Mercies from the Lord
Experiencing the blessings of the Lord's Spirit in North Georgia mountains two weeks ago, where many shared their testimonies with the group, and then reading Identity Wars where the author shared his personal testimony about his mother, I decided to share with you all my testimony that is very similar to his. This testimony is for the GLORY of our Father, the source of all, and His Son Jesus, sustainer of all.
August 21, 2006 was like any other day . After a stressful tiring day at work for both my wife and I , we were looking forward to celebrating my birthday. At home my wife stated she had a terrible headache all day and that my son and I should go on out to celebrate and that she would stay home and rest. After finally agreeing to this I decided that I would help her into bed. Suddenly she tensed up, gritted her teeth and became unresponsive to my questions and commands. When I checked her blood pressure, 210/105, I realized that she could be stroking out so I told my son to call 911. When the paramedics arrived and got the same blood pressure results we decided she needed to go to the hospital now! On the way in the ambulance she was still unresponsive and in critical condition. At the hospital the doctors did an x-ray of the brain, but because of the excessive bleeding they could not even tell which side it was coming from. The CT scan revealed that it was an aneurysm bleed from the vertebral artery deep inside the brain next to the brain stem. The worry was that the excessive bleeding would press against the brain stem which controls vital functions like heart rate and breathing and complicate matters. The doctor stated that 50% of the people that have this kind of bleed don't make it to the hospital alive and of those that do, 50% of those would not have a good outcome.
The neurosurgeon decided not to do surgery because the bleeding was so deep and next to the brain stem. He felt that she would not survive the surgery. It was decided that they would try to stop the bleed by placing coils and stents into the aneurysm, thus leading to scar tissue and healing over time. This is accomplished by threading a thin wire through the femoral artery near the groin and going up the aorta, into the subclavical artery, into the carotid artery into the arteries of the brain until they reach the aneurysm. They did this 13 times to place 11 coils and two stents, the stents were placed at the bottom to keep the coils from falling back out into the artery and causing a stroke. The doctor said the procedure would take 4 hours, six hours later I was pretty worried. He stated that this was the most coils and stents they had ever used on anyone.
In the neuro ICU they inserted two ventriculostomies to drain the blood that was in the brain to keep intercranial pressures down. She was now stable, but still in critical condition. For about a week things began to look good for her, she was now responsive and could eat, but then she started to take a turn for the worse. One of the ventriculostomies became infected and she developed menegitis, brain infection, and then pancreatitis and then gastritis and then she could not swallow. It seemed like every morning when I talked with the doctor there was more bad news. Then the doctors attitudes changed, I could tell they were giving up on her. By this time she had been in neuro ICU for five weeks and they were telling me to be prepared to make some tough decisions.
This is when it hit me, that I might actually lose her, my help-mate, the one who was by my side through all the good and bad times and hardships up to this point. My grown children and I walked to the waiting room and fell on our knees , crying, pleading in prayer that if it be possible, for her to recover, but if not we did not want her to suffer. We trusted the Lord and turned it over to Him. I'm sure we made quite a scene there in the waiting room with all those people around.
The very next morning the doctor gave me the first good report of improvement for her throughout the night. Then the next day and the next day, she was still improving. And so it was, that was the turning point in her recovery. My wife was coming back to us, her infections cleared up, she could swallow, then talk, then comprehend. She went on to have another surgery for a shunt to help drain excessive fluids and keep intercranial pressure down.
A total of eight weeks in neuro ICU and then six weeks in a nursing home she was finally released to go home. That has been five years ago now and we are closer than ever in our marriage and in the Lord . We thank the Lord for every day that we have together.
Now we have received this beautiful truth and we rejoice and fellowship in the Lord. Remember we live for His glory and honor that we may give our witness to the universe that our God is GREAT and His Son is AWESOME and they deserve to be honored and praised forever and ever. AMEN!
