Thursday, July 26, 2018
7:00 AM
On July 26th my alarm clock went off
at 7 am like it has done for the past 4 decades plus. Many times I swat the snooze alarm a few
times but I really had to use the bathroom so I swung my legs off the side and
tried to stand. The room was spinning like a top but I had to go! I grabbed the
side of the bed, then the dresser, made my way into the bathroom holding on to
something for support the whole way. I
even had one hand on one wall and one hand on the other wall while I sat on the
pot. I made it back to the bed, laid my
head on the pillow, room still spinning.
Jerry had gotten up and headed down to make us coffee unaware I was
having trouble. I layed in bed for a few
minutes thinking about what was happening.
This was something different.
This was something out of the ordinary.
This was trouble! I kept my eyes
closed and could feel the nausea coming on.
I was in our upstairs bedroom and Jerry was downstairs. I called out a couple of times but he could
not hear me. I grabbed the landline by
my side of the bed and called his cell phone. He answered, I said, "Please
come help, something is wrong!" He was up in 5 seconds. I explained what was going on and he said we
needed to head to urgent care. I told him I could not get out of bed. My head was stuck on the pillow! He called
911 and explained the situation.
I have been on the Tillamook Fire
District Board of Directors for about 28 years so the last thing I wanted to do
was put in a call for help and add to their already overwhelming call list! But
I knew there was nothing else I could do.
I needed them to come get me downstairs and into an ambulance to find
out just what was going on. Stroke was
my initial thought when this all started.
Even though I live 6 miles out of town within 10 minutes the ambulance
and my firemen were pulling into my driveway and rushing up the stairs to my
bedroom. All I could do was hug them and
tell them I was sorry for the call. They
are stretched so thin and do so much for others. I did not want to be one of the calls on the
monthly report list I read over each month!
By 8:30 I was nestled into an
observation room at Tillamook Adventist Hospital lying flat on my back and no
way to stand on my own. Now mind you, I
had not been admitted to an emergency room or the hospital in 38 years! I was
only there at that time to birth my son. And before that, 6 years earlier to
birth my daughter! I'm healthy and take
vitamins!
The care providers and doctors started
the routine things to try to determine what was happening to me. I explained my recent issues with acid
reflux, told them about the tingling in my left arm that had been irritating
me, told them in June my doctor found my cholesterol level was high at 250 and
that for 3 years I had been trying to get to the bottom of extra fatigue and
acid stomach issues. I had just figured
once I turned 60 that old age was kicking in and that was just how it went. Our bodies are on a limited time and God
tells in the Bible we have roughly 80 years of life. I have no problem whatsoever with God's plan
for me and 80 is a good number. I wasn't
there yet!
As the morning proceeded we made the
necessary calls to my work, family, and friends to get the prayer going. We are people of faith and that is where we
turn first and foremost. The care team
just kept doing what they do. Care! I had an EKG, blood tests, x-rays, CT scan,
and everything else they needed to do to get to the bottom of my dizziness and
nausea. The emergency room doctor wanted
to do an MRI to see if there was an inner ear infection causing vertigo. I said, "Let's do it!" By noonish I was having my first ever MRI
scan. The hospital decided that I should
be admitted for observation until all of the results were in so they wheeled me
on my gurney up to the second floor and nestled me into a nice, quiet hospital
room. We waited.
My daughter Dena, from Colorado, was
ready to be on the first flight out of Denver as soon as she heard. She knew when Jerry called something was
definitely wrong. Her mom is never in
the hospital. Son Chris, his wife Lisa,
and 2 grandchildren from Washington,
were already packing to come spend the weekend with us because it was
supposed to be the weekend we all gathered together to butcher our grass fed
beef. I explained to Dena the events of
the entire morning and encouraged her to wait until we had more results
in. She waited.
Close to 2 o'clock the doctor walked
into my room and said "We have the results from the MRI", as he
pulled up a chair to sit down.
"There is a mass showing on the left side, behind the ear", he
said. That only took 1 second to
comprehend. He explained he had called Oregon
Health and Science University (OHSU) Neuro-Surgery in Portland and neuro-surgeon
Doctor Han had told him he needed to see me face to face and that a transport
has already been ordered. I was taken by
ambulance to OHSU and was admitted by 7 P.M.
There I was and my world was still spinning.
Now, I need to impress again how firm
my faith is. That is the most important
part of this Glory Story. My entire life
has had the hand of God over it. As a
little girl, we were not a religious family.
My mom loaded up 4 children to church alone year after year. Dad was not a believer or a church-goer. I always knew God loved me but many, many,
many times I just did things my own way.
I had my first baby when I was 19 years old and was 6 months pregnant
when I married my first husband. Two
babies and 10 years later we were divorced.
I married my second husband soon after I met him. I was 29 years old and he was 42 years old. We actually celebrated our 35th wedding
anniversary while I was in ICU at OHSU.
I'm such a drama queen sometimes.
But throughout my life I spent time seeking the Lord and trying more and
more to follow His ways.
I was Born-Again in the mid 1970's and
filled with the Holy Spirit in the early 1980's. I have never looked back, only ahead, in my
walk with Jesus. He said it. I believe it.
There's no discussion for me. I
have experienced his love, patience, guidance, and voice for 4 decades. I
believe in the promises recorded in the Holy Bible. I believe the Bible is the Word of God that
can be heard in a dying world. I don’t
care there are others who call the Bible a book of fables, a book of
myths. I have sympathy and empathy for
those who have no hope, no peace, no understanding, no heart, no love for My
Lord Jesus, My God, My Creator. I know
His heart is broken even far more than mine because he created mankind to share
in a relationship with Him for all of eternity.
Others choose nothingness when life ends here on earth. I choose faith and belief that life does not
end for those who hear His call and come to Him. I keep telling everyone that it is not rocket
science. It is simply faith! Faith that we are each here on earth for a
specific purpose. Some have a long
purpose. Some have a short purpose. Some have a large purpose. Some have a smaller purpose, but all have a
purpose in the beginning. Many walk away
or never even try to find the truth about their purpose. All have the option to choose once they hear
the gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the carpenter's son was God in flesh, coming to save
those who want to be saved for a life after death here on earth.
From the moment the spinning day began,
I had no fear. I had no doubt that The
Lord God, The Creator of Heaven and Earth, that my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
was with me. He had shown me the tumor
through the dizzy spell and the knowledge of the doctors and nurses.
