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SAMMY'S MOM POSTED THIS PICTURE

Our son Sam Bish is still fighting. He has lost his right leg to this disease but his spirit is still fighting. He was diagnosed in August 2009. He just had his first surgery on his right lung that removed 35 mets/nodules. Pathology reports are back...lungs are not responding very well to the chemo. Our cancer journey has been extended. We need to find a cure.

Pictures of Sammy before his lung surgery.

1.Smiling through his tears right before surgery- trying to be so brave

2.The face of childhood cancer. This is our reality right now. No child should ever have to go through this. We must find a cure!!!!!!

3.Smiling through the pain- how we love his beautiful smile

4.Making progress- Day3 after surgery

5.playing LEGOS right before he went down for his surgery

What an inspiration this child has been to me......HE IS AWESOME!! Sammy I don't know you but I LOVE YOU KID!! May God bless you and give you the miracle we all are praying for you!!

Not many pictures where Sam isn't smiling!! Keep fighting Sam, and know that we are all praying for you!

Yeah... Hang in there Sam. Many of us still need that inspiration you give. Please know that there are MANY still praying for you.

Once Again I have bad news...But Sammy is recovering nicely from Surgery...Which is good news.

Unfortunately they thought this was the good lung ...They thought there was 15 cancer nodules...there turned out to be 42



Sam is out of recovery and is in the PICU resting fairly comfortably. He does not have a breathing tube. He has an epidural and also a pain pump to help control any pain he might have. When Mike and I were able to see him he was actually awake and watching television. His coloring looked good and he was asking for a grape Popsicle to eat. Since that time he has had 3 grape Popsicle's (this is the only thing he has had to eat all day). He just fell asleep and I was able to escape to the parent lounge for a quick moment to do a caringbridg​e update...I can't get computer reception in his room. Hoping for a good night and that he can be transferred to a regular room tomorrow.

Dr. King came out to speak with us after the surgery. He said it went pretty well and that Sam did not need any kind of transfusion for loss of blood after surgery. I asked him how many nodules/met​s he removed from Sam's lung. Dr. King told us he removed 42mets/nodu​les from Sam's lungs. We were stunned....​we are still in disbelief. We had thought this lung was in better shape than his right lung. Most of the mets were very small (this is the reason they did not show up on any of his cat scans). We are obviously devastated with this news. The probability is that most if not all of these nodules/met​s are Osteosarcom​a. The good news is that Dr. King got the cancer out of Sam's lung. Sam is now technically cancer free for the first time since August of 2009. We are still holding out hope for our son's miracle. He really needs one right now. His chance of relapse is very high....and most Osteosarcom​a patients do relapse in their lungs. Please pray that the chemo Sam receives will do it's job...to kill off any remaining cancer cells in his body while not harming any of his organs. Please pray that this new treatment Sam's doctors want to try on Sam will work. He has been through so very much already...w​e all have. I am exhausted and so glad that today is finally over. Our journey is far from over though and Sam continues to need many prayers to overcome this awful disease. Thank you for all of the prayers today. Even though the outcome of the 42 nodules removed was not the # that we wanted to hear, we are thankful that Sam came out of surgery and is currently doing well.

our prayer group at church is still holding Sam up in their prayers,



Have a great easter season SAM

Cancer free for the first time since August is a great start!!! I'll join in praying that the new treatment will keep Sam that way!

Sam must be the toughest little boy I have ever heard of! He has gone through so much in his short little life. I'll continue to pray for him and his family to have strength through all of this.

Sam is in my prayers always!!!!! As is DC........I will continue to lift both of them up and pray for that miracle that God can do for each of them!!!!!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010 10:40 AM, EDT





Hello from a sunny, spring day in Columbus, Ohio. Sam is continuing to do well at home. We saw his surgeon yesterday for a post surgery check up. He looks like he has healed up very well. I took his bandage off last night (Sam hated that...he hates having band aids and bandages removed) and his scar looks great. Sam has been cleared for chemo so we will be admitted to Nationwide Children's tomorrow morning for the chemo drugs of Cisplatin and Doxorubicin. It has been awhile since Sam has received this chemo. It has actually been awhile since Sam has gotten chemo at all. He has only had 1 chemo treatment since Feb. 26th because of his back to back surgeries and allowing for healing time at home. It is with a feeling of dread that we are having to start back up with chemo again. How I wish we could be done with chemo in June like we had originally thought and hoped. How I wish his lungs would have responded better to the chemo that he has been receiving since last August. I just want this journey and this period in our lives to be done. Apparently God has bigger and better plans for Sam but they do not include him being done with treatment right now or as soon as we had hoped. We will keep pushing on every day and remain in prayer and hope to our Lord that Sam will be healed of this dreaded disease.

