There's A Healer In The House!!!

Words cannot express the emotions that I was experiencing tonight when I answered the call from our cardiologist.  I could hear the tears in his voice as he started the conversation, but it only took me moments to figure out that they were tears of joy!  Nathan’s MRI confirmed that he DOES NOT have the dreaded diagnosis of Cardiac Amyloidosis.  I cannot express the feeling of joy, relief and overwhelming peace that came with that statement.

While we are still flying high after receiving this information, we do realize that there are things still to come in our future.  Nathan has been officially diagnosed with Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy.  Here is a quick rundown:

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a complex but relatively common form of genetic heart muscle disease that occurs in 1 out of 500 people, but often goes undiagnosed in the community.  HCM is the most common cause of heart-related sudden death in people under 30 years of age.  Although HCM is a chronic disease without a known cure, a number of treatments are now available to alter its course.

This is still a very serious condition.  It is the condition where you hear of athletes “dropping dead” during a game for an unknown cardiac cause.  The thinking now is that Nathan went into an abnormal rhythm at work that day (namely Ventricular Tachycardia, VTACH) which caused his syncopal episode and seizure.  The most important thing right now is to make sure that he doesn’t go into that rhythm again before the treatment takes effect.  The “infiltrates” found in his heart were not proteins, but rather abnormal muscles that are causing his heart to pump in an improper way.  Now the damage that has occurred to his heart (heart wall thickening, infiltrates, scar tissues) are irreversible, but are said not to get any worse because his heart is no longer growing.

So what does this mean for us next?

·         Nathan starts medicinal treatment tomorrow to control abnormal rhythms.  Pray that his blood pressure tolerates the meds as they tend to decrease your BP and his is already low anyway.  And also pray that he does not have any abnormal rhythms until the treatment is effective.

·         We will continue to do the epilepsy monitoring at Vanderbilt this week.  Pray that these four days go smoothly and cause the least amount of stress for him as possible.

·         We will meet with his cardiologist after we get out of Vanderbilt to talk about implanting a defibrillator in his heart to reduce the risk of an abnormal rhythm again and prevent any sudden cardiac event that could lead to death.

·         Since this is mostly a genetic disease, our three boys will need to be tested soon, along with Nathan’s twin brother and sister.

Now I know that this still sounds bad – but I am so thankful for these results!!  And I know that this whole day is because of the Lord and because of all of the prayers that have gone up on his behalf.  He was the one who got Nathan’s MRI date moved to today.  And He is the one who intervened in a way that only He could.  Our cardiologist said it perfectly when he told me, “Mrs. Barnes, I think that we have all witnessed a true miracle here.”  Praise Him!

I am so thankful for all of you and your comforting words during this time.  While we couldn’t respond to every post, text, message, etc – Nathan and I read every single one of them and found comfort in them.  We don’t know why it seems that healing is provided to certain people and not for others, but we are so thankful that He did this for us. 

I’ll end this post with the words to a song that Nathan and I have listened to over and over this week and have found much comfort in the words. 

“We pray for blessings.  We pray for peace.  Comfort for family, protection while we sleep.
We pray for healing, for prosperity.  We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering.
And all the while, You hear each spoken need, Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things.

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom; Your voice to hear.  We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near.
We doubt your goodness, we doubt Your love.  As if every promise from Your Word is not enough.
And all the while, You hear each desperate plea, And long that we'd have faith to believe.

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

When friends betray us.  When darkness seems to win we know, that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home.

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

What if my greatest disappointments, Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy?
What if trials of this life, The rain, the storms, the hardest nights,
Are your mercies in disguise?”