Feeling impressed

I have recently felt impressed to write about my old roommates sister. Today, now more than ever, she needs your prayers, your thoughts and your good vibes.

Her name is Nicole Cannon and a couple of weeks ago she was in a horrible, horrible scooter accident. Her mom recounts her thoughts on her blog, I've posted them below.

"Jeff and I were at the beautiful wedding of Emily Bourne and Thayne Davis at the Salt Lake Country Club.  We were visiting with friends when a staff member came and gave Jeff a message.  It said, "Come to the Emergency Room on 5300 South and State.  Your daughter has been in an accident."

When we got there, Carole, Clark, and Amanda were already there. Rustin was with Nicole.  The emergency room's Dr. Nicolson was briefing us on Nicole's injuries and actions that were to be taken.  The immediate concern was two hematoma's one on either side of her brain.  Apparently, this type of injury resulted in actress, Natasha Richardson's, death after a skiing accident a year or so ago.  

Nicole was unconscious, but as they were wheeling her to surgery, Jeff, Rustin and Clark administered a priesthood blessing.  Neurosurgeon, Dr. Maughan, came to explain what would happen.  Her skull is fractured on the left side.  He would remove the fractured portion and extract the blood clot (hematoma).  On the right side, he must cut into the skull to remove that hematoma.  The most critical issue after this surgery is the bruised and jostled brain swelling and pressure building inside the skull with no outlet.  Enough pressure of this kind can lead to death.

Rustin and his friends, Jen & Keric Kanistaneaux went back to search the scene of the accident to try to discern what happened.  No one saw it.  The rest of us were lead to a large empty waiting room on the second floor.  We found a tiny consultation room and nearby and knealt together.  There, each of us offered a prayer for Nicole.  I wondered if she was so close to the veil that she may have had an out of body experience as I envisioned her watching us from above.

Then we waited.

About 3:00 am, Brayden Iwasaki brought our dog, Barkley to the hospital.  He is a trained therapy dog who regularly visits hospital patients and was therefore allowed to come in.  He came to the waiting room and went around to each of us with with a wagging tail and a nuzzle of love.  I threw my arms around his big furry black neck and as I cried I felt a good portion of the tension and grief melt away into his soft black fur.  He is truly part of our family and he came and anchored us with his affection.

Dr. Maughan came in and reported that the surgery had gone well.  I asked about her prognosis and he could not give any answer other that we were looking at a slow day by day process.   At this point Nicole's care was turned over to Dr. Van Boerum.  He came in and reported her additional injuries; 2 broken ribs, bruised lungs, a fracture of the 4th cervical vertebrae in her neck, 2 compression fractures in her lower back vertebrae, concussion, skull fracture, breaks in all the bones of her face, a possible ruptured left ear drum.

As both doctors were talking to us, I could feel myself shaking uncontrollably inside.  I think I was in shock.

Amanda asked if they would save Nicole's long hair when they shaved her head for surgery.  The nurse told us it was pretty gory, but she would clean off and save what she could.  She later bought in a long pony tail of Nicole's hair and gave it to Amanda. She was returned to intensive care about 3:45 am.  They warned us that her head was shaved, and extremely swollen. both eyes were black; basically she was unrecognizable.

We were asked not to talk or touch her because any sensory stimulation would activate brain activity and increase the swelling that was so dangerously high. We huddled together around her bed and said a prayer.  Carole sat on the floor as she was feeling faint.  Afterwards,  Rustin stayed with Nicole at the hospital and the rest of us went home for a few hours."

It's been about 10 days since her accident and Nicole is doing better but she still has a long road ahead of her. Which brings me to the reason I felt inclined to write this post.

She is having surgery today to fix the bones in her face. and they think that she has damaged her orbital nerve, which has caused her double vision, but they won't know until they get in there.

Please pray for Nicole that she will have the strength to get through the surgery, that her surgeons' hands will be guided and that her family may be comforted at this time. Her mom posts everyday about all the miracles that Nicole has experienced and I know with combined faith, another miracle could be performed tonight.

Send her good vibes, especially around 4 pm!