My wife has been trying to recover from chemo treatments for some time. Night before last she felt really bad and went to bed just as soon as some friends left. She just couldn’t seem to catch her breath. I told her that she needed to go to the emergency room but she said that she was going to make an appointment to go see her doctor first thing in the morning. So I helped her into bed and then worked for quite some time. I then washed the dishes and straightened up the house and went to check on her. She was resting comfortably and said she felt better since she’d laid down. I left her cell phone for her and told her to call me if she needed anything during the night. I went upstairs to a spare bedroom so as not to disturb her. I read for a while and then turned off my light and got ready to go to sleep.
Suddenly I felt a strong urge to get up and go back downstairs and check on her and take her to the emergency room. So I got up and went back downstairs and when I entered the room I saw her light on and she was sitting there crying and said she couldn’t catch her breath. I immediately helped her get dressed and went to the emergency room. They conducted numerous test and then doctor after doctor began filing in and began telling us what was wrong.
They said she had a pulmonary embolism; in fact she had multiple blood clots blocking every artery in all four lobes of her lungs and a large one in her leg. She couldn’t breathe because blood was not being pumped through her lungs. The doctor looked at us somberly and said that her situation was life threatening and that the two biggest clots were “massive”. He said the situation was deadly serious and we had to act quickly.
He then proceeded to tell us that they normally try to treat such cases with the blood thinner Heparin, but she had far too many clots and they were far too big to treat conventionally. He had consulted with several doctors including the Chairman of the Board of the hospital and they had decided to recommend a new type of surgery that had only been released one year ago. It involved going through the groin with a catheter through the heart and then entering the aorta and into the lungs and inserting a device that emits ultra-sonic sounds that break down the inner core of the clots and simultaneously inserts special medications that dissolve them. He called it “clot busting”.
He told me that the procedure was so new that he’d only done 15 of these procedures, but all had been successful. Then he told me that it needed to be done right away and they would in fact begin the procedure in 20 minutes provided we would authorize it. I asked about risks and he spent several minutes telling us all that could go wrong, most importantly instant death was certainly a factor.
It was scary!
I asked him to give us a minute and Teresa was crying and scared. She asked me to pray with her which I did. She was very leery of this new operation as was I, but neither of us saw an alternative. I suddenly felt a peace about the operation descend upon me and I told her that I felt a peace with it and with that she agreed to have it. I notified the doctor and they wheeled her away almost at a run to the operating room.
The operation was a success and then they treated her in ICU with the ultra-sonic waves and medication for 12 hours until removing all of the catheters at 10 pm last night. I spoke with the doctor and he said he was happy with it and was cautiously optimistic that she would not only survive but thrive. She should be able to breathe and her heart rate should return to normal today. Any clots left over will dissolve naturally in a few weeks and the blood thinners that she is on will prevent further clotting.
PRAISE GOD!
What is not known is that though we arrived at the emergency room at 10:30 p.m., we did not talk to the cardiologist until 7 a.m. My wife slept or was having tests conducted on the entire time. I spent my time sending out texts and e-mails to personal friends, prayer partners and ministry friends all over the world asking them to pray for Teresa. I did this for hours on end. Literally thousands of people immediately began intensely praying for her. I know this because many texted or e-mailed me and told me they were praying. They were praying all over the United States and from as far away as Malaysia and Africa.
I believe this is an example of what Christ wanted for His Church. The body of believers uniting together to achieve a common goal which in this case was interceding for Teresa. I believe that the Holy Spirit woke me up that night and told me to take her to the hospital and I think the worldwide prayer effort got her through the surgery and subsequent treatment.
I believe that I’m under satanic attack for my work with the Jesus Alliance, but if he is to stop me from finishing the website, and/or releasing our first video on September 1st and continue fighting until the last dog dies, I know that he will have to kill me.
I also believe that together we can change the world and it begins with our uniting in prayer. Thanks to all of you who prayed so vigorously yesterday. Jesus heard our prayers and believe me the Holy Spirit was right there praying along with us as well. Teresa and I felt their power, including but not limited to, the peace I felt about trying a risky new procedure in a life threatening situation. God bless you!
Romans 8:26-27
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groaning’s too deep for words. And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
August 27, 2015 – Click here to listen