Zion. I had no idea he went home and couldn't believe he was walking. Zion is a young boy who came to the hospital with a large neck abscess that was threatening to obstruct his airway. Dr. Jim and the OT crew were quickly working to get him ready for surgery when his airway got obstructed and he went into respiratory and cardiac arrest. They did an emergency tracheotomy (make a hole in his neck into the trachea to allow oxygen to get into his lungs since his upper airway was obstructed from the abscess), and CPR and were able to get him back. Unfortunately, he was without oxygen for a period of time so when he woke up he had suffered an anoxic brain injury, so his mental function wan't what it
wasn't what it use to be. Initially he had to be fed through an NGT and someone had to continually squeeze the bag to breathe for him, but over time he slowly got better. After a few weeks, he moved off of surgery ward to pediatric ward. Although I didn't round on him, I knew who he was and when I would walk on the ward, I would go and say hi to him and his family. He would smile, but I was never quite sure how much he understood.
So after 3 months in the hospital he got to go home. There was a visiting ENT doc in Hagen while Jim was gone, and the Hagen docs arranged for him to see him. This doc was able to remove his trach, which made it much easier for Zion to go home. Not only was he walking when I saw him, but he was also talking. He wasn't speaking in long sentences, but he was able to answer a few questions, and would repeat what his dad said. Any words coming out of his mouth are a joy to hear and a miracle. It reminds me of Jesus healing the widow's son - Luke 7:15 - "The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother." I had a nice visit with them and then prayed for God's continued protection and healing of Zion. His dad was very appreciative of all the care he received here and in knowing that God was still watching over his son just as He did while he was in the hospital.
