Faith and Healing
In the process of returning from taking my lunch break and walking through the front of the ER by triage, I spotted one of my daughter’s friends sitting in the waiting area with her father. I went up to them to say hello and noticed how pale she was. I asked what was wrong, “I have a headache and I’m a bit dizzy” she replied.
“She had a seizure and passed out,” her father interjected.
After a quick triage of what had occurred, I got a wheelchair, grabbed the beginnings of her chart and whisked her into room one. This beautiful, young woman, with no history of any health issues, was beginning a shopping adventure at Walmart when she woke up on the floor. An attendant described to her what she saw happen and it sounded like a seizure. “I knew something was wrong…I fell to the ground with no control of my body and strange things were happening with my mouth…It was embarrassing but I couldn’t stop it…I couldn’t control it…it was terrifying.”
She had someone call her father and he then went to get her and brought her here. She and I slowly, but deliberately got her undressed and into a gown before positioning her on the stretcher. She was her normal polite, intelligent self but she was very shaky and the answers to my questions were taking a second too long to formulate on her tongue. I hooked her up to the cardiac monitor, started her IV, drew blood, did an EKG and covered her with warm blankets before letting her father into the room.
I reported her event and condition to our ER doc as I handed him her normal EKG… “Twenty-four-year-old healthy female with no medical issues that had a partially unwitnessed seizure at Walmart that lasted an unknown amount of time, no loss of bowel or bladder, but has resulted in a headache and dizziness. She has a small forming lump to the back of her head but no breakage in her skin. Pt. is A&O but slow to respond; pupils PERRLA and no other Neuro deficit. I know this girl personally and she is off just a tad from normal right now in the time it is taking her to respond to questions but otherwise normal. She has not been sick, denies being pregnant or using any kind of drugs (knowing this girl I knew this wasn’t the case but I knew the ER doc would ask) and says nothing has been out of the usual for her.”
I went back into the room to update her and her very worried father with what would be happening and within minutes had her into Cat-Scan for a head CT. As I pushed the stretcher to CT, she asked me if I was concerned. Because I have known her since she was 5 years old… “Well… I’m trying not to be” I said with a smile… “Me too,” she replied.
After leaving her in the CT room I walked back to the ER, all the while praying, “Heavenly Father…please let this Cat-Scan be normal…and if not…give me the strength to be strong as I help her with any bad news…In Jesus name.”
I walked by Room One on my way to the nurses station and I stopped outside the door. Her father (an assistant pastor of the Pentecostal faith) was pacing in the room praying audibly in the his deep baritone voice; it brought me back, to the pew I always sat in at church “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, I place before you Lord and I ask you to surround her in your presence during this test and I pray for my daughter to be healed of anything that may be causing her to be ill…Protect my daughter this day Lord…” The tears that I had been fighting out of concern for his daughter sprang from my eyes as the prayer of this father was being sent heavenward…it was beautiful and haunting.
Her brothers arrived and were in with their father as I delivered her back from CT. They were visibly worried and hovering around her. This family is tight and to watch them bond during a crisis was a very humbling thing. They gathered around the stretcher she was lying on, held hands and prayed. They prayed loudly, with heart and with conviction. They prayed the scriptures over her and did so with bold intention… If you have ever been in a Pentecostal service you would know what I am talking about. There is nothing more powerful to hear and it brought me to tears. I felt the Spirit of Jesus in that room and it was powerful.
“A brain tumor,” the radiologist was on the phone telling me that my beautiful young patient had a brain tumor. My heart was pounding wildly and my mind was furiously racing in prayer…Jesus be with [her] and her family as we relay this news to them. Provide comfort and strength to them as they process this information and deal with the next few hours of more tests and calling of family. I waited for the doc and together we went into the room to tell them the findings of the CT. There were no initial tears, there were questions and stoic, worried faces. I went to her and sat down by the bed and held her hand. I answered every question I could and told them every step coming up as I knew it. Phone calls were made and more family, friends and church family arrived as we tried to arrange a transfer to a larger hospital for further testing. As time went forward, the large crowd of loved ones in with this beautiful young woman showed all involved in her care the power of faith that day, the place of religion in people’s lives and the amazing power of the Spirit of Christ as His people call on His name.
I share this with you because I recently had a patient tell me (after they asked my opinion) that there is no place for religion in the hospital and that it was on the level of separation of church and state. Of course I disagree. I am a Christian, so for me there is no separating “church” from anything. But on a level of just health and faith, numerous studies have been published regarding faith, prayer and how they affect the patient’s outlook and overall health for the better.
This young woman went on to have her cancerous tumor (Oligodendroglioma) removed, go through treatments and rehab and is to this day is still cancer free. She is a nurse and a young bride that boldly lives her life for Christ. Thank you, Jesus!!
What are your experiences with Faith in your job???
