Staying positive for Samantha

Samantha Eisenberg remained in a coma on Tuesday as the Herald went to press, but according to her family, she was breathing on her own power and is occasionally “responsive.”
   
Eisenberg, 21, is a member of East Meadow High School's class of 2007 and is a junior at Buffalo State College. She was hospitalized in critical condition following a Feb. 12 auto accident in upstate New York where she was a passenger with four fellow students traveling from Rochester to Buffalo. 
   
Samantha's mother, Robin Boyajian, has kept loved ones and supporters updated by posting journal entries online at CaringBridge.org.

   
On Monday, the news was very positive from Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, as one entry exclaimed: "Samantha actually stuck her tongue out at me on command. It was a new movement for her and for the first time in my life, I was thrilled to be razzed by my daughter," Boyajian wrote.
   
The mother later summed up what was deemed to be a successful day in her daughter's progress to recovery up in Rochester.  
   
"It has been a long day," Boyajian wrote. "Samantha is moving around so much now. It's almost like she is doing her own physical therapy workout ..."
   
"She was breathing on her own for almost 48 hours," the mother added. "She is a miracle waiting to happen."
  
However, on Tuesday afternoon, it appeared that progress slowed a bit. A journal entry said that Samantha looked uncomfortable and was not responding as well as the day before.
  
"She isn't as responsive today," Samantha's family wrote. "We are feeling a little down. It is a rollercoaster ride for sure."
   
A family member did not immediately return a phone call on Tuesday.
  
Back at home, friends and family members continue to raise money for the Eisenberg and Boyajian families, as they anxiously wait and pray for Samantha's recovery in the Rochester hospital.
   
Bracelets for Sam has proven to be very successful, as a group of Samantha's friends have had to re-order hundreds. The bracelets, which are $5, can be purchased by e-mailing kaylajneill@gmail.com. All proceeds go to the patient's family to assist with the cost of medical and traveling expenses.
   
For updates on this story, visit liherald.com/eastmeadow/.

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