Having a sick premature baby is like riding an emotional roller coaster. One minute everything seems to be going well, and the next minute the doctors are preparing you for the possibility of your baby dying. As days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months we would ride the ups and downs of Christopher's health. The one constant we had was God. He seemed to be teaching us to continually look to Him, to trust Him and completely put our hope in Him.
Several years earlier we discovered it is much easier to have faith when you experience the miraculous intervention of God. After both coming home from work, Woody and I were trying to decide what we were going to eat for dinner. Neither of us were interested in cooking so I dug up a few leftovers and she decided to have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. About an hour after dinner, Woody complained about not feeling well and went to lay down on our sofa. Minutes later she got up to go to the bathroom. She was complaining of having a stomach ache. When she returned, she felt better but within a half hour she left to go to the bathroom again. This went on for about three hours and became more frequent to where she was going to the bathroom nearly every 10 minutes. We both kept thinking she ate something bad and would start feeling better, although it was hard to believe that it could have been that peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Her vomiting and diarrhea became so severe, she asked me to take her to the hospital.
We arrived at the emergency room shortly after 11:00PM and found ourselves in the waiting room. Stomach aches weren't high on the hospital's priority list for emergency room patients. Fortunately, there was a bathroom nearby in which Woody frequented. After waiting a bit longer, I asked the nurse to please have Woody seen by a doctor. She had been vomiting and had diarrhea now for over four hours and was beginning to have a difficult time walking in addition to looking pale. A nurse arrived shortly thereafter and directed us into an examining room. As the nurse and I were helping Woody onto the examining room table, she complained that she had to go to the restroom. However, her diarrhea had become so severe at this point that she lost control of her bowels and ended up going all over the table. As the nurse reassured Woody and went to clean her up, it was apparent that this wasn't just diarrhea she was having, it was full of blood. The expression on the nurse’s face rapidly changed as she called for help and sent me out of the room. Woody had become extremely pale and was going into shock. Medical personnel scrambled into the room as another nurse quickly walked me back into the waiting room.
Standing outside in the waiting room I felt so helpless. My first thoughts were of guilt thinking we had waited so long before coming to the emergency room. And there was a bit of anger over why the emergency room staff had waited so long to see her. But mostly it was the feeling of helplessness. Since the time we were married, I always felt I would be able to take care of her and here I was outside in the waiting room while she was struggling with this strange illness. In the distance, I could still hear the nurses and doctors clamoring around as they entered and left the room trying to stabilize her. Deep within I felt the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Several months earlier, after struggling with the first year of our marriage, we rededicated ourselves to God. I once listened to a friend tell me how God often taught him through "seasons" in his life and felt that the Lord was instructing me in this season where I was to "love my wife". The months leading up to this unexpected moment were found strengthening our relationship with each other. We both felt so good about our marriage and our dedication to one another along with our new found relationship with God. It is times such as these we tend to forget how frail and mortal we really are and how we really only live and breathe by the grace of a loving God. Why did this have to happen? All I knew is that I had nowhere else to turn. I began crying and praying as I felt His comforting hand.
After a half an hour, a doctor appeared in the waiting room.
"We almost lost her," he said "She is stable for the moment but has lost a tremendous amount of blood."
"Almost lost her?" I thought as he began asking me questions about what happened leading up to our visit to the emergency room. Was she really that close to death?
"I've called in a specialist who will be able to determine the source of the bleeding," he concluded after not discovering anything interesting in my responses. "You may go in and see her, but we may send you back to the waiting room if she goes through another episode like that."
Inside the examining room Woody looked like another person. Her hands were cold as ice and her skin was almost void of color. She was happy to see me but was a bit delirious. She complained of being cold so I asked for more blankets and covered her. When the specialist arrived, he explained that she must have some sort of lesion in her gastro-intestinal tract to allow such a large quantity of blood to be flowing from her. She was still bleeding and he decided to use a scope to examine her throat. Not finding anything, he then used another scope to examine her colon. Again the results were negative. By this time, it was nearly four o'clock in the morning. He wanted to conduct more tests but they would require the CT machine and would have to wait until morning. She was admitted into the hospital and the doctor sent me home to get a couple hours of sleep. He informed me that the next day would be long and full of tests.
