In many ways today was "routine": miraculous recovery continues. In morning rounds the treatment team is focused on tapering IV meds and transitioning to oral medications. They are really interested in her increasing her food intake as well which will allow them to eliminate the IV nutrition. The going is a bit slow on the eating part; her stomach is taking it's sweet time to get used to food again. She is trying many different kinds of things: a nibble here and a nibble there.
Nicole is really, really liking her nurses. They are coaching her on how to talk with the treatment team in the morning about food choices.... You see, Nicole has heard that there is a 24-hour Starbucks in our building here...So, they are consulting together about which beverages will meet her nutritional needs and avoid the caffeine.. Unfortunately, she found out she can't have a viente green tea frap with whipped cream... But that still leaves a lot to choose from. So her Aunt brought her a double chocolate frappacino! Was good, but couldn't finish it as it went over her liquid allotment.... BUMMER!
Physical Therapy is happy with her progress: she walked the whole ICU twice today. And then when they moved her room, she kept walking back and forth (with a couple staff assisting) while they readied her bed. She is a bit bummed losing the view from the old room.
She is so proud of her walking and is looking more and more like her old self as the day progresses. OT is happy too. As Nicole put it, she now can maneuver a fork and spoon almost like she had used them before! No more food up the nose!
Nicole met one of the school teachers working here at Children's today. Kati is very helpful, and is going to talk with Nicole's counselor to coordinate assignments. Nicole is not likely to go to the schoolroom here in the hospital yet, but may get 1:1 tutoring. Hopefully, she won't have to be long in the hospital, and can transition to working at home quickly. But if not, she is excited about learning in this new setting.
So, talking with the teams about what it will take to get discharged..... The treatment team has really struggled to clearly identify what was the cause of her cardiac arrest. They are still working with the hypothesis that it is a conduction issue with the left ventricle that leads to premature ventricular contractions (PVC) which were more pronounced than those she is currently experiencing. Treatment will be a mix of medications to solidify the rhythm, manage blood pressure, and the implanted defibrillator. We talked with the team and the specialist who would do the implant, discussing all the pro's and con's, the impact on Nicole's life, and how she will have to adjust her living in the future. It looks like organized sports may not be in her future, but will spend more time discussing that. The doctor who leads the team who does the implants is a sports cardiologist and we will be talking more to him on Monday.
Nicole is reading up on this device, and it turns out several people she knows have similar or the same device. She is feeling good about that. But she is not so happy with the whole concept of surgery or implants. On the other hand she is feeling good about having something "special". Regardless, it's an awesome safety net. The device will not impact her heart on a day to day basis (like a pacemaker would) but is a "fall-back" in the event the medications do not do enough to stabilize and her heart needs a "kick-start". This one also has the ability to temporarily pace her heart if it needs it. Amazing!
We continue to be in awe of the power of the prayer and good will being sent her way. A friend forwarded a link to a song below that really describes Nicole. Talks of overcoming incredible obstacles. She loves the song, and has downloaded it to her phone. Mandisa: Overcomer! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8VoUYtx0kw
Carl heard another one from the Newsboys; it's a familiar favorite of Nicole's. Nicole said "it really fits today!" It's not really the quiet reflective tune that Mandisa performs, but has the energy that Nicole typically has: Newsboys: Miracle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKNl0WJB57g
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