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July15, 2006. Sam was named a Kohl's Kids Who
Care® Regional
Winner! This is quite a significant honor as it includes a scholarship
for Sam as well as an in-store poster and certificate of recognition.
The cake was pretty good too!
Congratulations, Sam. And thank you Kohl's!!
May 7, 2006. Walk 4 Wisdom was a huge success. Check out
the pictures from this event.
Sam keeps cruising along. Another visit to CMH and everything is
looking good!
Congratulations to our overall 5k race winners: Female: Callie Sears,
Male: David Snow
Complete
Run Results | Walk
Results
Thanks to everyone who was involved with this special day.
With the support of the DeKalb Park District, Children’s Memorial
Hospital and countless area supporters and sponsors,
Sam and his family organized this special community event to raise
awareness and funding for brain tumor research.
Daily
Chronicle Follow-Up Story about "Walk 4 Wisdom"
Daily
Chronicle Story about "Walk 4 Wisdom"
April 24, 2006. Sam keeps cruising along. Another visit
to CMH and everything is looking good!
October 24, 2005. Another successful trip to Children's
Memorial Hospital. Sam had a follow-up MRI today and there is no
sign of tumor!
October 23, 2005. Well, Sam's baseball season
ended today with a loss to, who else, the White Sox in the tournament.
But he was on a very good team this year which finished 8-3 in the
regular season. It was a fun bunch of players and outstanding coaches.
September 27, 2005. Caps 4
Sam was part of St.
Mary September Fest 2005. The 50/50
raffle to benefit the cause raised $144! Sam
personally pulled the winning number and many hats, caps, visors,
and wrist bands were sold. Thanks go to the St. Mary September Fest
Committee, especially Allen Maeder for making this possible.
August 11, 2005. The Caps
4 Sam Florida tour
is complete as Sam and family return from vacation.(check
out all the pictures!)
June 23, 2005. Today we had a booth for Caps
4 Sam at the farmer's
market. We collected over $300 for the charity. (check
out the pictures)
June 8, 2005. MidWeek
story
May 27, 2005. Baseball season is back in swing! Suzy
requested that Sam hit a double for her and that is exactly what
he did his first time up at the plate! Please request a home run
for Thursday's game, Suzy ;-) Here he is a picture of him pitching
(3 innings, no runs allowed).
May 15, 2005. Sam is bat
boy for NIU Baseball
May 13, 2005. Star Wars: BIG NIGHT ON THE TOWN!!
Check out the pictures from last
night's Star Wars Episode III Premiere party! Because of the success
of Caps 4
Sam due to YOUR support, we were invited to attend
this once-in-a-lifetime event. Lucasfilm Ltd. partnered with Children's
Memorial for the premiere of the movie to raise money and promote
the needs of patients and the community. Oh, and the movie was outstanding!
April 25, 2005. GOOD NEWS!! Sam had his follow-up
MRI today and the radiologist's report noted no residual tumor or
new growth! This is exactly what we had been hoping and praying
for. He has the green light to play baseball and basketball and
is very excited to be able to jump on the trampoline. For a before-and-after
picture of Sam's brain, click here.
March 20, 2005. Sam's doing just fine these days.
He was outside shooting hoops today working on his shot. His dad
did beat him in a game of PIG, though. And tomorrow is his last
day with the tutor!
February 4, 2005. Sam spent most of the day at
school for the first time since before Christmas. While he still
has a bit of catching up to do with his schoolwork, he was more
than ready to spend time with his classmates.
January 31, 2005. At a follow-up visit, we were
able to snap this photo of Sam with Dr. Arthur DiPatri:
Dr. DiPatri is the very capable and kind surgeon who performed Sam's
surgery.
January 28, 2005. Sam visited
everyone at St. Mary School. As a way of saying "thanks" for all
of the prayers, cards, notes, and special deeds, Sam and his parents
brought doughnuts for everyone!
January 18, 2005. Sam underwent surgery to remove
the brain tumor. Although this was one of the scariest things he
and his family had ever experienced, Sam was brave beyond words
up to and following the operation.
As you can see from the photos below, Sam
has been making an amazing recovery and was able to come home on
January 20th. Sam will continue to be on medication and will undergo
regular monitoring and visits to his doctors at Children's. Except
for being a bit tired he is feeling very good. Please keep Sam in
your prayers as we hope for a full recovery.
More details of the experience are included in the Guest
Book entries I've reposted here. If you are so inclined, please
visit the Guest Book and send Sam a
quick note!
