She looked at me and said my gall bladder was completely full of sludge and I had a gallstone. She also said she had never seen a gallbladder that full of sludge. While in surgery, it was discovered that my gallbladder was badly infected and was removed. I went back to the emergency room a week after the surgery. Once again, I was deathly nauseated. They did an endoscopy. They told me I had acid reflux and a hiatal hernia. I was given nausea medicine by IV and I went back home.
I continued to feel sick and I was passing blood. One night, before I went to bed, I told God, "I am still very sick, I don't know what is wrong, and I don't know what to do. If I am suppose to see more doctors please lead me to the doctors because I have no idea who to see." My daughter called me the next morning and asked me how I was doing. I told her I was still sick. She suggested I go see our gynecologist. I told her I would do that in my spare time. (We were in the process of remodeling a house.) She said she had his number in her phone, and she could make me an appointment. I said OK. She called me back in minutes and said I had an appointment at 11 AM the next day. That just doesn't happen at our doctor's office! I went to see our gynecologist. He found blood in my stool. He said I had to have a colonoscopy immediately, and made me read the Katie Couric story. He told me to make an appointment with his gastro doctor.
I made an appointment with my gynecologist's gastroenterologist. They did the colonoscopy within a couple of days. He removed 90% of a pre-cancer sessile polyp. He had to stop at that point because I kept bleeding. He wanted me to come back in three weeks and remove the rest. (We buried my husband’s father one week before they tried to remove the rest of the polyp. When it rains, it pours.) The doctor could not remove the rest of the polyp. He said they would have to take out part of my colon. He wanted me to go to a specialist, Dr. Bishop, at Trinity Hospital. My husband asked if we could use a surgeon at St. Vincent’s Hospital because that is the hospital we normally use. The doctor said no. We had to use this surgeon because he is the best. So, I went home and scheduled an appointment.
I wasn't listening to God. After I had prayed for God to send me to the right doctor, and I immediately got the appointment, which led me to the specialist; I still wanted to do things my way. Here's what happened when I went with my way:
I went for a second opinion with a surgeon from St. Vincent’s. She does another sig/flex (colonoscopy in the sigmoid area only); because she says she thinks she can get the polyp out. She could not. She came out and said I needed about 12 inches of my colon taken out. She said that this kind of polyp turns into cancer and has to come out. I was sent home with no after procedure instructions. They used the Michael Jackson drug to put me under. I went for a walk, washed clothes, folded clothes, loaded the dishwasher; before I realized I was not suppose to be doing any of that stuff. A couple of hours after I got home, I realized I had not been given any after procedure instructions. I found my instructions from the two previous procedures I mentioned above, and realized what a mistake I had just made.
I decided I needed to listen to God. I went to the appointment with the surgeon He had chosen. (the specialist I had spoken about earlier) I was armed with 30 questions. The first was: Do you agree based on my test that I need part of my colon removed and he said, "Not necessarily." John (my husband) and I just sat there with our mouths open. He proceeded to tell us about a new procedure called TEM. He went to Germany to learn the procedure. It required special surgical instruments and the polyp could only be a certain number of centimeters from the rectum. He did an old fashion protoscope and discovered I was a candidate. John pointed to Heaven and thanked God. I said, "Praise the Lord!"
The ladies in my Wednesday night class laid hands on me and prayed for me the Wednesday before the surgery. I have never had such a feeling of peace in my life. It was Tonya Jones who prayed over me. I thank God for her often; as well as the ladies in the class, and their great faith.
The surgeon God chose had the words Faith Based Care on their letterhead and business cards. I asked the surgeon to pray for me before he took me into surgery. He said, "That goes without saying." He took my left hand; the anesthesiologist took my right hand, and he began to pray. He prayed that God would guide his hands and every hand that touched me during surgery. He prayed God would guide his mind and decisions he had to make in surgery. It was truly a humble prayer. The first humble surgeon I had ever met. When he got inside the rectum, he discovered his surgical tool was too large to reach the polyp. He said, "I stopped and thought for a minute. Am I going to have to open her up laparoscopically and remove part of her colon?" Then, something told him to reach up and see how elastic my colon was. He did, and it stretched right down to where it needed to be, so he could work on it. He created a new procedure! He cut the polyp out and sewed my colon back together.
It has been 9 weeks since my colon surgery. The pathology report showed the polyp had not become cancer yet and Dr. Bishop got all of the margins. I will be checked again in July with another sig/flex, again in six months, and another colonoscopy in 12 months. This is to make sure the polyp is not trying to grow back.
God guided me directly to each doctor that was suppose to take care of me, as I had asked in my prayer. He also gave me faith filled ladies to pray for me, encourage me, and love me through it. He also gave me a wonderful husband to take care of me after both surgeries. He gave me a wonderful faith builder, Annette Henderson, who prayed for me twice after my surgery. God can always give greater gifts than we ask for. God has truly blessed me. I praise and glorify his name. I also thank Him for his goodness and mercy. I hope my story will encourage anyone who doubts that God hears our prayers. He hears and he cares. I exalt his holy name!
In Christ,
Teresa McFarland
Psalms 118:5
In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and He answered by setting me free.
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