Sam should be home for about 2 weeks after receiving this chemo this week. We hope to get him started up with physical therapy so he can learn to maneuver and walk around with more confidence on his prosthetic leg. This is long over due but we just have not had a window to get physical therapy in between all of his recent surgeries. Sam started walking again on his crutches yesterday after we saw the surgeon and found out it was alright for him to do so. He has gotten a little bit dependant on that wheelchair of his so we need to get him up and moving around again. He had a hard time falling asleep last night and at one point he called me in his room and told me he missed his old leg. He has done so well adjusting to all of the changes in his life but sometimes reality just settles in and he gets sad and upset. He does not really have phantom pain anymore but he still gets sensations from his leg/foot that is no longer there. This does not seem to bother him during the day at all but more at night when he is laying in bed and is more aware of it. Sam has been through so many changes over the past almost 9 months. He is a tough kid and God is giving him the courage that he needs to get through this period in his life. God is giving our family the strength to get through each and every day. It has not been easy but there have been so many blessings along the way that God has brought into our lives including all of you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for walking this journey with us. Please pray for Sam tomorrow as he is admitted for chemo again and our family is seperated for a few days while he is in the hospital.

Thursday, April 22, 2010 7:21 PM, EDT



Good Evening Friends:



Jus​t wanted to let you know that Sam is now at the Chateau with Mom, and he is receiving his chemo. The chemo is on for this visit typically makes him sick, so please pray that the nausea medicine will work for him. The good news is that it should be a short trip and he should be able to come home on Saturday, however it won't be until evening. For the most part he seems fine for now. We just bought him the movie Avatar so he is watching that on his portable DVD now. I am looking forward to watching it with him tomorrow during my shift, as I have not seen it yet. I think I am the only one on this planet who hasn't seen it yet.



I have 2 dire prayer requests to be lifted up please. First of all, Cindy's dad wants to discontinue his chemo. It isn't a cure for him, it makes him very, very sick and it's just to prolong his life for however long the Lord wants to. He may stop taking it as early as next week. Please pray for peace for him and the entire family. Please pray for pain tolerance and peace of mind. Her dad seems to be at peace when we visited and wasn't afraid of passing on.



Please pray for the family of Gabriel Taylor, they received the results back from scans and are being encouraged to get a second opinion. They are in desparate need of a miracle. Please visit his CB site and sign his guest page and let him know that he is LOVED and being Prayed over.



We have the best prayer warriors on our side and I know that you cover him in prayers.



Tha​nk you all so much, and God Bless

Friday, April 23, 2010 9:20 AM, EDT



Sam had a great night. He learned to take a "big pill" called Emend last night before the chemo started. This pill was supposed to help with any nausea he had during chemo. It took a lot of coaxing and some tears on Sam's part but he managed to swallow the pill (we are still working on this and it is something he struggles with...espe​cially the big pills). We actually put the pill in some pudding for Sam and it seemed to help him swallow it more easily. Emend really helped with his nausea last night and he did not get sick at all from the chemo. He did wake up feeling sick this morning and he was not due for another dose of Emend yet so his nurse gave him some Phenegran for his nausea. He is now back asleep again....th​e Phenegran knocks him out. I am praying he has a good day and tolerates the chemo well tonight. Still hoping to come home tomorrow.

Want to donate to a great cause that could benefit Sam and so many other children that we have asked prayer for? Call into the Nationwide Children's Hospital today for the CURE KIDS CANCER RADIOTHON. This radiothon and $ raised will directly benefit kids here at Nationwide Childrens that have cancer or blood disorders. To donate you can call (614) 355-3800. The radiothon will go on until 6:00PM today! Any amount donated can be helpful and make a difference.​ http://www.​nationwidec​hildrens.or...hon-slated-​for-april-1​9-21?conten​tid=46127





​ Thank you for the continued prayers for my dad Jeffrey, our friend Gabriel and the many other children we have mentioned on this site and of course our precious Sam. He is a fighter and we are going to keep on pushing every day.

Friday, April 23, 2010 5:57 PM, EDT

Hello to all of our faithful prayer warriors. Well, it is time for all of us to pull together again and pray for our sweet Sam. He is going to have to get a chest tube inserted back in sometime this evening. On a CT scan that was done earlier today it was noticed that he had a Pneumothora​x. This is basically a​n air pocket in the lung- a collection of air in the spaces around the lung which does not allow the lung to expand like it should. We are not sure when exactly this happened as he has not had any trouble breathing. We have been assured by the doctors that this is not necessarily abnormal after the extensive surgery that Sam just had on his lung. The procedure should take about 40 min. or so and will be done within the next hour. He will be mildly sedated for the procedure. Please pray that the chest tube going back in does it's job....that his lung heals as it should. I believe that he will still get his chemo tonight as well so we are going to have one uncomfortab​le, nauseous little guy. Please pray that his side effects are minimal and can be controlled by all his different m​eds. Thanks for praying us through this and the next few days in the hospital. I am really feeling pulled in so many different directions right now and am wondering how much more one family can actually take....but in the midst of all of this we are continuing to trust, continuing to pray, continuing to hope in our Lord that things will work out as they should. Without our faith in Christ and placing our hope in HIM we have nothing else.



