Mourning for Micah: Still No Answers-from Heather

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Still No Answers-from Heather

I had a phone call on Monday from the Medical Examiner who performed Micah's autopsy and he said that they discovered Asprin in Micah's system. He had called to question me to see if we had possibly given him Asprin. This was quite disturbing to me as we don't even have Asprin in the house and I know that it is not safe for children. He warned me that it could be a false positive but they were going to resubmit the blood work to see if it was infact Asprin and if so, was there a lot in his system. He stated that none of the medical records from Children's indicated that Micah was given Asprin and there would have been no reason any medical professional would have administered it. How frustrating! I wish we could just get some closure from the medical standpoint, but it keeps going.
The Medical Examiner also indicated that they found pneumonia on his left lung...which was a suprise to us as we were told it was only in his right lung. And how could he developed pneumonia in his left lung when he was treated the day before with high doses of antibiotic? There seems to be more questions than answers at this point. I struggle with trying hard to figure out what happened medically and just letting it go. I know that regardless this was part of God's plan but my doubt and frustrations with him being gone seems to take over. I pray that we can get closure with the reason for death and get some final answers so we can begin to heal at a deeper level. I just miss him SO much and this isn't getting any easier!

5 comments:

Nick, Amber & AaronAugust 12, 2009 at 11:22 AM
I will pray for peace for you today.
ReplyDelete
Replies
JennaAugust 12, 2009 at 3:44 PM
No. It doesn't get easier. I've only heard that it gets different. By God's grace, you survive one day at a time. And, there's a minuscule amount of comfort in grieving with someone...you and Cory missing Micah together...and a huge body of people who are mourning for your loss. (A friend of mine called from 600 miles away saying, "I just read about the Wessmans...I cried for a hour." An hour of tears isn't that much relative to your grief, but a complete stranger...aching for you, praying for you, wishing everything were different for you...)

I hope you get answers soon. In the meantime, I pray that God will remind you of what is certain...about Himself, about life, about Micah, about the future...
ReplyDelete
Replies
Erica BarnesAugust 12, 2009 at 3:57 PM
thinking of you guys today and sending up hymn after hymn in prayer. Eva asks frequently now at night if I would please sing "When He Cometh" for baby Micah.
ReplyDelete
Replies
dannyandjessieAugust 12, 2009 at 8:52 PM
Your sadness touches my heart everyday. Though I don't know you, my heart still aches for you. My husband and I pray often for you, that the unanswered questions wouldn't take you captive. My parents lost a son born after me, he was only 18 months. My mother has shared her heart with me about the pain and anguish. His death also, was sudden an unexpected. It's been 25 years, she never forgets his birthday, tell stories every so often about him. She says it was only Christ that could take her guilt away. The answers didn't help just more questions came. She even struggled with anger toward Christ. If you would ever like to email her, I can send you her email. She'd really like to help if she can.
We will continue to pray for God's arms to wrap you tightly in your hours of need.
Jessie Vasquez
ReplyDelete
Replies
jamieAugust 13, 2009 at 10:10 PM
praying that you would get answers heather!
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

The Story of Micah's Last Days on Earth

During the week of July 20th, 2009, I (Cory) hired a roofing company to re-shingle our home in South Minneapolis. On Thursday afternoon, July 23rd, Heather went to her sister's house in Edina to avoid the noise and allow Micah to nap per his normal routine. In the early evening, Micah had his usual dinner. He sat in a plastic high chair that was secured on top of a regular table chair. After enjoying his finger foods of chicken and peas, Heather went to the sink to get a cloth to clean up Micah's face and hands.

During that time, Micah was accidentally unbuckled from his chair. As Heather walked back to Micah to wash him up, she watched as Micah leaned forward to touch his toes and tumbled forward, falling head first onto the ceramic tile.

Heather was within feet of Micah and immediately picked up Micah from the floor. Micah cried loudly for about 30 minutes. After about 30 minutes of crying and wanting to be held by his mother, he calmed down. Micah developed a bump above his left eye. Micah also developed a strange cough immediately after the fall.

Heather made several calls to the pedicatrician and to the Children's Hospital emergency room to determine if Micah should be seen and evaluated by a doctor. After conflicting suggestions, Heather decided to take Micah down to the ER to be evaluated. Micah was seen by a resident and a doctor and was checked over for any signs of head injury or other injuries. The doctors determined that Micah exhibited no signs of a concussion or other head injury, and so no head scan was taken. Heather and I informed the doctors of the cough, but the doctors felt that the cough was unrelated to the fall. Heather, Micah and I then went home.

On Friday, July 24th, Micah seemed happy and acted normal. Micah engaged in his normal Friday activities, including going to music class. In the evening, Micah developed a temperature following his normal bedtime. He woke up fussy and was not acting life himself. Heather called the pediatrician and the ER triage nurse. The nurse indicated that the fever was unrelated to the fall, and that if his temperature rose to 105 to bring him back to the ER. After several hours of trying to consol Micah, we decided to bring him back to the ER for further evaluation.

