Intensive Care Units are places of action and, as the name indicates, intensity. The centerpiece in each room is a very sick patient who is laced with wires, tubes and lines. This needy person is tended to by multiple medical personnel, each doing a different job. 

The rule says only two visitors per day, and those must be on a pre-registered list with „gatekeepers“ at the main hospital entrance. This list maxes out at five people. Nelson has six siblings, a wife, and a mom who all wanted to see him, but rules are rules.

Thankfully, Mayo Clinic was willing to flex on its rules for Nelson’s family. Many of us got to sit next to our patient today, two-by-two, for just a few minutes. Others will do so tomorrow. What we observed made us all appreciate that Nelson is there.

Nurse Kate bustled about the room efficiently without stopping once, even while answering our questions. Behind Nelson’s bed was his IV pole (laden with six different bags of liquid) and multiple TV screens flickering with a rainbow array of numbers. Kate was watching Nelson’s stats on multiple monitors, checking every beep, buzz and bell. 

As we chatted with Nelson, the doctor came in and gave us a chance to ask questions. He commented on how well Nelson looked compared to when he came in the day before. He said, „When you first came in, well, let’s just say….whew!“ He said it as he pretended to wipe sweat off his brow. We understood.

Then Nelson said, „How many more days before I can leave the ICU and go to a regular hospital room?“

The doctor said, „You’re still here for two reasons: 1) That IV going into your neck goes straight to your heart and 2) The humidified, warm, high-dose oxygen you’re getting is keeping your O2 level from falling again. In a regular hospital room they can’t do those two things for you.“ Nelson nodded and accepted his fate. But he leaned over and said, „Can you believe I’ve been sitting in this same spot for two straight days?“

By the end of this day, we’d heard four pieces of happy information: 1) The fluid they’d withdrawn from around Nelson’s heart had no trace of cancer in it. 2) Nelson’s oxygen levels have been so consistently good that they removed the bulky, uncomfortable cannula and are now trying a much smaller one, the kind regular hospital rooms use. 3) Tomorrow they’ll no longer need to put medications through the line going into his heart, a step closer to removing it. 4) Tomorrow he’ll get to stand up for a few minutes, thus getting out of the bed as he’s so wanted to do. 5) And best of all, the doctor said, at 11:00 PM tonight, that it’s possible Nelson will leave the ICU for a regular hospital room tomorrow!

We give all the credit to God.

„People were overwhelmed with amazement. ‚He has done everything well,‘ they said.”(Mark 7:37)