#collision #unconscious #coma #BrainSurgery #surgeon #ambulance #paramedics #BloodPressure #stroke #pathology #God #Jesus #Comfort #Calm #anxious #ultrasound #MRI #Pray #Miracle
Author: Dr. Wayland Ma, Translated by: Jiming Lindal
Dr. Ma has a Ph.D. in Diagnostic Medicine
One morning, I was driving as usual. Suddenly, I felt dizzy. A collision followed--I hit a pillar by the road! Then I heard waves of muffled sounds. I was half-conscious, and all I could hear was the police and paramedic's sirens.
In a stupor, I was carried into an ambulance. I heard the voices of four young men discussing emergency medicine and saying, "Let's try this drug!" My heart tightened up! No! I have congenital heart leakage, and this prescription shouldn't be used at all. But I couldn't utter a word. Then I felt someone forcing a machine on my heart, pressing up and down. It was pushing so hard that I couldn't even breathe. I was confused -- since I was dizzy, why didn't they measure my blood pressure? My blood pressure must be too high!
The more anxious I was, the more restless I became. I knew this irritability could cause the blood vessels to be hard and narrow, preventing blood from being delivered to the small vessels in the brain. A terrifying thought flashed through my mind. Maybe a tiny blood vessel in the brain had burst, and cerebral blood overflowed -- I might be having a stroke! However, I made other guesses. These symptoms could also be caused by low blood pressure, anemia, or... The more I thought about it, the more panicked I was. I became angry with myself -- I had been studying pathology for so many years, but I was so useless and indecisive at this crucial point!
I wanted to pray, but my mind went blank, and I couldn't think of a word. But the eyes of my heart sighted the Word of God: "I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you've received it, it will be yours." (Mark 11:24).
It turned out that God listened to prayers and answered those prayers that followed His will. God, thank you for encouraging me and comforting me with your words! I was much calmer but still couldn't make out a sound. Suddenly, I heard a loud cry in my heart: "Lord Jesus, save me!" I kept crying out: "Lord Jesus, save me!" Then, I fainted and was completely unconscious.
I later found out that I was sent to the hospital's emergency room. With no room or bed available, they put me and many other patients in the hallway for the night. It wasn't until noon the next day that the doctor came and conducted various tests. Eventually, he ordered a pint of blood, and I woke up!
It took more than twenty hours from my entering the hospital emergency room to the doctor's visit. However, I did not die. I soon realized that the paramedics, in fact, had already revived me in the ambulance! Without the instructions of an onsite doctor or adequate medical equipment, those four young inexperienced paramedics saved me. It was simply incredible.
I remember Peter was walking toward Jesus on the water, and when he was about to sink, he said the shortest and most effective prayer: "Lord Jesus, save me!" (Matthew 14:29-20) This was also the cry in my heart before I fainted. Thank you, Lord, my prayers were answered!
Hoping to find out the root cause of my dizziness, I followed the doctor's orders for various tests, including an ultrasound. The test found that the blood vessels around my neck were partially blocked.
So, I went to an MRI for further testing, which showed a small tumor located in the pituitary gland in the brain, and brain surgery was required immediately. The purpose of the operation was to prevent the tumor from growing in the direction of the eyes. Otherwise, I could become completely blind! Surgeons need to take extensive precautions for brain surgery, and there will be severe consequences if they touch the brain's nervous system somewhere!
Before the operation, my wife and I were terrified, knowing that sometimes people would go into a coma after brain surgery. We often serve patient care ministry and once saw a patient who had been unconscious after brain surgery for more than three years and eventually stopped breathing. We had to read the following verses and pray fervently.
"I will never fail you nor forsake you... The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear..." (Hebrews 13:5-6)
"He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless." (Isaiah 40:29)
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)
God kept comforting and encouraging us as I entered the operating room.
Praise God; the surgery was a success. But within 48 hours after the operation, I was in a coma, completely unconscious except for breathing, like a living corpse.
My wife, Annielee, told me that she sat by my bed and prayed incessantly. Suddenly, the phone rang. It was a call from a brother, a director of an organization we served with. He asked Annielee to go to his office; he wanted to introduce her to a doctor. Annielee did not want to go because the hospital already had many doctors. But this brother was firm. Against his usual nature, he commanded: "You must come, and come quickly!"
It was pouring outside. Annielee was afraid that it would be dangerous to drive in such a storm. Besides, what use could it be to know another doctor? But she calmed herself and prayed again, and suddenly a voice in her heart said: "Get up, don't be afraid, just go..." She obeyed the voice and went. As soon as she arrived there, she saw groups of people. The brother pushed the crowd aside to allow Annielee to speak to Dr. C. After listening to Annielee's brief report; Doctor C picked up some paper. And without wasting a minute, he wrote on it and attached his cell phone number.
As soon as Annielee returned to the hospital, she handed Dr. C's note to the Director of Brain Surgery. Upon reading it, he immediately consulted with two other brain surgeons and promised to follow Doctor C's suggestions to deal with my coma. Before long, I woke up in peace! Praise God!
After I woke up, the first words I said were, "I won't say 'no' to God anymore." If God opens the door for me to serve Him and people, I will do so fervently, diligently, and faithfully.
Praise God! "I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me." (Jonah 2:2)
You might be asking, "who was Dr.C?" He was President Reagan's personal brain surgeon and was in charge of the president's brain problems caused by his Alzheimer's disease. How could Annielee meet this imperial physician? If we traveled thousands of miles to seek and meet him, he would not be able to meet us! And on that day, he actually came to Los Angeles. He appeared when we needed help the most, no sooner or later, and helped us experience a miracle!
"I will strengthen you and help you; I will hold you up with my victorious right hand." (Isaiah 41:10)
"…You made that promise with your own mouth, and with your own hands…" (1 Kings 8:24)
"My only hope is in you" (Psalm 39:7)
"For I believe God. It will be just as he said." (Acts 27:25)
All the glory to God who loves us!