At the ER, the nurse practictioner who was assigned to Micah determined that Micah had developed pneumonia. The chest x-ray showed pneumonia but no signs of further complications. Micah was given an IV antibiotic. He was discharged and given instructions to meet with the pediatrician for an antibiotic shot the following day. The issue of the cough was brought up again; it was determiend that he could has aspirated some food (i.e. swallowed food down his lung) because of the fall. The doctor was not overly concerned about the cough.

On Saturday, July 25th, Micah was seen by his primary pedicatrician. He was given a shot of antibiotic and was further evaluated. It was determined that no further treatment was necessary, but that Micah should be seen by the pediatrician the following Tuesday for an x-ray. The x-ray would determine if the pneumonia had improved. If it had not, the pediatrician should that it would be necessary for a doctor to sedate Micah and use a scope to remove the foreign body from Micah's lung.

On Sunday, July 26th, we were hoping to attend the 11:00 am service at Bethlehem Baptist Church in downtown Minneapolis. Before church, I headed to Target around 9:30 to pick up a prescription for Micah. Micah woke up from his nap while Heather was drying her hair in the bathroom. Micah let out a terrible little cry, and Heather immediately ran into his run. Micah then started chocking, and immediately turned blue.

Heather called 911 and started CPR on Micah. I arrived home and tried to relay CPR instructions from the 911 operator to Heather, who was attempting to resuscitate Micah. Within 1 minute of my arrival, the fire department arrived. The fire department personnel attempted, to no avail, to resuscitate Micah. Within 2 or 3 minutes, the paramedics arrived. They, too, were unsuccessful in attempting to resuscitate Micah.

After about 25 more minutes, Micah was transported by ambulance to Children's Hospital in Minneapolis. Heather rode in the front seat of the ambulance. I rode with a police officer in his squad car behind the ambulance.

Once at the hospital, a team of doctors and nurses continued their attempts to resuscitate Micah. We were met almost immediately at the hospital by a social worker and a chaplain. During the next 20 minutes or so, we continued to receive updates that the doctors and nurses were not able to resuscitate Micah. At that time, we were told by one of the head doctors to go into Micah's room and say goodbye to Micah.

As we were walking into the room, the doctors stopped us and indicated that they had been able to finally get a pulse going again. They were also able to incubate him and, with the assistance of machines, get him breathing again. The head doctor apparently made hard chest compression to restart Micah's heart. The doctors immediately cautioned us, however, that because of the length of time that Micah went without oxygen to his brain (about 1.5 hours), he would have permanent brain damage. Micah was then moved to a room in the instensive care unit in South Minneapolis.

Later that afternoon, I was in his room when an Ear-Nose-Throat specialist placed a scope down Micah's lung. There, he found a pea that had collapsed his right lung. The E-N-T specialist was able to remove the pea. At this point, the doctors believe that Micah suffocated on a combination of this pea and the flem material generated by his lung as a result of the pneumonia.

That evening, I asked the nurse in charge of Micah's care whether we should be praying for his recovery or praying for his "going home." She responded, without hesitation, that we should pray for his "going home." Heather and I did not sleep at all that Sunday night. We (along with many others) lifted up many prayers to the Lord asking the Lord to spare our Micah's life.

On Monday, July 27th, Heather and I, along with our families, Pastor Kenny Stokes and our pediatrician met with the head doctor in the intensive care unit to discuss Micah's situation. He indicated that Micah had little to no brain activity, and that he had no chance of recovery. They provided us with the option to remove Micah from life support at any time. At that time, it appeared that he may have had enough brain function to breath on his own if he were removed from the ventilator.

The Lord provided Pastor Kenny with the verse, "Away from the body, present with the Lord." We determined that because Micah would never have any brain activity, it was time for us to say goodbye to our only son, Micah Robert Wessman, so that he could go home to be with Jesus.

All of our extended families gathered in Micah's room. Due to all of the lines and cords coming from his little body, several nurses had to assist in transferring Micah from his bed to my lap. Heather sat in a chair next to me. We sang a number of hymns together, including "Children of the Heavenly Father" and "Jesus Love Me." Heather then kissed Micah goodbye, telling Micah, through tears, to "run to Jesus, sweetie, run to Jesus."

For the next hour, we waited for a local organ donation company to arrive and review Micah's status for organ donation purposes. (We later learned that a child benefitted from receiving Micah's heart valves.) During that time, the doctors determined that Micah's brain functions further deteriorated, and Micah was not able to breath on his own. Apparently, Micah had listed to his mother one last time, and he ran to Jesus.

After meeting with the organ donation company, I went into Micah's room. Also present were my parents, my brother Scott, Pastor Kenny and Tim Gilbert. The doctor and the nursing staff removed all of Micah's tubes. Within a few minutes of having his tubes removed, Micah died in my arms. After a few minutes of holding the body of my son in my arms, my brother read from Romans 11:33-36.

We love our son very much, and always will love him. He will always be our son. It is our strong conviction that after he died, he was received directly into the arms of our loving Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Mourning for Micah

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Still No Answers-from Heather

5 comments:

The Story of Micah's Last Days on Earth

Followers

Blog Archive

About Cory (Micah's Dad)