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Heather Lindsay's Story: A Life Filled With Miracles! (By Her Mom, Hillary) by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado
Friday, August 26, 2005
Rated "G" by the Author.
A little girl who had been born with a very severe (and deadly) heart defect continues to amaze doctors: she is now nearly two years old, and she is thriving under the care of her parents, Hillary and Gunther Olsenn.
She is also the big sister to a brand new baby brother, Chandler Bryce.
Heather Lindsay McCabe and her mother were previously featured in the five-part series, "How Do You Want Her To Die?: Heather Lindsay's Story".
This is Hillary Olsenn writing. You may not remember me, but I have written before, about the time when my first child, Heather Lindsay, was in the hospital, fighting for her very life since the time of her birth. I documented her struggle, her ups and downs (mostly downs) of when she lay dying and all hope seemed lost for her very survival.
My daughter had seemed okay at the time of her birth, but just a few hours later, she developed sudden breathing problems, and it was soon obvious that little Heather, as I named her, was in trouble, serious trouble. She had a rare, but deadly, heart defect that caused blood to back up into her lungs, among other serious life-threatening problems, and she was now in a very critical state. She lay for what seemed like months in an isolette in the NICU at a children's hospital, her tiny body hooked up to a whole host of tubes, wires, and monitoring equipment, and she resembled a little blueberry more than a baby. Her entire body was a horrible dark blue-purple hue, and her chest heaved with the very effort of breathing. Her arms and legs were pinned down, and tubes ran into her nose, her mouth, her umbilicus ("belly button"), and her bladder, and monitors/equipment whined/beeped/hummed/hissed constantly, which was how we knew that she was alive.
It was so hard to see my baby girl suffering like she did, and it was equally frustrating (not to mention, frightening) to hear the doctors' discouraging reports regarding her condition. It was especially unnerving whenever my child would suddenly stop breathing in a "Code Blue" (medicalese for a breathing emergency) and Heather would then have to be revived by a team of doctors and nurses. It was during these scary times when I would cry and pray to God to help my little one, and it got to the point to where I refused to leave the hospital, for fear that something else would happen to my baby in the NICU when I wasn't there. I ate (and slept) very little, and I poured out my frustrations to anyone who would listen: doctors, nurses, fello parents who had sick ones in the NICU, even my own family. I was past the point of exhaustion, and I began to ask God to take Heather's suffering away and to just let her die, so she wouldn't have to suffer any more.
But God had other plans.
It turned out that Heather did NOT die, even with all the odds that were stacked against her. Amazingly, surprisingly, miraculously, she survived, and about three to four months later, after weeks of agony, uncertainty, and despair, we were then allowed to take Heather home with us. "HOME". That little word never sounded so sweet! At the time, we never dreamed that it would be possible that we were to be taking our baby girl home from the hospital because she was so very sick; we were more certain that we would be putting her small body into a casket and burying her at her funeral. At the time, Heather, now several months old, was still hooked up to a heart monitor (and supplimental oxygen, via nasal prongs), but she was healthier than she had been since her birth, and she was finally starting to regain lost health, health that had been denied to her since her birth.
That Sunday during the week we brought her home, we took our daughter to church, and everyone in the sanctuary applauded noisily when we entered the sanctuary. So many people came up to us (many with tears in their eyes or on their faces), and they told us that they prayed for our little family and marveled at the very sight of our child, who lay sleeping peacefully in my arms. A week after we brought Heather home, she was dedicated to the church by our pastor, and people continued to praise God for His goodness to this little angel-child.
Now Heather Lindsay McCabe-Olsenn is nearly two years old, and although she is still on heart medication and must go to her pediatrician and heart doctors for regular checkups to see how her heart is functioning, she is a completely different child from the gasping, blue-tinged one that I vividly remember from her early days, and she is now walking, talking, and developing normally, which is nothing short of miraculous. Perhaps, best of all, she is completely OFF the heart monitors and the oxygen! Heather Lindsay is nothing short of incredible, and every day we thank God for letting her live over such heartwrenching odds. She is also now a big sister, and she loves her new baby brother, Chandler Bryce, with all the love that only an older sister can muster. She loves helping her mommy and her daddy with the baby, and we are delighting in her developing personality--and in the arrival of our second Miracle child, Chandler Bryce Olsenn.
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Reviewed by P. Michaels
8/31/2005
I've read it, Karen and this is truly a miracle told in the words of the mother. Thank you for letting me know about this story's update. I certainly did enjoy reading it. It's a story that can give hope to others.
In "A Touch of Your Presence" are words that would inspire, encourage and strengthen one's soul when faced with challenges and difficulties and to know the awesomeness of God's power.
This book consists of a 150 pages of Christian poetry about the end of time and the Second coming of Jesus Christ not as a servant but as a King, the King of kings. To bring righteousness and peace to the earth and restore the government of God! Peac
This is Hillary Olsenn writing. You may not remember me, but I have written before, about the time when my first child, Heather Lindsay, was in the hospital, fighting for her very life since the time of her birth. I documented her struggle, her ups and downs (mostly downs) of when she lay dying and all hope seemed lost for her very survival.
