The first really good news today was the result of Nicole's heart echo. On Monday, when they did the previous echo, the technician who performed it had never seen Nicole before. After he finished, as he was leaving the room, he was fighting back tears, trying to conceal his emotions, and the cardiac doctor came in later and told us that based on the echo, Nicole's heart function was very poor, though it is difficult to determine the extent of damage from an echo. Yesterday, the cardiac doctor indicated that they were seeing clear signs of improvement in Nicole's heart function. But he then cautioned that the next heart echo might not show much improvement, but even so, he was happy with the way things were trending. Today, the same echo technician from Monday was back. After the echo today, he told us that although he wasn't allowed to interpret the results, he was smiling, and said it looked good. The cardiac doctor came down a little later; he was all smiles, and said that the echo showed "marked improvement." I feel the term "miracle" is an appropriate substitution here. One of the things Nicole has always had going for her until this past week is a strong heart; it appears that the Lord has intervened to strengthen and heal it.
Then later this morning the doctors were saying they would probably try to extubate Nicole within the next 24 to 36 hours. They did a "trial" at noon where they simulated extubation, and Nicole did so well with it that they just let the simulation continue for quite a while. They had put the ventilator into a mode where Nicole was doing her own breathing instead of the machine, but it provided positive pressure support, like a CPAP. After about 90 minutes of this, they decided they were going to attempt to extubate her - things moved very fast today - so at 2:00 P.M., Nicole was extubated and put on a CPAP machine. They'll probably try to switch her from the CPAP to a high-flow oxygen nasal cannula tomorrow.
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| From ventilator... |
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| To CPAP. |
Nicole is still wiped-out, but doing fine (though she's still not too sure about Kermit). They have been slowly weaning the sedation since before the extubation and she is becoming more responsive, but she still hasn't opened her eyes much. Late in the afternoon, the IV in her right hand was starting to fail, so they've removed it, and Nicole seems to be quite happy to have a hand back - she has been enjoying holding our hands and having the freedom to close her fingers.
The HHV-6 level in Nicole's blood is unchanged, but the last test was done on Wednesday, and the Foscarnet probably still needs some time for an impact to be detected. However, her kidney function is actually improving a little, in spite of the Foscarnet, and we're expecting the next test to show a reduction in the HHV-6 level.
Nicole still has a steep hill to climb; we feel that the Lord will continue to sustain her and we will get her home again, but medically speaking, this battle is far from over - far from over. We think the next scary hurdle is weaning the Milrinone that has been helping her heart, but today, we express gratitude to our Heavenly Father for the miracles that He has wrought, both by the hands of the medical staff at PCMC, and by His own power.
"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased because Christ hath ascended into heaven, and hath sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men? ...Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men. ...has the day of miracles ceased? Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved? Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men..." (Moroni 7:27, 29, 35-37).
Over the past three years, we have been blessed to become acquainted many great and noble spirits who have battled cancer, and God has brought many of those noble ones through the Veil into His bosom. I know that those children, their families, and their communities have poured out their hearts unto God in mighty fasting and prayer, in great faith, just as we have, and I believe that like us, they have seen many miracles, but like us, their faith is in Jesus Christ, not in outcomes. I testify that God is a God of miracles. So long as His children exercise faith in Him, miracles shall never cease among the children of men, so long as the earth shall stand.
I love this post. I am so glad things are looking up.
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