As I drove the ten minutes to our home, I wept to the Lord. Did He want me to "love my wife" because I was soon to lose her? Was he trying to teach me that life was fragile? All I was really sure about was that I needed to pray.
Our house never felt so lonely as when I walked through the door without her. Our dog, which I had given to her on our first Christmas, greeted me and anxiously looked out onto the patio to see if she was following me. I knelt down and began to cry again as I began to explain the events to him as if he would understand. I wanted desperately to call the members of our home ministry group to ask them to pray for Woody but I decided to wait until 6:00AM. Our home ministry was a group of families from our church congregation that would gather once a week to meet and pray for one another. At 6:00AM sharp, I called my home minister, Ron Warford. He listened and prayed and told me that he would contact the other members of our home ministry and ask them to pray. I felt much better knowing that others were sharing my burden. Shortly thereafter, I returned to the hospital.
Woody had continued to bleed throughout the night, but shortly after the time Ron and I prayed, Woody noticed the bleeding began to subside and the blood was no longer bright red. At that same time, we independently felt the Spirit of God whisper to us that He had healed her. The doctor arrived at her room shortly after I arrived at the hospital and made sure we understood the gravity of the situation and his concern. He ordered further tests that would examine both her stomach and small intestine, the two places he had yet to check. For the next few days, Woody underwent further examinations in search of the source of the bleeding. But as each test turned up negative and as her health steadily improved, we became more and more convinced that she had been healed as God had told us. Following the negative results from the previous examinations, the doctor requested that Woody undergo a more risky test which involved injecting a substance in her blood system that could be traced. If that proved to be inconclusive, he was bringing in a surgeon to conduct exploratory surgery and had asked him to stop by our room for an initial consultation. He was not too impressed with the idea that somehow she had been "miraculously healed". He noted that although the bleeding had stopped, the amount of blood indicated that the source was large and would not just go away. He was concerned that they find the source quickly before it reoccurred and before she was in another emergency situation.
Up to this point, we didn't even question having Woody undergo the various medical examinations. But since these final two tests were invasive and put her health at risk, we asked for some time to think. She had already had an adverse reaction to an iodine substance given in her IV during a CT examination. The more we prayed and talked, the more we were convinced that she was healed and reflected of each others sense of her being healed when Ron prayed with me.
We decided to ask her doctor for a dismissal from the hospital. The doctor was not pleased. He reminded us of how sick Woody was when she was admitted, how much blood she lost, and how quickly she went into shock. He emphatically predicted that the next time we might not be able to make it to the hospital in time before she bled to death. And he promised that there would be a next time - a lesion that allowed that much blood to pass was not going to go away by itself. Understandably, he refused to sign her dismissal from the hospital. As we pondered our predicament, we became more and more convinced that this wasn't some blind hope that we both had concocted. This was a gift of God to us. We decided to leave without the approval of the doctor or the hospital. As we walked out of the hospital on that cool November day, you could sense that some of the nursing staff really hoped we were correct. Others, including the doctor, thought we were fools. All we knew was that four days earlier we were graciously granted more time together here on earth. We were no longer the proud young couple believing we could take on the world. We were humbled and much more thankful for each new day with each other. This season of "loving my wife" showed me how little I really knew about loving her.
After making the short trip home, we walked into our house to a very excited dog. Even he seemed to know that we had been granted a miracle. But as I carried Woody's things into the house I couldn't help but think about all the people who had made this trip home knowing their loved ones would never return. Were they any less deserving than I? I remembered that empty feeling I felt a few days earlier while crossing this threshold without her. I closed my eyes in true gratefulness and thanked the Lord for this gift of time.
