Real Miracles, Healing Stories
Miracle from Down-Under
The
Timing was Right
Nolene hadn’t seen her daughter Jane in five years.
It’s a long trip From Perth, Australia to Boise, Idaho, but Nolene felt
it was time for a visit. She would make the trip alone, leaving husband Bob
in Australia.
The three week visit in Idaho went by much too fast, but it was time to pack for the 24 hour flight home. It was late afternoon and Nolene was in Jane’s guest room, packing for the evening flight. Nolene felt a headache come on, but it was no ordinary headache. “It was the most dreadful headache imaginable,” Nolene remembers.
Nolene and Jane were in the hallway when Nolene needed to lie down - right here, right now. It was clear that this was a serious problem. “I thought I was having a stroke,” Nolene recalls. Jane dialed 911 as Nolene laid still on the floor. Fortunately the EMT station was just around the corner from Jane’s home. This allowed a remarkable two-minute response time. Nolene was loaded into the ambulance and taken to the nearest hospital, St. Luke’s.
Nolene was still in pain and slightly disoriented, but still consciousness as she was put through a CT scan. A brain hemorrhage was spotted. But before Nolene was removed from the CT table the situation became more critical – she had lost consciousness. Another scan was quickly performed revealing an aneurysm in her right temporal lobe. This complication required specialized care not available here. Nolene needed to go to Saint Alphonsus.
Slipping Away
Jane called Bob at home in Australia,
and explained the situation. The news was not well received. “I admit
I didn’t handle it very well,” Bob confessed. “I guess you
could say I fell apart. I knew it was a real possibility that this could be
the end for my wife.” Only a few days short of 48 years married, and
half way around the globe, Nolene was slipping away from him.
When the ambulance with Nolene arrived at Saint Alphonsus a team was already preparing for her impending surgery. Armed with vital patient data, a call was made for neurosurgeon Michael Hajjar, M.D. with the Idaho Neurological Institute and he was on his way. Soon after arrival Nolene was in surgery. After the procedure Nolene went to ICU, and Jane called her father again. Bob had been waiting anxiously for that call. “Once I heard she had survived surgery I came as quickly as I could,” Bob recalled.
Two days had passed since Nolene’s surgery; Bob was arriving at the Boise airport and Nolen was still unconscious. Even after nearly 24 hours on a plane, Bob went straight to his wife forgoing food and a change of clothes.
Jane had tried to prepare him, but his first glimpse of Nolene hit him cold. “Her face was swollen and misshaped, and there were those tubes and wires…,” Bob took a minute to compose himself and then continued, “I walked up to her and kissed her forehead.” He was by her side every day from then on.
I’m Here
The Saint Alphonsus
nursing staff was now caring for a very frightened husband along with his very
sick wife. “They gave me confidence,” Bob comments. “I just
can’t describe how wonderful they were. Everyone was loving and caring…they
even knew our names when we called down for food!”
The nurses’ advice, Bob would talk to Nolene, even though she was unconscious. Every day he would lean over his sleeping wife and speak to her “I am here and I love you. If you can hear me, nod your head,” but Nolene remained still.
On the third day Bob leaned over and spoke to Nolene, and this time she nodded in response. “I was thrilled to bits,” Bob reflected as he choked up a bit. “I felt a surge go through me and I knew she would be okay,” he said, as the smile returned to his voice.
Nolene had beaten the odds and survived the aneurism and the surgery. But the staff prepared Bob for the possibility that Nolene would have some permanent disability from the aneurism. Partial paralysis with loss of movement in her right side was likely. It was difficult news, but Bob was thankful they had prepared him.
Precious Words
Nodding was
Nolene’s only communication for almost two weeks. Being only semi-conscious
and with tubes down her throat, speaking was impossible.
When the day finally came to remove the obstruction Bob hoped to hear her speak. He leaned close to her and said, “I love you.” With a groggy and raspy voice Nolene strained to respond, “I know,” was all that came out, but for Bob that was enough. Within a few days her voice permitted a more complete response. “I love you and I’m glad you’re here,” she said. Bob had his anniversary gift.
First Class Treatment
“Dr. Hajjar was marvelous, absolutely
marvelous,” Nolene recalls. “I didn’t think I would ever
speak again.” Then she quickly adds, “And I don’t think
I would have pulled through if Bob hadn’t been there...I may have, but
I really don’t believe so.”
After three weeks in ICU Nolene began her rehabilitation. Vic Kadyan, M.D. with Boise Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation led the effort to help Nolene try to regain her lost physical abilities. To the delight and surprise of Nolene and Bob, Nolene had remarkably regained nearly all of her movement. Her right eye was still a little slow at times, but considering what she had been through, this recovery was amazing.
Being a foreign visitor, Bob’s concerns became pragmatic. How would they pay for all this outstanding medical care? Nolene had taken out a three-week travel insurance policy before she left, but it had now been two months. Again, the couple from Perth seemed to be blessed. Cover More Insurance of Australia stepped up and relieved a burden from Bob’s mind. And with encouragement from Saint Alphonsus, Cover More upgraded return-flight seating for Bob and Nolene. They were going home in first -class.
It’s Our Miracle
Looking back at
her situation Nolene reflected on her fortune. “I was only a couple of
hours from being on the plane home when this happened. That would have been
it for me. I was so fortunate the paramedics were only two minutes away. And
the staff here was so unbelievably kind and caring, they couldn’t have
been more wonderful.”
Bob put a fine point on it. “It may not be a miracle of worldly proportions, but to us, it all was an unbelievable miracle.” The relieved husband then added, “And I’ve told her that her days of traveling without me are over.” That part of the story is most believable.