Day 369 - June 19 - Test Results

Connor's tests this morning went very well. I'm not sure why I'm surprised when our prayers are answered - it seems like the more faithful God proves Himself to be, the more I'd come to see that as normal. But for some reason I persist in being surprised by answered prayer. Weird, huh?

Anyway, Connor did the vital capacity tests today, in about six different positions and configurations (trach cuff open, trach cuff closed, ab binder on, ab binder off, etc.). The results? Regardless of his position, he was pulling at least 200cc's or so of air into his lungs, with some positions seeing between 450 and 600cc's! Remember, in Fresno they told us he had to pull 500 to be considered wean-able, and he could only pull 50. The RT told us today that they had done another vital capacity test while Connor was in the hospital there at Valley, and the breath he pulled at that time didn't even trigger the test machinery. So to see 450-600cc's today had both the doctor and the RT exclaiming in surprise! The doctor's jaw dropped and he was dumbfounded, and said that Connor's diaphragm was definitely working! When she saw the RT leaning against the wall with her chin in her hand, Cherié asked her what she was thinking. The RT said that she had been in the operating room in October when the diaphragmatic pacer surgery failed, and that Connor's diaphragm hadn't responded at all then, so to see 600cc's now - she said "I don't understand how that can happen - it's an anomaly."

Wow, if that's not answered prayer, I'm not sure what is. So all in all, it was a very good result and a very good morning because of it. And I remember that God is good...

After the appointment, we went over to the SCI rehab section of the hospital to see if there was anyone we could say hi to, and we ran into some of the nurses and therapists who had worked with Connor last year. They were excited to see the boy, and one of them asked us if we would be willing to meet a young girl in Connor's situation who was in rehab there. We agreed, and although we weren't able to meet the girl, we spoke at length with her mother. This 19-year-old young lady makes the second recent SCI patient we've run into that's within an hour of us. She's really struggling with her situation, not unlike Connor, and we offered to help in any way we can.

I bring this up so I can point out another cool feature of the new site - the ability to refer folks to other situations. You can check the forum to see other opportunities for support and prayer in the "Opportunities to Serve" category. Hopefully this community will reach out to this other hurting family as well.

Daylight is coming!

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