Michelle Nebel: Words to Spare

Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

Five Years Ago Today…

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We found out that Chris had testicular cancer. Thanks to a couple of amazing surgeons, oncologists, dozens of wonderful nurses, the prayers and support of our incredible friends, and of course our incomparable family, we made it through those tough months.

Chris underwent an orchiectomy and a laparotomy and two rounds of chemotherapy. We rearranged our wedding plans and moved them up by six months, so that we could be married before he started chemo. He dealt with applying to medical schools from his hospital room, and going on interviews still bald from the chemo treatments.

Today, we are celebrating! Chris is a great husband, father, and physician today. He has come so far. I am humbled and glad to be his partner on the journey, and I am thankful every day for his good health.

Praise to the Lord who watches over us, the Great Physician who heals, the Friend who understood our hurt and worry, the Loving Father who walked with us every step of the way.

Matters of the Heart: Part 2

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We saw the pediatric cardiologist today, and we got wonderful news – Jonas does NOT have an enlarged heart! :–)

Our appointment was great. Once again the traffic was flowing nicely and I wasn’t nervous about finding it since I’d just been over there on Tuesday. We did have to park in the garage because the valet wasn’t there but it wasn’t too bad. (I hate the ones that are completely dark and all the spaces feel sooooo close together. I’m afraid I’ll hit someone’s car backing out or pulling in to my space!)

We got up to the cardiology area at the Children’s Hospital and checked in and I filled out the paperwork. Just when I was getting up to give them the clipboard back, Chris walked in!!! He got permission from his chief to come across the street for the appointment. I was SOOOOOO glad to see him, and Jonas just lit up! He stretched his arms out to Chris and almost came out backwards from the mei tai (baby carrier). It was cute.

First they took us for an echo, and the tech was a really sweet woman. She turned on “Finding Nemo” but Jonas was more interested in staring at our faces, the buttons on the echo machine keyboard, and the cool stuff in Daddy’s pocket (pens, flashlight, stethoscope) .

When that was done they took his vitals (he’d put on 5 ounces in 6 days) and did a blood pressure cuff on both arms and both ankles and a pulse-oxygen reading on his big toe.

Then they took us to an exam room, and we had a bit of wait… not too bad, though, certainly faster than my OB used to be!!! First we saw a resident, who reminded me a lot of our friend Marin. She was very sweet and softspoken and great with Jonas, and when she was done with her exam and talking with us, the attending cardiologist came in. He let us know what he had seen on the echocardiogram: Jonas does NOT have an enlarged heart – all the chambers and valves are structurally perfect. He does have a slight pulmonary flow murmur, but they are *really, really* common and won’t affect him at all. The doctor said our Ped may notice it at sick visits because it will be more noticeable when he is agitated or febrile (running a fever) but he won’t need to take prophylactic antibiotics for dental work (like I do with my MVP murmur) and it really isn’t a big deal at ALL.

We’re so relieved!

All that being taken care of, he said that he really doesn’t know WHY Jonas gets sweaty and shaky when he nurses. He said that “he’s no expert, but he doesn’t think it’s seizures and he wouldn’t put us through a neurological workup if it were up to him” – of course he also said that since neither I nor my mother have actual heart disease, he “would call into question our original diagnoses of Noonan’s syndrome” which is wierd, because I’ve *never* had a doctor tell me they didn’t believe I really had it!

So now we’re back home and Jonas is napping – the poor baby is exhausted. He woke up at 7:00 and we didn’t get home until a bit after 11:00 But the whole time we were there, he was adorable: cooing and talking to all the nurses and techs and doctors, rolling over on the exam tables, grabbing stethoscope tubing and name badges It was pretty cute. He was really “on”, just totally showing off and enjoying all the attention.

Thanks for all your prayers – I know they were heard, and I have felt such a sense of peace over the last two days while we waited for this news. Praise the Lord!

Matters of the Heart

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Jonas is 6 months old! It’s hard to believe the time has passed so quickly. At his pediatrician’s appointment, he was 27 inches tall and 16 lbs, 2 ounces. We are still enjoying our solid food fun – so far he has tried rice, oatmeal, bananas (of course!), avocado, sweet potatoes, prunes, and squash; next up is applesauce. His checkup was great and we really like his new doctor, Marcy Swogger. We are concerned, though, about a little problem with his feeds; he has been getting very warm and sweaty and having shaking or trembling episodes. Dr. Swogger decided that we needed to have a chest X-ray done to make sure there are no problems with his heart.

So first thing this morning, Jonas and I headed over to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. Grandmama was praying, and those prayers were answered! The traffic wasn’t bad, the complimentary valet meant I didn’t have to deal with the parking garage, and we didn’t have to wait long to be seen. Jonas behaved PERFECTLY during the xray, and held very still (I was at the head of the table, holding his arms up like “sooooo big!” and the tech held his feet) so that they got both films clearly the first time! The radiologist read the films right away, and our doctor called us in the consultation room to let us know the findings.

Unfortunately, it appears on the Xray that Jonas’ heart is enlarged. Now, it’s very common in infants for the thymus gland to cast a shadow in the films that can be indistinguishable from the heart. So on Thursday, we’ll be visiting a pediatric cardiologist at the Children’s Hospital for some more information. Right now, I don’t know if it will just be a consultation or if they will do an EKG or echocardiogram.

