Tuesday, November 18, 2014

MY THANKSGIVING STORY

I have been planning on giving my testimony of how the Lord totally healed me and was with us through my husband’s sickness and death.  It has been difficult for me to get my thoughts in line to tell what happened, but I will try.

In 1997 my daughter was going to get married and I went shopping quite a bit with her looking for all the things she needed. I often felt a little tired, but thought it was because of the busy time. 

She was married in May.  On June 11 we had a wonderful service at church where the Lord’s presence was really felt.  My husband and I made a new commitment to the Lord.  The following Tuesday evening I was having a lot of pain in my stomach.  I thought I could tough it out. I had to work the following day because they were going to be short of staff.  It finally got so bad that my husband was able to talk me into going to the hospital ER in a nearby town.  Once we arrived there, all I remember is them putting me in a wheelchair and taking my vital signs.

The next thing I remember is the ambulance siren as they were pulling into the hospital in Tallahassee.  I vaguely remember my daughter and our assistant pastor meeting us as I was taken into the ER.  That is the last thing I remember for 10 days. 

After my doctor had seen me and they had run lab tests, he told my husband that if I had been one hour later I would have died.  I had acute pancreatitis with a serum amylase of over 6,000.  The normal range is 40-140.  (Lab normals vary.)   In other words, the digestive enzymes were eating up my normal tissue rather than functioning as they should.

When I woke up 10 days later I had tubes coming out my nose and my side, was on oxygen and had a direct line IV into my upper chest.  I was told that my skin had been a greenish color.   They had been planning on doing radical surgery on me to save my life and I would have been a severe, brittle diabetic. 

BUT GOD… heard the prayers of hundreds of people who were praying for me from all over the country, many that I didn’t even know.  I gradually improved, without the surgery, and went home after being in the hospital for 41 days. 

My husband had developed some hoarseness during my hospitalization.  Within 2 weeks after I was released from the hospital, he went to the doctor and they diagnosed him with throat cancer.  All during the month of August they were checking him out and I was having further tests run. 

I was scheduled to have my gall bladder removed and surgery done to drain the psuedocysts that had formed from the pancreatitis in early September.  My husband also was to have surgery on his throat shortly after that.  I had my surgery on September 8 and my husband went into the hospital for his surgery the day after I got home.  The day after he came home, I had to go back into the hospital because I could not eat or drink.  I was there for 30 days this time.

When I returned home again everything becomes a blur of hospital visits, surgeries, radiation, etc. for him.   He eventually had a tracheotomy and feeding tube placed in his stomach because he could not swallow.  After the tracheotomy and feeding tube surgery, he had a blood clot to the lung and nearly died.  He was in and out of the hospital many times, had radiation twice a day at a hospital 60 miles from our home and had several major surgeries.  He had dressings that had to be changed several times a day on the open areas on his neck. 

Through all of this, God provided everything we needed.  My son and his wife moved from California and could help care for him.  My daughter was there every time I needed her.  His family and people from the church helped.  We had excellent insurance coverage and hospice was fantastic.

My husband died on October 28, 1998.  He was a veteran who had served two tours in Viet Nam and had been exposed to Agent Orange.

Why God chose to heal me and not to heal my husband, I do not know.  He does what He knows is best.  I only know that I have had many opportunities since that time to be of service to the Lord and maybe He can and has used me to help someone through the testimony about our situation. 

The reason I call this my Thanksgiving story is that I thank the Lord that through everything He was there and provided just what we needed.  I have no aftereffects of the pancreatitis and no dietary restrictions or anything.  My health is excellent, except I am getting a little old, but that is a good thing.  God gave us strength to face each day trusting in Him.  I know that God means what He said in Psalm 23, because even in the “valley of the shadow of death” He was with us. 

God is so good.  The morning after my husband died it was almost like I heard a voice from heaven say to me, “He’s with me”.  How I rejoice that He gave me that reassurance at a time when I needed it so much.

Here is a chorus that I would like to leave with you after this lengthy post.

AIN’T GOD GOOD

Ain’t God good, to give us so many blessings,
Undeserving, that’s what we are.
I want to thank Him, love and serve Him,
A little more today and a whole lot more tomorrow.


Take courage, God is still on the throne!



17 comments:

  1. My dear friend, I can barely type these words because of the tears in my eyes. What an incredible story of faith, thankfulness, and love. My heart has been so blessed by you. You are quite the example and testimony for our Lord - yes, God is good and He is faithful and true!

    Love to you!

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    2. Thank you for your sweet words of encouragement. You are a blessing to many with your beautiful blog. Hugs.

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  2. Dear Marilyn, what an amazing Testimony of enduring faith, courage and hope. Thank you for sharing this, I know it must have been a difficult task to abbreviate everything that you went through those two years, and the years to follow! I am thankful The Lord gave yo that reassurance and provided for all your needs. Your life is a blessing to many including me!! I hope you link this up to CCM!
    Hugs,
    Ginny

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    1. I appreciate your comments. It is just living day by day knowing that God is God and we can trust Him even in the darkest times. Thanks. Hugs. You are a blessing to me and an inspiration.

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  3. Wonderful, wonderful post it blessed my sock, my dear Marilyn!!
    Indeed how much we have to give thanks for and really the first pilgrims were thankful for prevention of starvation so yours is really akin to hat in many ways.. praise our dear sweet Saviour's name Indeed... love in Him, Shaz in Oz.x

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    1. God blesses us more that we can ever thank Him for. There is a song that says, "Even in the valley, God is good." And He is. Hugs.

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  4. Dear Mehrll~ this was such a heart warming post. My... You and your late husband sure did go through a lot.
    Your faith is beautiful and what a praise to hear you speak to the glory of God. What an honor to our Savior.
    God is using you in the lives of others, including mine. :-)
    So thankful to have found your wonderful place here.
    The Lord bless you and keep you ever so close to His precious side.
    Sweet blessings, Debbie

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  5. So glad you were blessed by the post. You have recently been through sadness but your life is still a strong witness. God is good. Bless you

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  6. Marilyn, what an amazing testimony. Yes, God is still on the Throne and He still loves us so much. You have experienced a lot and I love how you use it to the Glory of our Lord and how you bless others so much. . Sending you big hugs, Cathy K.

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    1. Thank you for your sweet comments. It is only by God's grace that we can handle anything. I don't know what I would do without Him. Hugs.

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  7. Bless you for sharing this.
    Chris

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    1. Thank you for taking the time to read it. I only shared it to show how we can trust God through anything He allows in our life. Hugs.

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  8. Thank you for sharing your story and for the inspiration you are to me and so many.

    I lost my husband to bladder cancer 9 Dec 2012, not quite two years ago. I miss him every single day, but God is my strength and knowing my husband is with Him gives me so much peace.

    Have a lovely Thanksgiving week ~ FlowerLady

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    1. Isn't it wonderful to be able to trust our all-knowing God. He knows what we need through every issue in our life and He is there to walk the dark valleys with us. Thanks for your comments. God be with you and make your memories to be treasures. Hugs.

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  9. Thank you so much for sharing your story. It is a beautiful Thanksgiving story and really blessed me. It is so hard to understand why we go through things sometimes...so many why's...but God is good and always brings us through to the other side. Thank you for letting God use you to minister to others through your experiences. Oh, and I LOVE that song!

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    1. I know you have been through some dark days too and I have prayed for God to strengthen you because of them. You have been a blessing to so many. I like what Debbie said on She Graces Her Home In God's Beauty, "True biblical praise focuses on who God is. What He does is the result of who He is." Have a truly wonderful Thanksgiving this year. Hugs.

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