The bleeding that almost cost Woody her life has never returned and the experience has become a lesson in faith.
Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.
© Copyright 1987, 2016 by Rick Murata. All Rights Reserved.
Several years earlier we discovered it is much easier to have faith when you experience the miraculous intervention of God. After both coming home from work, Woody and I were trying to decide what we were going to eat for dinner. Neither of us were interested in cooking so I dug up a few leftovers and she decided to have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. About an hour after dinner, Woody complained about not feeling well and went to lay down on our sofa. Minutes later she got up to go to the bathroom. She was complaining of having a stomach ache. When she returned, she felt better but within a half hour she left to go to the bathroom again. This went on for about three hours and became more frequent to where she was going to the bathroom nearly every 10 minutes. We both kept thinking she ate something bad and would start feeling better, although it was hard to believe that it could have been that peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Her vomiting and diarrhea became so severe, she asked me to take her to the hospital.
We arrived at the emergency room shortly after 11:00PM and found ourselves in the waiting room. Stomach aches weren't high on the hospital's priority list for emergency room patients. Fortunately, there was a bathroom nearby in which Woody frequented. After waiting a bit longer, I asked the nurse to please have Woody seen by a doctor. She had been vomiting and had diarrhea now for over four hours and was beginning to have a difficult time walking in addition to looking pale. A nurse arrived shortly thereafter and directed us into an examining room. As the nurse and I were helping Woody onto the examining room table, she complained that she had to go to the restroom. However, her diarrhea had become so severe at this point that she lost control of her bowels and ended up going all over the table. As the nurse reassured Woody and went to clean her up, it was apparent that this wasn't just diarrhea she was having, it was full of blood. The expression on the nurse’s face rapidly changed as she called for help and sent me out of the room. Woody had become extremely pale and was going into shock. Medical personnel scrambled into the room as another nurse quickly walked me back into the waiting room.
Standing outside in the waiting room I felt so helpless. My first thoughts were of guilt thinking we had waited so long before coming to the emergency room. And there was a bit of anger over why the emergency room staff had waited so long to see her. But mostly it was the feeling of helplessness. Since the time we were married, I always felt I would be able to take care of her and here I was outside in the waiting room while she was struggling with this strange illness. In the distance, I could still hear the nurses and doctors clamoring around as they entered and left the room trying to stabilize her. Deep within I felt the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Several months earlier, after struggling with the first year of our marriage, we rededicated ourselves to God. I once listened to a friend tell me how God often taught him through "seasons" in his life and felt that the Lord was instructing me in this season where I was to "love my wife". The months leading up to this unexpected moment were found strengthening our relationship with each other. We both felt so good about our marriage and our dedication to one another along with our new found relationship with God. It is times such as these we tend to forget how frail and mortal we really are and how we really only live and breathe by the grace of a loving God. Why did this have to happen? All I knew is that I had nowhere else to turn. I began crying and praying as I felt His comforting hand.
After a half an hour, a doctor appeared in the waiting room.
"We almost lost her," he said "She is stable for the moment but has lost a tremendous amount of blood."
"Almost lost her?" I thought as he began asking me questions about what happened leading up to our visit to the emergency room. Was she really that close to death?
"I've called in a specialist who will be able to determine the source of the bleeding," he concluded after not discovering anything interesting in my responses. "You may go in and see her, but we may send you back to the waiting room if she goes through another episode like that."
Inside the examining room Woody looked like another person. Her hands were cold as ice and her skin was almost void of color. She was happy to see me but was a bit delirious. She complained of being cold so I asked for more blankets and covered her. When the specialist arrived, he explained that she must have some sort of lesion in her gastro-intestinal tract to allow such a large quantity of blood to be flowing from her. She was still bleeding and he decided to use a scope to examine her throat. Not finding anything, he then used another scope to examine her colon. Again the results were negative. By this time, it was nearly four o'clock in the morning. He wanted to conduct more tests but they would require the CT machine and would have to wait until morning. She was admitted into the hospital and the doctor sent me home to get a couple hours of sleep. He informed me that the next day would be long and full of tests.
