It Was A Miracle

I witnessed a miracle.  Some may say it was medical intervention, but I know it was my God at work.  If you know me and my family then you have some sort of clue as to the pure hell we have suffered over the last eight weeks. I do not use that word lightly. If you have ever had the displeasure of watching a loved one die then you can understand why I chose this word. It is torture. To feel completely helpless as you stand by and watch part of your heart suffer great amounts of pain is pure hell. In fact there is a biblical reference here, but I will take my dialogue in a different direction.  My 82 year old grandmother whom lives with me, my husband and our three children has been in and out of the hospital three times in the last eight weeks. The first two visits were scary but this last visit had us believing it would be the last; she was dying.

She came home from her second trip to the hospital on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. She had been admitted for blood clots in her legs and lungs. After several days of finding the right dose of blood thinners she got the okay to come home. She got up out of her hospital bed and proudly walked to the restroom to change her clothes and freshen up for the journey home. She was all smiles and constantly chatting about getting to see her two kitty cats Leo and Lydia who she missed terribly and I know for a fact missed her too. She was a tad short of breath which we were assured was due to her lengthy stay at the hospital; leaving her weak and out of shape. When we arrived home she had to conquer a flight of stairs just to get into the house. I stood behind her (in case she stumbled) as she climbed the 10 steps that would lead her to our kitchen. She celebrated the climb like a Tough Mudder champion and proudly walked into the kitchen. She sat down to catch her breath and visit with her great-grandchildren; they made over her like she was the most popular teen celebrity.  We ate dinner and then she anxiously entered her suite to love on her over-sized well fed kitty cats. Night time medications were given, which included a sleep aide to calm her nerves, and off to sleep she went.

At 7:30 am the very next morning my phone rang and my grandmother’s weak voice was the other end and she said “I’ve fallen”. I ran to her suite and found her on the floor in front of the recliner. She had tried to get up to go to the bathroom and had slid down to the floor. I yelled for my husband and in no time he was there. He swooped her up like she was as light as a feather and took her to the bathroom. We helped her back to bed and checked her over. She was fine. She assured us it was the sleep aid and she was just really tired and needed to sleep it off.  Her color was fine, her breathing was good, and I convinced myself that she was correct and the sleep aid was making her a little more drowsy than usual due to her time at the hospital.

It was Sunday morning and the day of our Christmas service at church. I am an Associate Pastor so Sunday’s are more than just Sunday’s for me; it is work.  I was torn. She assured me she was okay, but I called in reinforcements to make sure. She took her morning medications and asked to stay in bed and continue to sleep off the lingering effects of the medication. Once more we checked her color and her breathing and convinced ourselves she was okay. After all she was able to take her morning meds and carry on a conversation with my husband and me.  My dad and cousin came over to keep watch and my family of five left for church.

Two hours later we got the call. The rescue squad was on the way. We left church and flew home to find a lifeless grandmother. I went into total shock. What had happened to her? My grandmother who was just sleepy and had been talking to me just two hours prior was now white as a ghost and could not even hold her head up. Her blood pressure and oxygen were extremely low and her breathing was labored. She was dying.

My sister, who missed her calling as a NASCAR driver, drove my mother and me to the hospital and beat the ambulance there. She, my mom and I waited for the flashing lights to pull into the emergency center.  They pulled up and I ran outside to meet them. Her vitals had continued to decrease in the ten minute ambulance ride. The 20 minutes we had to wait in the waiting room felt like hours. The patient receptionist assured me every two minutes that they would call us back when Grandy was stable. I could not wait any longer.  After 20 minutes I saw my opportunity to sneak back into the ER when the door opened and some family members of another patient came out. A moment I am not proud of as a pastor, but would do again as a grand-daughter.  I had to see her.  I found her room and two nurses were hastily working on her. There she lay, white as a sheet and screaming “Jesus take me home”! I was encouraged by the strength in her voice but recognized the look of concern on the nurses faces. Again, I waited. I was soon joined by my sister and together we waited. Most of what happened during the wait is a blur. I was in such shock; I can testify that this story is true; however the sequence of some events may be misplaced. An X-Ray technician came in and rolled Grandy away in her bed.