01-25-2005 | 9:40 AM |
|
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| Name: |
Sam |
| Location: |
Home |
| Comment: |
Hey everybody,
it's me, Sam. I am feeling a lot better and I'm back
from the hospital. I'm glad to be away from school but
I miss my classmates at times. It has been fun getting a lot
of visitors. The doctor said I can't play basketball for
a while, and I can't play KYFL this year, either. I am
going to be allowed to play baseball this spring, at the park
district and maybe even Wasco, but not for a while. Thanks for
praying for me. I hope to see you all soon.
Love, Sam |
|
| |
| Name: |
Don &
Mary Overbey |
| Location: |
Dekalb, Il |
| Comment: |
The past week
has been one of concern, sympathy, outreach, prayer, hope,
and love. It has shown the power of individual and community
prayer. Family, friends, neighbors, classmates and even many
who are strangers to the family have reached into their hearts
to help the Ihms and the wonderful staff at Children's
Memorial Hospital in Chicago bring Sam back home with great
news.
This is a success story and everyone should be proud of the
parts taken in its success. Meanwhile, as Sam recovers his
strength and focuses on schoolwork (aargh!), we ask that you
remember and pray for those children who are not as fortunate
- and there are many!
"Caps 4 Sam" will continue to gather funds for research
as long as people want to buy. We hope our community's
(and it is now nationwide) generosity will cause others to
aid CMH in gaining even more success stories.
May God bless, strengthen, and care for all His children and
their families.
Love,
Don and Mary |
|
| |
| Name: |
Patty Ihm
|
| Location: |
Home! |
| Comment: |
Hello everyone!!
The longest passage of time now seems like the blink of an
eye, as we are home and it's over! I am still amazed
at the support and grace of this entire community (which extends
well beyond DeKalb!) The messages make me smile and allow
me to see just how blessed we are. Maybe we don't know
why weird things happen to us, and maybe we never will. I
know that the power of prayer and the thoughts and acts of
our friends, family, and others that we have not yet met have
allowed us to find our way to the other side. All of the messages
about sports have been really good, too  !
Sam went to bed happy tonight. I just wanted to say thanks
to you all.
Love, Patty |
|
|
| Name: |
Dan Ihm
|
| Comment: |
Yes, there is
even more good news to report. The pathology report came back
and Sam had what is called a ganglioglioma.
It's not exactly what they thought it was but it is still
a benign tumor. The long term prognosis looks very good for
Sam! Truly we are blessed. |
|
|
| Name: |
Dan Ihm
|
| Location: |
Home |
| Comment: |
Sam was released
from the hospital today! We arrived home around dinner time.
He is so happy to be home but also quite tired. Hopefully
he will sleep a little better in his own bed than at the hospital.
At least nobody will be shining lights into his pupils every
hour or two.
We're so glad that Caps 4 Sam is doing so well in order
to raise money to help Children's. We feel even more
strongly that Children's does wonderful work and that
we were in very capable hands the entire time we were there.
Thanks for everyone's ongoing support.
The Ihms |
|
|
| Name: |
Dan Ihm
|
| Location: |
Home !! |
| Comment: |
Hi again! Here's
another update for everyone. Sam continues to marvel everyone
at his progress. As of this morning Sam has been eating, walking
around, and smiling that smile of his. Most of the contraptions
connected to his body have been removed and and he has been
taking next to nothing for pain (3?? Tylenol). So he is really
starting to feel like his regular self already. In fact, the
doctor said that there is a good chance he will be able to
come home tomorrow afternoon!
He very much looked forward to the visit from his brothers
and sister today - almost as much as he looked forward to
the McDonald's food which we promised him for dinner!
I then brought the other kids home and will get to spend the
night in my own bed (poor Patty, another night on the hospital
chair/bed).
He looks very good and continues to put on a genuinely happy
face.
Peace and Love to All,
The Ihms
|
|
|
| Name: |
Dan And Patty
|
| Location: |
Children's
Memorial Hospital |
| Comment: |
Hi again! As
I write this, Sam is already awake in his room eating and
talking baseball! The doctors think he will be up and walking
around tomorrow.
Everything appears to have gone very well today. There were
no big surprises with the surgery and Sam is doing well.
At least as impressive as the doctors and this hospital is
Sam's courage and faith that everything is going to turn
out well. As I am sure you expected, Sam has been absolutely,
amazingly brave, not only today, but throughout this whole
ordeal. It is almost hard to describe. We are confident he
will handle his recovery just as well.
Thanks so much for all of the thoughts and prayers. They are
absolutely working.
Love,
Dan and Patty |
|
|
| Name: |
Dan And Patty
|
| Location: |
Cm Hospital |
| Comment: |
Hello Everyone!
Sam is in surgery as we write this. So far everything is going
as planned. Thanks again for everyone's support.
Love,
Dan and Patty |
|
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