Please keep us all in your prayers – that we will be full of peace and calm as we wait for the results, and that we will have a nice cardiologist and a good appointment, and that Jonas will be a good patient and easy for them to evaluate.

Bedrest Blues, Disability, and other Tidbits

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After two days of the T.F.C. movement (see previous post), I had a weekend to keep my feet up and drink plenty of water–but still had a lot of contractions. I started to feel very anxious about what my body was doing, so I called in sick for Monday the 10th and went to see my OB.

She was shocked that I had even considered going back to work & told me to take the WEEK off… then she arranged for me to see my perinatologist again. Eukie is still growing strong: he weighed in a hefty 1 lb, 5 oz and his heartbeat looks good. The vaginal ultrasound showed a long cervix (5 cm); exactly what they would look for at this point in the pregnancy. However, the cervix is a muscle which can change at any point, so he said he wasn’t comfortable sending me back to work.

My mom flew down from Savannah to help out, since it’s pretty hard to function when you’re imprisoned on the couch. She’s been a real lifesaver, cooking meals and cleaning the apartment and even feeding the cats (to whom she’s violently allergic!) and changing the litter boxes.

The perinatologist sent his report to my OB, who called me just a few hours later with the news: bedrest for a week and a half, until my next scheduled appointment on the 19th. It was not fun, let me tell you! But friends from school and church dropped by to chat and distract me with smoothies, puzzles, scrapbooking materials, and all the latest news, which helped a lot.

At my appointment this past Wednesday, my OB was happy to hear that instead of 8-9 contractions a day I’ve been down to one or two daily. She was right in the middle of saying I could go back to work for a week or two on a trial basis when she began my internal exam…. and her face changed and she stopped what she was saying. She feels my cervix is still short & said that she trusts her own 20+ years of experience over a machine (meaning the vag u/s done at the perinatologist’s office) any day.

The verdict: we need to get this baby safely to 32 weeks (about December 10th) at the least, or 36 weeks (near New Year’s) even better. So I’ve filed the paperwork for disability leave from the school system, and I’m at home until January 1st. At that point, I’ll be allowed to return to work until I have him (because even if I went into labor that first day back at school, he’d be big enough to do very well out here).

Thankfully, I’m not on strict bedrest anymore! I’m on “light activity” ~so I can get out of the house, shop (within reason, no more 6-hour mall marathons!), cook, do light cleaning. I still need to take it easy though, and make sure I’m resting and keeping off my feet several hours each day.

Prayer Requests:

  • Hurricane Wilma will probably make landfall in the Naples area (due West of us) around daybreak Monday. Pray for the safety of the residents of that area, and for our safety as we will go through the predicted Hurricane 1 force & tropical storm force winds and rains.
  • Chris is completing his rotation at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle. Please pray that his interview for a residency spot goes well & that he will have peace about it. Also pray for safe travel on his return flight(s) on October 31st.
  • Pray that I can find a good balance of activity and rest, and that the baby continues to grow strong and healthy and stays PUT!!!
  • My mom will be flying back home on November 1st, pray for traveling safety and blessing on her for her giving heart and gracious spirit (to put up with me for three weeks!)

A Little Scare…

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…but not the Halloween kind!

On Wednesday, I was sent to the hospital to be monitored for pre-term labor. I’d had a routine OB appointment and told my doctor I’ve been having some Braxton-Hicks contractions for the last few weeks. (She wasn’t happy that I waited so long to tell her!) She did an internal exam and it appeared my cervix was shorter.

The next thing I knew, I was at the Maternity Care Center of Palmetto General, hooked up to two monitors (one for the baby’s heartbeat and the other for my contractions) and an automatic blood pressure cuff. I had an ultrasound as well, and they finally decided to let me go home at 9:30. I’d had no contractions while I was there, and even though my cervix is effaced it’s not at a dangerous level.

So for now, my orders are
*keep my feet elevated and stay seated as much as possible (I’m pioneering a new movement: Teaching From Chairs!)
*increase my fluid intake (though I’m already drinking a TON of water so I guess I’m going to float through the next few weeks!)
*call my doctor when I have contractions or pressure.

I’ve had a handful of contractions since then, and when I called my doctor she didn’t seem too concerned; I guess she just wants to be kept informed.

Please keep all three of us in your prayers. This is obviously hard on Chris since he’s so far away and can’t be here to take care of us, and I’m really missing him a lot right now. Pray that I’ll follow doctor’s orders and stay relatively un-stressed, and pray that the baby will just stay put for a while longer!!! I’ll be 23 weeks pregnant on Monday, so we want at least seven or eight more weeks (though sixteen or seventeen would be even better)! One good point is that he’s measuring big (he looks about 25 weeks) and if he ends up coming early, the bigger he is the better off he’ll be.

The first appointment

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We saw Dr. S this morning. Chris really liked her. She’s very nice, and very talkative –hmmm, wonder why I like her so much!?– and she has a neat personality. She talks a mile a minute and blasted us with information.

I’ve been having some heart palpitations (probably related to my mitral valve prolapse) so she is sending me to a cardiologist. She will also be sending me to see a perinatologist because I have Noonan’s syndrome. (More on that another time.)

She’s happy with the symptoms I’ve been having and with my weight gain (only 3 pounds! thank goodness!) so far.

The best part of the visit was hearing our baby’s heartbeat. It was fascinating. We were really lucky, because the heartbeat usually can’t be heard this early (10 weeks) with a basic Doppler. I got teary, and Chris got a little choked up. It was a really special moment.