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Notes for Presentation to Florida Hospital
– Waterman,
Board of Directors, 28 September 2005
1. Good morning. I’m Mike XXXXX and was a patient at your
hospital for an extended stay in June of this year. Ken XXXXXXXX asked
me to present a devotional about my experience. What happened to me
certainly transcends my full understanding, but it may prove to be
meaningful to you. It concerns faith and prayer and maybe a minor
modern miracle.
2. On the morning of Tuesday, 14 June after a bad night of back
and kidney pain I decided to skip work, call my doctor and find out
what was wrong. I drank a cup of coffee with my wife, Sandra, showered
and shaved and lay down on our bed, waiting the time when my regular
doctor’s office hours began. Suddenly I had an overwhelming need to get
to the bathroom and quickly got out of bed and headed there; Sandra
fortunately heard me get up and headed for our bedroom as my needs
changed and I felt intense heat internally - as if I were melting. Just
like that I knew I was in trouble - beyond my capability to control -
and decided to get to the floor before I collapsed. Thus began for me a
remarkable journey. The feeling of melting inside reflected the spray
of blood as my aorta ruptured, and though I only knew I was in serious
trouble, I was in a race for life that normally results in death in a
few minutes.
3. I closed my eyes as I got to the floor; Sandra grabbed me
about the chest – told me not to leave her and then called 9-1-1 and
told them I was dying. My memories of the next 45 minutes or so are
sketchy, but some are most vivid. At the same time as emergency medical
personnel were dispatched to me some interesting things were happening
at Waterman. Your Emergency Room Doctor was monitoring the emergency
frequency and began forming his opinion about what might be happening.
Also, your surgeon, Doctor David Bjerkin and his surgical team were
completing an early morning operation. In all there would be about 50
medical and hospital personnel assisting me over the next few hours.
4. Sandra and I moved to Lake County just 3 months earlier and we
still have not completely oriented ourselves within the county. We had
seen your hospital here on highway 441, but had not really taken notice
of it. In fact, a few days into my stay I asked Sandra, “where am I –
where is this hospital located?” Our house is about 14 miles and 10
stoplights away from Waterman. So, as I heard Sandra talking with the
9-1-1 Operator and heard her tell me that she was going to open the
garage and door to the house and talk with the personnel in the
ambulance, my mind idled and evaluated her actions…”yeah, that will be
OK I guess…and then, why should I care? After all things are beyond my
ability to control.”
5. The emergency team arrived and shouted their arrival and my
next memory shifted several miles down highway 44…as we turned south to
441 I remember clearly thinking….”better hurry up, guys, because I’m
not doing so well and am really in trouble now.” I also remember a
constant stream of talk that Sandra told me was information being
transferred to the hospital emergency room. Then we arrived and there
was the flurry of noise and then I was inside and entrusted to the care
of many people.
6. Three things happened while I was being received that speak to
a well-prepared and rehearsed hospital. Sandra was whisked out of the
way by Faye, your Chief of Pastoral Services and asked about my faith
and offered an initial prayer. Dr Meneses, the Emergency Doctor on duty
that morning came and told Sandra that I was in real trouble and he
thought he knew what it was; the only chance was that the surgeon
assume that diagnosis, as there was not time to verify all
possibilities. Sandra, ever willing to make decisions, gave him the
go-ahead. And, over the next few hours my children arrived at Waterman,
one from another hospital where she had undergone surgery the day
before. Faye was to provide a consistent touch-point for my family that
focused their faith in prayer.
7. As I was being prepped and intubated there was a final moment
where I had a distinct feeling that I “was in the hands of angels”.
That is the only way I can describe the feeling. It was as if, internal
to my body, everywhere simultaneously, soft hands were touching me -
and then there was certain knowledge that “there was nothing for me to
fear.”
8. Some hours later I woke to find myself in critical care with
plenty of things going down my throat and nose and into my arms. Sandra
was there and she quickly understood that I needed to know what
happened, so she told me. Soon Dr. David Bjerkin arrived and told me
what he had done and that the next 3 days were critical and I still had
less than 50% chance of survival. Had I been able to talk, I would have
told him that I had certain knowledge that there was nothing for me to
fear. Instead, all I could do was give him a “thumbs-up” signaling I
understood him.
9. A day later, tubes gone but still in critical care, a young
technician came to administer an ekg and, when he realized that I was
the man who had the AAA told me his wife worked in the emergency room;
he also told me that there were plenty of folks who added me to their
prayer lists. I appreciated that. I also told him I wished I could
thank them for their work in helping me. Thus began a slow but steady
progression of visits from people from the emergency and operating
rooms – people, my angels, who got me through an extraordinary medical
problem. I met people who told me that my vital signs were
“inconsistent with life” when I arrived. I met folks who told me their
individual contributions were to place a certain tube in me or get me
under oxygen or some other action.
10. Two of those visits are worth commenting on: One nurse
commented just before she left to return to her duties that while she
didn’t know what I believed, she wanted to tell me for certain that
what happened could not have happened by just good luck or chance or
the skill of Dr. Bjerkin, who she said was the best surgeon she had
ever worked with. She also said she prayed for me even as I was being
operated upon. The second visit was from a doctor and we discussed what
I remembered and when and I told him about the feeling that I was “in
the hands of angels and knew I had nothing to fear”. He left and then
returned – with a question…”did you see any bright light?”, he asked.
“No”, I replied. “I told you - my eyes were closed…”
11. The final vignette concerns a young Technician who helped me
before I left. As I did with most of the Nurses and Technicians, I
asked her when she came to the hospital and she told me an interesting
story. Chris said she had been working here for a year and a half. She
applied on-line and was notified to come in for an interview. She
arrived early, but became confused inside. A man spotted her confusion
and came over to offer assistance. She said he knew exactly whom she
needed to see and led her there. As he said goodbye, she noted that the
President of the Hospital had assisted her. Then she said something
remarkable. She said, “I’ll never leave here. I get to work with some
of the brightest and smartest people in this area of the state. The
facility is modern and wonderful. And I get to work in a God-fearing
atmosphere. What is there not to like about working here?”
12. So, that is my story. Except for a big “zipper” down my belly
and some damage done to my kidneys I appear to have weathered the
experience well. I can’t tell you how many folks here expressed the
common thought that God has something more for me to do and who added
me to their prayers. When that time comes, I hope I am worthy and up to
the task.
13. An old Army buddy asked me why/how I survived the experience.
I told him that I figured it was just my good, clean life that got me
through…he replied maybe a little too quickly, “No. That’s not it.” So
then I told him that when I was a young soldier I was certified as
being “bulletproof”, but he quickly pointed out that I didn’t dodge
this bullet, so that wasn’t it. Finally we figured out what happened. I
must have died, we agreed, and in the murk of my memory I remember
reporting to the Golden Gates and saw Saint Peter. He asked my name and
then opened the book of life and found it and then exclaimed, “There is
an asterisks here! …What does this asterisks mean?” So he paged to the
back of the book and said, “here it is…the asterisks…it says…
Fisherman; God does not subtract from the allotted lifespan of man that
time spent fishing.” And then he said to his angels, “You have to
release this one. He won’t be ready for some time yet!”
14. Thank you for the time you gave me to relate my story. Now if
you would join me in a brief prayer…
15. Dear God Almighty, thank you for caring for me through your
servants here at Waterman Hospital. Thank you for their faith and
devotion to your work here on earth. May you protect this institution
and the people who work here that attend and serve the ill and
infirm. In Christ’s name I pray.
Amen
Michael XXXXX
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