While my sister and I sat in an empty room waiting to talk to someone about my grandmother’s condition, a chaplain came in. She was a petite, middle aged female, with a smile sweeter than candy on Easter morning. She knelt down beside me and introduced herself. She spoke softly and with great elegance. I cannot remember her words, only that they calmed me. I cried. My sister cried. They had sent this woman of God to us to prepare us and to offer us support.  It was strange being on the other side. As a pastor, I am usually offering my condolences, or prayers of comfort or a shoulder to cry on. I accepted her hand and she prayed a familiar prayer. I felt that peace that passes understanding. I knew God was in control. Yes, I admit, I had forgotten it for a brief period, but He understood, so He sent me her. She left and shortly after they wheeled my grandmother back into the room. Next, the internal medicine doctor came in. She pulled my sister and me into the hallway and began to speak. Most of this is a blur too except I remember her saying “she may not pull through…this is very grave…she is 82”.  My sister and I exchanged reassuring glances that we were hearing her right. One of us, I don’t remember who, went to inform the large group of family members waiting in the waiting room. One by one they took turns coming back to see her. Another doctor came in.  She confirmed what the other doctor had said and she also told us we got her there just in time; any later and she would have already been gone. The reason for all of this was; she had internal bleeding in her abdomen. Some of her organs, first on the list was kidneys, were already starting to shut down. The loss of blood to them had been significant. After several hours working non-stop to get her stable she was moved to the Critical Care Unit.

I was exhausted. The adrenaline my body had been running off of for the last several hours was depleted. I did not want to leave her side. I asked the nurse if my pastor could come back and have prayer with her. She said he could. She also said anyone else that was waiting could come back for a moment and pray with us too.  I believe it was six of us around her bed. We all held hands and my pastor began to pray. He prayed with authority and confidence. He claimed healing in her body and that no weapon formed against her would prosper; in this moment meaning she would not die. I felt a soft warm hand grab mine. It was her nurse. My heart melted. Right then, at that moment, I knew she was going to be okay. After he said amen, we all hugged her and kissed her on the forehead. One by one the others left but my sister and I stayed. After a few minutes chatting with the nurse I felt that it was okay for us to leave too. I missed my husband and my kids, but I felt like I was leaving one of my children behind.

The next few days were exhausting; some I can recall and some are just a blur. What I do remember is the extraordinary support that was shown to our family through prayer.  I could feel the prayers and love in my heart and the sincerity of those that offered it.

The prayers worked.  My grandmother made a full recovery. The bleeding stopped on its own without medical intervention and her organs are back to functioning in full capacity. This really is a miracle. The doctors even admitted their astonishment to her extremely fast recovery and that she recovered at all. They praised her for doing so well and told her how pleased they were with everything medically. In the hospital they gave her fluids, pain medicine and blood. They could not operate to stop the internal bleeding because the procedure would only make it worse due to the fact that she had been on blood thinners.  The lingering effects of the blood thinners also made it extremely difficult for her body to stop the bleeding on its own since they kept her blood from clotting. The only thing we could do was wait and see what would happen. But we did more than wait, we prayed and we put her in God’s hands. One of my favorite scriptures is “Be still and know that I am God”.  We didn’t have a choice; we had to be still. And in that stillness, God moved miraculously.

There are so many amazing things that came out of this adventure that I could write and entire book on all of it. I won’t. I am looking forward to hearing more from my grandmother on what happened to her during the most critical time of her life. She has already begun to share some things that happened to her during her near death experience and it is incredible. I’ll save that for another time; but in the meantime we love having her home where she belongs. All things are possible for those who believe, and God truly is not a respecter of person, not age, gender, color, ethnicity not anything. He loves us all and he loves us all the same! What he has done for one he will surely do for another. For those reading this I pray you will be encouraged when faced with mountains in your life.  The choice to stand strong in your faith when faced with adversity is not easy but it is rewarding. God will never let you down.  Be strong and of good courage and recognize a miracle when you see it.