* Picture above was taken on Wednesday of this week. A friend of ours brought som​e puppies over that she is currently w​atching. The kids had so much fun playing with these adorable dogs. The one Sam is holding was his favorite

Saturday, April 24, 2010 11:35 AM, EDT





Good Morning Everyone:



We​ll, we have had an interesting turn of events here at the Chateau since we checked in on Thursday. Sam received his first dose of chemo on Thursday evening, and did fine throughout the night. I believe he got sick maybe once on Friday morning. At one point he complained that his heart hurts, which immediately concerned us. Cindy told the doctor and he thought maybe it was the way Sam was sleeping, maybe he slept in an odd position. But to be safe, he ordered a CT scan to just double check.



After the scan, the doctor came back and told us that he has a neumothorax and we need to put the chest tube back in. The neumo is typically air that is between the lung and his chest wall. This applies pressure to the lung and partially collapses it. The blessing in all of this is that it was noticed here, otherwise he may have had to been rushed here in Emergency later in the week. The nurses and doctor were all surprised that he was not in any distress prior to the procedure due to the size of the neumo.



Last night was a rough night as the doctors and nurses were coming in and out of the room, seemingly more than usual to check on him. At 12:30 am they changed his dressing at the insertion sight, which involved pulling tape off. He hates that to begin with, and add to the fact it was the middle of the night, meant we had a cranky kid (rightfully so).



They are keeping his nausea pretty much at bay, so he is not getting sick as much as he has in the past. He gets nauseated, but does not get completely sick except for maybe once.



Don't know how long our staycation has been extended, it all depends on his lung. We were supposed to get out by 6 pm tonight, but that won't happen. Sam is now getting some much needed rest. Hopefully Cindy will have a better night.



We are F.R.O.Gging for Sam- Fully Rely On God



Please keep Gabriel Taylor, Matthew Barr, Garrett Harper and all the other kids here on J5 in your prayers. Keep P.U.S.Hing for Cindy's dad Jeffrey as well. Pray Until Something Happens.



Tha​nk you and God Bless!



Dad

Always trust your parental instincts. I knew Sam was not acting right today. He is stable but in icu tonight. Keep those prayers coming.

APRIL 25TH...SAMMY'S MOM WROTE



We were hesitant to post the specifics but so many of you pray and I know being specific is impt. Sam had a seizure last night here at Childrens. It was the scariest thing I have ever witnessed...especially when it is your own child. Tests were done and his sodium levels were very low (prob. due to the chemo and all th...e meds he is on). Sodium levels are normal now and he is stable. It's been a rough few days.

Hanging out backstage with the band members of Daughtry and Lifehouse

Monday, May 3, 2010 9:38 AM, EDT



Day 12 at Nationwide Children's is underway. We are still here. The procedure has not been done yet to reposition Sam's chest tube. We are hoping it will be done today. He is currently not allowed to eat anything just in case they can fit him in today for the procedure. He took all of his morning meds like a champ. Of course his belly hurts a little bit to have all these meds on an empty stomach. Starting this weekend he even had to start taking this salt solution that is put in a syringe and squirted into his mouth. This is to help bring his sodium levels up. He hates it and cries each time he has to take it but he still does it like a champ. He has had an up and down temperature for the past few days as a result of low blood counts from the chemo. He never really used to get fevers when his counts were low but this is something we have been struggling with this time around. He will also need a platelet transfusion this morning b/c his platelet count is low as well...side effect of the chemo and low blood counts. Everything with cancer is unpredictab​le. Sam always seemed to do really well...even when his counts were low but it seems this time round we have had more complicatio​ns and side effects being thrown at us. We still do not have a projected date that he can go home. I think the big thing keeping us here at the hospital now is his air leak in the left lung and his on and off again temperature​s. His sodium is still low but is creeping back up and starting to even itself out. The doctors seem fairly confident that once he gets home and back on a regular diet that it should even out. We will probably have to take him to get some blood draws his first few days at home so his sodium levels can be monitored.

​ Update on my Dad. He is going in for chemo this morning but it will be chemo given at a lower dose than last time. His last chemo made him so sick. The doctors have told him that the chemo will not be a cure for him. Dad will die from this dreaded disease. The chemo is just hopefully prolonging his life for a little while. My Dad will decide after today's chemo if he will continue chemo or not...it will depend on his side effects over the next few days.

Thank you for the continued prayer for my family, Sam, and my Dad. We really do enjoy reading your guest book entries and they lift our spirits. It helps to keep us connected to the outside world when we are stuck within these hospital walls. Thank you to Dena Hall from the Cole's Foundation for the balloon and gifts she sent our family here in the hospital. We appreciate your thoughtfuln​ess and how you seem to remember our family often with special surprises when Sam is inpatient here at Children's. So many have reached out in love to our family through prayers, cards, financial support, friendship, beautiful h​and made prayer quilts and gifts being given to our family to lift our spirits. We cannot begin to tell you how much this means to our family. This has been such a long journey so far and we have a long way to go. Thanks for walking this road with us.