...and I do mean ALWAYS... so neat to see his smile! It's so contageous! I found myself having a rough afternoon and just seeing him smiling in all of these pictures put a HUGE smile upon my face!! :sunshine:

[Florida_Bronco]

Holy ****! Your son looks eerily like Tucker Max.

http://www.autoblogger.net/tuckermax.jpg

God help him. ROFL!

Seriously though, glad to see Sam is doing well. He clearly has a very loving family and for that he will always be blessed.

[Arkansas Bronco]

The pics are great falc but while they are great it almost brings me to tears for the pain he was in. Ive had 8 surgery's most involved broken bones or the doctors broke em (well sawed through em) and I know how freakin bad it is. As a man that took on most of it and already knowing the pain to think it on a small boy hurts and god knows it hurts you. I have to keep you, your wife and Samuel on my mind (also the additional family but im sure its harder at home).

[bronco610]

Thanks for the update Falconer, I was just thinking about you guys last week wondering how it was going. Glad to hear the worst is over for him. My son scotty also had to have one foot and leg broken to straiten it out. As a parent it was so hard to deal with knowing my son couldn't understand why. Sams problem sounded so much worse. As always you and yours will be in my prayers.

[Kaylore]

Hey Falconer! Do you still take the old bike out and around?

[bronco610]

He loves the bike even more than before. I think he was in some pain even before we knew he needed the surgery.
Quoted from Falconers post.

[theAPAOps5]

Thanks for update buddy. Glad he has turned for the better. Now that I am a father I can see how much you love your kids. I am glad he is better now. Hope you have a great rest of the summer.

[Los Broncos]

Thanks for the update, good to see him doing well.

[Crushaholic]

Great pictures, as always. It's news like THIS that keep me coming back to the Mane...:thumbs:

[CBF1]

Thanks Falconer, Great update. I hope you all have a great summer.

[Ray Finkle]

Great Update....Thank you.

[bfoflcommish]

well so much for dry eyes...thanks falconer

[gunns]

I'm so sorry he had to go through that pain. What a tough little guy to put up with what he has to go through.....yet with a continous smile. Personally I like the relaxing picture. He looks like he's just chillin and he's starting to look so much older. Have a great summer with the bike and I hope his team wins!

[broncocalijohn]

falconer, great to hear the good news. I am a little concerned with one of the photos. He is wearing a #7 jersey but the colors look to be Orange and Brown. I know I am color blind but those dont look like Denver Broncos colors, but (gasp) of the Browns variety. Please tell us it was a generic jersey/shirt!

[Falconer]

falconer, great to hear the good news. I am a little concerned with one of the photos. He is wearing a #7 jersey but the colors look to be Orange and Brown. I know I am color blind but those dont look like Denver Broncos colors, but (gasp) of the Browns variety. Please tell us it was a generic jersey/shirt!

Ah yes, I thought that might come up. There is no way a child of mine will wear a Browns jersey as long as I have anything to say about it. It is indeed a generic shirt. Please do not associate the good Falconer name with likes of such a team ever again. :D

By the way, we are indeed back on the bike this year. He enjoys it every time we take it out. I do have new pics of us on the bike, but they look just like last years so I did not post them. The only thing that changed was that Sam is just a tad bigger.

As far as him looking like Tucker Max, I did some googling and I just don't see it. His eyes are his best feature it seems, at least that is what all the girls tell him. He is a regular chick magnet.

As I said, his last baseball game was last night. Hopefully there are a couple good pictures of him, as I took him out of his cart to run the bases. We also received his baseball cards last night. They are so cool. His picture is on the front, with a smaller picture and his measurables on the back. :thumbsup:

[worm]

Thanks for the update Falconer!!!

[Taco John]

Thanks for the awesome pics!

Made my day! :)

[PatsWin2002]

Nice update, Falconer. I hope you're all doing well. Both kids are growing like weeds. :)

[Kaylore]

Nice update, Falconer. I hope you're all doing well. Both kids are growing like weeds. :)

Holy schnikes! A Patswin sighting!

[crowebomber]

How lucky you are to have such an inspiration living in your own house!

[Falconer]

How lucky you are to have such an inspiration living in your own house!

You are so right! As a matter of fact my friend an I were discussing Samuel, and here is an excerpt from my email to him:

The thing is, we prayed so hard for God to heal Samuel. It was not just Molly and I, but countless others. I never blamed God for Samuel condition, but I often asked Him why he would not heal my little boy. I just wanted this one thing; a miracle that would heal my son and would no doubt bring so many others to Christ when they heard about it. Four years later my son is pretty much in the same state that he was to begin with. He cannot walk, talk, sit, or stand. There was no miracle that healed Samuel, but there was a miracle that occurred through Samuel. He has taught me more than any other person ever has. I now have a better understanding of who I am, and who I can be when I give myself over to God.

I once thought I wanted a son who would play catch with me in the backyard. Maybe my son would play high school football and maybe college or pro football as well. I could tell all my friends how lucky I was to have a boy like him. Instead God blessed me with a son who has brought me into an intimate relationship with Christ, and I can truly say to my friends how lucky I am to have a son like him.

[cbs1177]

Most women become mothers by accident, some by choice, a few by social pressures and a couple by habit.
This year, nearly one hundred thousand women will become mothers of handicapped children. Did you ever wonder how these mothers of handicapped children are chosen?
Somehow visualize God hovering over Earth selecting His instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation. As He observes, He instructs his angels to make notes in a giant ledger.
"Armstrong, Beth ... Son"
"Patron Saint ... Matthew"
"Forest, Marjorie ... Daughter"
"Patron Saint ... Cecelia"
"Rudledge, Carrie ... Twins"
"Patron Saint ... Give her Gerard."
"He's used to profanity."
Finally, he passes a name to an angel and smiles.
"Give her a blind child."
The angel is curious.
"Why this one, God? She's so happy."
"Exactly," says God. "Could I give a child with a handicap to a mother who does not know laughter? That would be cruel."
"But has she patience?" asks the angel.
"I don't want her to have too much patience, or she will drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wear off, she'll handle it."
"But, Lord, I don't think she even believes in you."
God smiles. No matter. I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just enough selfishness."
The angel gasps. "Selfishness? Is that a virtue?"
God nods. "If she can't separate herself from the child occasionally, she'll never survive. Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect. She doesn't realize it yet, but she is to be envied. She will never take for granted a spoken word. She will never consider a step ordinary. When her child says ‘Momma' for the first time, she will be present at a miracle and know it! When she describes a tree or a sunset to her blind child, she will see it as few people ever see my creations."
"I will permit her to see clearly the things I see ... ignorance, cruelty, prejudice ... and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life, because she is doing my work as surely as she is here by my side."
"And what about her patron saint?" asks the angel, pen poised in midair.
God smiles. "A mirror will suffice."

by erma bombeck

[cbs1177]

I was hearing impaired since first grade or that is when they found out about it. So I seen my mother struggle to help me with studies through out life. I do related and I know you must feel extreme love for Sam. I attended and then volunteered at Camp Aldersgate where each week a different impairment had their own special week. Great b/c growing up you get to met other friends that had the same special stuff you did.

[orangeatheist]

well so much for dry eyes...thanks falconer

My feelings exactly.

I just noticed this sticky. Thanks for the update, Falc! You give that little fella a hug for me, k?? :welcome:

[Bronco Yoda]

God bless you and your family. It's heartbreaking to hear Samuel had to endure this.