His next breath is uncertain
Bethel University sophomore Micah Nichols wakes up each morning wondering whether his “cardiac kid” younger brother will take another breath, let out another laugh, or offer another hug.
By Hannah Johnson | Royal Report
An 11 year-old Micah Nichols once spent weeks hopping from couch to couch for a place to lay his head. Each morning he would wake up, ready himself for the day with what little he had packed in his black Swiss Gear backpack, and jump on his yellow Trek bike, dressed in a sweater-vest and khakis, to reunite with his family.
That summer, Micah Nichols’ younger brother had been hospitalized at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, a world-renowned hospital ranked second in the nation for cardiology.
Marcus began life with a complex congenital heart defect with a single ventricle heart, where only one chamber is able to pump blood to the rest of his body and struggles to supply the oxygen necessary for life.
Hospital room after hospital room, Marcus has fought to keep his “Swiss cheese heart,” as Micah calls it, functioning.
With mom and dad constantly by Marcus’ bedside, and home about 78 miles away, hopping couches seemed to be the only reasonable option.
“It forced me to grow up a lot faster than everyone around me… I had to be able to handle all that was going on,” Micah said of his independence at an early age. Marcus underwent his first heart surgery when Micah was only 3 years old. Sixteen years later, Micah still remembers Marcus’ condition post-surgery.
“His heart was not actually doing anything. His heart and lungs weren’t performing any function and he had chest lines and chest tubes and IVs, and he was unconscious. And it was terrifying. It was very scary.”
Marcus’ most recent surgery will also be one to remember.
“It’s easy to kind of pluck along and not think about it, and then you realize, you know, wow, he really could be gone like that.” –Micah Nichols, Bethel sophomore and older brother of cardiac kid
At 17, on Oct. 5, Marcus underwent a fourth heart surgery at Mayo. The Fontan conduit placed in Marcus at age 5 had narrowed, calcified — causing liver damage — and grown to three times the size it should be, hardening.
“Growing up you always have that worry in the back of your mind. And there were some days where that was much more real than other days. It’s easy to kind of pluck along and not think about it, and then you realize, you know, wow, he really could be gone like that,” Micah said with the snap of his fingers.
Marcus referred to the surgery as “needing some plumbing,” mother Piper Nichols wrote in her blog, “Marcus Nichols: Heart Journey,” which keeps family and friends updated on Marcus’ health.
Micah visited his family while Marcus was in surgery, but being away at school, without the comfort of his home and unable to hold Marcus’ hand, has left him with reading Scripture, journaling, or playing violin — his first choice stress-reliever — to manage the anxiety.
Having a faith in Christ, though, has been his ultimate source of peace.
“You could tell Micah was being more burdened emotionally,” Maxwell Nygren, Micah’s Vespers team leader, said. But he was still able to “talk about not sleeping the night before with a smile on his face.”
On the importance of his faith life, “it’s just vital, it’s so important that you stick with your faith and that you dive into the Word whenever you can, especially in some of those difficult times because otherwise there’s nothing that’s going to be constant or steady that you can cling to in your life…plant yourself on that foundation and hunker down and be ready for the storms to come because they will,” Micah said.
At 3 years old Micah walked into a hospital room to find machines functioning as his brother’s lifeline. There was nothing he could do but turn his tiny knuckles white as he made his grandpa’s hand purple. At 11, the best Micah could do was seek out “bed and breakfast” at friends’ homes to make life easier for his parents. Someday in the near future, Micah will no longer be helpless.
A biology major pursuing medical school, Micah Nichols aspires to be a surgeon, able to take care of patients like his brother Marcus.
“The doctors and the nurses and the medical staff there…made everything all right. And I wanted to be able to do that for other people,” Micah said.
Marcus’ Surgeries Timeline
First at 3 months old (BT Shunt), second by 1 year old (Bi-directional Glenn), third at age 5 (Fontan conduit), and fourth at age 17 (repair on Fontan conduit)
Percentage of births affected by CHD (congenital heart defect)
1% or 40,000 each year in U.S.
25% have a critical CHD and need surgery or other procedures in their first year of life
