 |
"...ASK AND WE WILL RECEIVE." | ||
|
April 29th, 2001 In July 1998 I was a healthy, active lady with her own business who had not been sick a day in 15 years or more. My worst health problem in all that time was sinus problems caused by living in an industrial town with lots of junk in it's air. I never dreamed that condition could lead to a life threatening situation, but I was wrong. I sometimes took antihistamines with PPA in them. At the time no one really realized this chemical could cause sudden spikes in blood pressure. I found out the hard way! One night I drove to the store very late to get one item. My business partner rode along because of the late hour. When we got to the store, just blocks from my home, I felt too bad to get out of my truck, so we went home without getting out of the truck. I drove home, but had a hard time getting inside the house because my left leg was getting numb. My family got me to the hospital very quickly and I was diagnosed with a hemorrhagic stroke, a blood vessel in my head, which had apparently always been weak, had broken under pressure of a blood pressure spike. Both sides of my brain continued to fill with blood and I slipped into a coma, had no feeling in any of my limbs, and my blood pressure remained uncontrollable, going as high as 312/198 at one point. The medical opinion was that I would not survive and that it would be best for my organs to be harvested “before they start to deteriorate”. The family was told that, if by chance I did survive. I would be a “living vegetable”, unable to walk, speak clearly, think rationally, etc. and that my sense of propriety and tact would be gone. Well, some people may argue that 2 of the four are correct, but I walk and speak pretty much normally now. My family believes, as do I, that the Lord can be taken at His word when He says all we have to do is ask and we will receive, and so they asked, and had people from churches ask, and had folks all over the world they knew through the internet ask, and of course, He answered! The most precious prayer of all, to me was those of my 2 grandsons, aged 3 and 6 at the time. Those little boys could not come into the ICU, but they sat on the floor outside the unit at every opportunity and held out holy hands and prayed for my healing. I know those prayers are one of the things that touched the heart of God! I was in a deep coma for about 6 days and the doctors prognosis kept getting gloomier as time went on, but my family and friends kept on calling what was not as though it were until the day that I started to stir. The nurses said it was the imagination of the family, that it could not be happening, until one of the nurses did something that caused me pain and I kicked out at her. That got the point across like nothing else could, I guess! 28 days after the stroke. I was transferred to a rehab hospital, then in another 28 days I was home. The rehab folks still wanted to make it sound like I was not ever going to be normal again, although my improvement was far more than anyone had predicted, already, but I was determined to keep getting better until I had my life back. Sometimes I wonder what I did that for! My life when lived to it’s fullest is a busy one. I believe that God spared me because He wanted me to complete several missions He had given me over time and I am working on getting those things done. He has often challenged me to public service, especially a leadership role in our town. I had always resisted that call even though several town leaders had asked me over the years to get involved and rum for mayor. This year I was asked again and I accepted, my opposition are those who contend that I not only don’t think rationally since the stroke, they say I never did and they sure don’t think I have any tact, because I expose the things they do that is against the town’s best interest, shame on me! God gave me back my life and I am using it to the fullest. If He can do that for me He can do it for anybody. I tell my story so others will know there is never reason to give up hope, for in Him all things are possible. Please remember to pray for me,
for He is still doing a work in me and I will pray for all those this
message touches. |
|||