We soldier on.

Posted on July 6, 2022 by Margaret

When Nelson‘s father was alive, he used to encourage his young children in a special way. If they were going through something hard—like stitches in an ER—he would say, “You’re being a good soldier, kid. Hang in there.”

These days, if he was with us, I think he’d say the same thing while watching his son fight this hard battle against cancer.

Today, after multiple doctors consulted with each other yesterday, a decision was made to perform a procedure on Nelson, despite the risk. They would transport him to one of the surgical centers here and establish a type of port going into his left lung similar to that on the right. It would be a drain that could open and close rather than remain open like the one in the hospital.

The reason it was risky was because they had to stop his blood thinner meds for six or more hours in order to successfully do the surgery. During that time, anything could happen. A piece of his existing blood clot could break off and move into his lungs—a disaster. Or other clots could quickly form elsewhere in his body.

But without this new drain he couldn’t leave the hospital. With it, Ann Sophie could manage draining his lungs at home, both sides. Today’s surgery would be one more step toward being discharged.

Two days ago we were round tabling the idea of this possible surgery, weighing the pros and cons. Nelson said, “I just don’t want that. Not another ambulance ride, another surgery, and then another recuperation. No thanks.“

But today, there he was, being strapped onto a gurney and wheeled away to an ambulance that was indeed headed for a surgical center, to do what he didn’t want to do. But he was being a good soldier.

When it was all over and he was back in his regular room tonight, he reported that despite pain in his side, he felt great. Also, after his stint in the recovery room, he was left free of all tubes and IV lines and is now taking all meds by mouth. But best of all, tonight the staff gave him the good word that he can be discharged—tomorrow! This soldier has won a victory.

Back at home, I was singing to little Will, and without realizing it, was actually singing about Nelson:

“Onward Christian soldier, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ the Royal Master leads against the foe.
Forward into battle, see his banner go.”’

You’re being a good soldier, kid. Hang in there.

“Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 2:3)

Sirens and Rotors

Posted on July 3, 2022 by Margaret

Although Rochester, Minnesota, isn’t a big city, there is no day without the sound of sirens and helicopter rotor blades. And they all say Mayo Clinic on the side. These are welcome sounds because they indicate that some very sick people are being transported to the help they need.

After a 911 call last Thursday after midnight, Nelson was ambulanced to the people and medical equipment he needed. Today the doctor told Ann Sophie that the single most important factor in saving Nelson‘s life was that our apartment was only five minutes from Mayo Clinic.

This helped the EMTs get him there in a hurry. We were speechless in hearing this, since it’s the second time God has stood in the way of death to let Nelson live.

Today included more sibling visits as the clinic continued to listen to, and act on our pleas to be near Nelson—beneficial to both patient and visitors. He was much like his old self today, though still in need of morphine to eliminate pain that would otherwise be unbearable.

Several doctors said they were shocked by Nelson’s rapid improvement. After all, it’s been only 2 1/2 days since he was in a very bad way. The plan had been to let him stand by his bed for a few minutes today. But as usual, Nelson pushed the envelope and did three laps around the nurses station instead. The walker, the two nurses and Ann Sophie accompanying him, were there mostly to tote the equipment.

Nelson worked up a little sweat during his walk but was glad to be back on his feet. Best of all, he did it without the warmed, humidified oxygen he’s been using in the ICU, though he still needs a high concentration through the smaller cannula.

Then, at about 4 PM, the catheter into his heart was removed—no longer necessary. All of his heart numbers have stabilized.

By 5 PM the hospital let us know he would be moving from the ICU into a regular hospital room, and by 7 PM, he was there. Knowing Nelson, his first question for the doctor will be, “When can I go home?”

“Nothing will be impossible with God.“ (Luke 1:37)

And we thought yesterday was busy…

Posted on July 2, 2022 by Margaret

Today began shortly after midnight when Nelson woke to visit the bathroom. His comments to Ann Sophie didn’t make sense, and though the apartment was very warm, he was shivering. He asked for one blanket and then two. When she felt him, he was burning up–never a good sign.

He was also struggling to breathe, even after the left lung had been drained yesterday afternoon. Ann Sophie said he was doing rapid panting in a strange way and was unsure of himself.

Ann Sophie called 911, and within 5 minutes the EMTs were at the apartment door. Baby Will awoke with all the confusion, and in this panicky moment, Ann Sophie knew she couldn’t go with Nelson to the hospital. decided to call an ambulance. The EMTs took over with confidence, and tending to Nelson’s needs. His oxygen level was at 80 and heartbeat dangerously slow. He’d been using Luke’s oxygen at 3.0 with no help, so they put it at 5.0. Nelson willingly went with them.

At the ER, they worked to stabilize him but all the new developments were overwhelming him faster than they could counteract them. After several tests and more blood work, they suspected a blood clot in the lung.

Time went by and when they were unable to determine the main problem, they admitted him to the hospital–for the third time. His swelling, which seemed to be lessening just the day before, seemed much worse. It was in his face, arms, chest, back, legs, feet, all of it. He was still panting, quickly becoming unnerved and anxious by his effort to breathe.

Unwilling to give him anything to ease his stress because it would suppress his heart further, they did more tests. What they found was a full left lung, the one that had been drained just hours beforehand. They removed another two+ liters of fluid to relieve his breathing stress, but that didn’t seem to help. The cancer was producing fluid at a much faster rate than before, and in addition to the lung fluid had begun filling the area around his heart, a matter of grave concern.

His blood pressure was extremely low, and they couldn’t get it up. They began considering a risky surgery to drain fluid from around the heart.

By this time Ann Sophie, who had been up through most of the night, wanted desperately to be with her husband, but who would watch baby Will? I had gone back to Michigan to receive our British relatives, son Hans and his family of eight. They were coming to the USA for the first time in four years to join the rest of us on a family vacation. So there was no extra pair of hands to help in Minnesota.

That’s when the guy who has been our saving grace again and again in these last weeks suddenly appeared saying, “I’ll take care of the baby. You go see Nelson.”

Luke worked his magic once more, and he stayed throughout the day, working hard to win Will’s approval, which was no small struggle. As Ann Sophie sat next to Nelson in the ICU holding his hand, she sent back a message that there were15 people in his room at once, working to save his life. For us, that confirmed he was in the best place he could possibly be.

Nelson’s blood pressure was dangerously low, breathing was still labored, and their next step would be to intubate him. We prayed against that, a prayer God chose to answer

Throughout this day there have been ups and downs. They thought it was a blood clot in the lungs but then disproved that. Then they made the decision to drain some of the fluid from around his heart. We were overjoyed when the report came
back that the procedure was successful and his labored breathing had finally eased. A shunt was left in, in case future draining is necessary.

We are well aware that Nelson could have died last night. Since he is still very much alive, we’re singing praises to the Lord, who chose once again to let him live.

„The Son gives life to whom he will…“ (John 5:21)