As I drove the ten minutes to our home, I wept to the Lord. Did He want me to "love my wife" because I was soon to lose her? Was he trying to teach me that life was fragile? All I was really sure about was that I needed to pray.
Our house never felt so lonely as when I walked through the door without her. Our dog, which I had given to her on our first Christmas, greeted me and anxiously looked out onto the patio to see if she was following me. I knelt down and began to cry again as I began to explain the events to him as if he would understand. I wanted desperately to call the members of our home ministry group to ask them to pray for Woody but I decided to wait until 6:00AM. Our home ministry was a group of families from our church congregation that would gather once a week to meet and pray for one another. At 6:00AM sharp, I called my home minister, Ron Warford. He listened and prayed and told me that he would contact the other members of our home ministry and ask them to pray. I felt much better knowing that others were sharing my burden. Shortly thereafter, I returned to the hospital.
Woody had continued to bleed throughout the night, but shortly after the time Ron and I prayed, Woody noticed the bleeding began to subside and the blood was no longer bright red. At that same time, we independently felt the Spirit of God whisper to us that He had healed her. The doctor arrived at her room shortly after I arrived at the hospital and made sure we understood the gravity of the situation and his concern. He ordered further tests that would examine both her stomach and small intestine, the two places he had yet to check. For the next few days, Woody underwent further examinations in search of the source of the bleeding. But as each test turned up negative and as her health steadily improved, we became more and more convinced that she had been healed as God had told us. Following the negative results from the previous examinations, the doctor requested that Woody undergo a more risky test which involved injecting a substance in her blood system that could be traced. If that proved to be inconclusive, he was bringing in a surgeon to conduct exploratory surgery and had asked him to stop by our room for an initial consultation. He was not too impressed with the idea that somehow she had been "miraculously healed". He noted that although the bleeding had stopped, the amount of blood indicated that the source was large and would not just go away. He was concerned that they find the source quickly before it reoccurred and before she was in another emergency situation.
Up to this point, we didn't even question having Woody undergo the various medical examinations. But since these final two tests were invasive and put her health at risk, we asked for some time to think. She had already had an adverse reaction to an iodine substance given in her IV during a CT examination. The more we prayed and talked, the more we were convinced that she was healed and reflected of each others sense of her being healed when Ron prayed with me.
We decided to ask her doctor for a dismissal from the hospital. The doctor was not pleased. He reminded us of how sick Woody was when she was admitted, how much blood she lost, and how quickly she went into shock. He emphatically predicted that the next time we might not be able to make it to the hospital in time before she bled to death. And he promised that there would be a next time - a lesion that allowed that much blood to pass was not going to go away by itself. Understandably, he refused to sign her dismissal from the hospital. As we pondered our predicament, we became more and more convinced that this wasn't some blind hope that we both had concocted. This was a gift of God to us. We decided to leave without the approval of the doctor or the hospital. As we walked out of the hospital on that cool November day, you could sense that some of the nursing staff really hoped we were correct. Others, including the doctor, thought we were fools. All we knew was that four days earlier we were graciously granted more time together here on earth. We were no longer the proud young couple believing we could take on the world. We were humbled and much more thankful for each new day with each other. This season of "loving my wife" showed me how little I really knew about loving her.
After making the short trip home, we walked into our house to a very excited dog. Even he seemed to know that we had been granted a miracle. But as I carried Woody's things into the house I couldn't help but think about all the people who had made this trip home knowing their loved ones would never return. Were they any less deserving than I? I remembered that empty feeling I felt a few days earlier while crossing this threshold without her. I closed my eyes in true gratefulness and thanked the Lord for this gift of time.
The bleeding that almost cost Woody her life has never returned and the experience has become a lesson in faith.
Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.
© Copyright 1987, 2016 by Rick Murata. All Rights Reserved.