Medical Aid for Nicholas Bustos

Nicholas Bustos was down in San Diego, CA to celebrate his son, Aiden’s, 7th birthday. On the morning of Sunday, May 17, 2020 Nick had labored breathing and could not be woken from his sleep. 911 was called and he was taken to Grossmont Hospital. When Nick first arrived at the ICU he had a fever, a severe lung infection, his major organs were shutting down, and he had to be placed on a ventilator. Nick is on full life support, and the doctors put him in an induced coma to allow his body to rest and recover. Additionally, the doctors placed Nick in a Rotoprone bed to aid his recovery and he tested negative for COVID-19. Most people know Nick struggled with drug use in his past. The doctors think it has caused severe damaged to his kidneys, liver, and heart. We do not know how long Nick was unconscious with limited oxygen, because of his sedation the doctors are waiting to test his brain activity. 

As of the evening of TUESDAY, MAY 19th Nick is still fighting for his life. He is not out of the woods, but things are looking up. He is no longer on the rotoprone bed. They have him in a regular hospital bed now and he is oxygenating well. His BP was high but is now back down to a healthy range along with his HR. His fever broke and Nick’s Kidneys and liver are kicking in again slowly. He is still sedated in a coma and on the ventilator, but thanks to all the prayers, we know God is healing his body.  

This has all been a big shock to our family. It has been especially difficult because due to the current pandemic our family cannot go be with him in the hospital. We wait patently for updates over the phone. Nick does have insurance but with the current quarantine in place work has been slow. The financial burden of medical  expenses is not something we want Nick or our family to focus on when he is fighting to heal. So if you would like to donate to help, we would appreciate anything you could give. More than anything we ask that you pray for Nick to recover healthy, and pray for peace and comfort for our family. 

Thank you and my God bless you. 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20th morning update. I spoke with his nurse, Michelle who was very nice. Last night at about 8 PM they lowered his sedation medication and Nicholas opened his eyes. He was able to follow commands for the night nurse up until 4 AM this morning when he started to become restless and wanted to pull the tubes out! They changed the sedation medication and they are going to let him rest most of today. They are still concerned about his heart and have changed his heart medication. His kidneys appear to be functioning well and his liver looks good according to his labs. The goal is for tomorrow to remove him from the ventilator. WEDNESDAY EVENING update about Nick from my mom (Hilda). This evening the nurse, Michelle came through for us. She created a Zoom Meeting and we were able to talk and see Nicholas. He responded with facial expressions at the sound of our voices. He opened his eyes a few times. They are going to try maybe tomorrow to remove him off the ventilator. Thank God is good and is healing Nicholas' body♥️. THURSDAY, MAY 21st update from my mom (Hilda) Nicholas is awake, completely oriented, off the ventilator and breathing on his own! He has pneumonia and is on antibiotics for that. His body is very weak and his heart is still concerning and very weak. They will be scheduling a cardiac catheterization in the near future. His kidneys and liver are almost back to normal! We were able to have another zoom meeting with him this morning. He was very emotional and was unaware of what had happened. I told him about the outpour of prayers and positive thoughts from everyone and he cried. I want to THANK everyone for all your prayers. We could not have made it through this without you all. We Love you all so very much and are truly blessed. GOD is so good!!♥️ Update. Friday May 22nd. As you all know, Nicholas is awake, coherent and his body is working hard to repair itself. Today he had the cardio catheterization and will have an echocardiogram done in the very near future. I was able to get his phone to him and have FaceTimed with him several times so far. He grows tired fairly easy but he is fighting through this. He is taking short walks up and down the hallway which is amazing. I spoke with his doctor who said hopefully he can be discharged from the hospital in the next few days. He has a long road ahead which will involve physical and occupational therapy. I want to extend my deepest Thanks and appreciation to everyone who has supported us with prayers and positive thoughts for Nicholas and our family. I know the power of prayer is mighty and GOD has blessed us once again with his grace. ♥️ Sunday, May 24, 2020, Nick has been discharged from the hospital and is heading home back to LA