“no medical explanation”

Some of you know that I drove to Chicago on Thursday to be at the hospital with my sister, Debbie. On Monday she passed out and when she came to, she was unable to walk, talk, or remember things. Scary. Weird. The first thought, of course, was she must have had a stroke. Even weirder is the fact that she’s only 34.

She was taken to the local hospital in Hobart, IN (near Chicago). They ran tests and confirmed that she did, indeed, suffer a small stroke. Further tests revealed a couple more things:

• she suffered no significant brain damage
• her carotid artery was messed up—it was narrowed to only 5% of normal blood flow.
• She most likely was born with this condition

The neurologist, after an MRI, decided to send her to University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago where they were better equipped to handle the situation. Apparently the artery’s problem was so close to the entrance to the brain that it could be a real problem requiring special procedures. The neurologist said that basically Debbie was a time-bomb that could explode at any time. The MRI showed it.

By Friday morning the news was worse. A team of doctors were working on her situation. They were all very concerned. Every time one came into her room, the news got worse. I decided it was time to hop in the car and head out.

As I headed out, Debbie’s husband Mitch told me that Debbie was headed in for an angiogram. The angiogram would offer more information about the blockage (narrowed artery).

An hour later Mitch called me to say, “Um…the results from the angiogram are in…and the doctors are speechless because there seems to be nothing wrong. In fact he said one doc was just shaking her head saying, “there’s no medical explanation for this.” They had the MRI, it was obvious there was a huge problem…but now it’s gone!

Mitch said, “Johnny, she’s been healed!” He put my dad on the phone. He was crying, he said, “Johnny, we’ve just witnessed a miracle. We saw the MRI, it was there, but it’s not now.”

Now, I don’t throw stuff around and jump to conclusions about healing. But I’ll tell you what, something supernatural happened in Chicago on Thursday. I’m convinced of it. God showed up in my sister’s hospital room.

Now, I have to admit. My first reaction was, well, they probably misdiagnosed her to begin with…the problem probably wasn’t as serious as it was first thought to be. But that’s not true. Talk to the doctors and you’ll find that they’re blown away. 

Mitch said, “Maybe you don’t need to come now.” I replied, “Are you kidding me, I’ll come celebrate with you guys!”

And that’s what we’ve been doing. My sister is still in the hospital. They’re still running tests. They’re still dumbfounded. She’ll probably be here for at least a couple more days and continued prayer is appreciated.

I can’t tell you how awesome it is to be here with her and much of my family, feeling encouraged and blessed rather than worrying and fretting.

I’m sitting in the waiting room in Chicago typing this. Debbie is currently undergoing more tests. I’m wondering this as I type: why was I surprised when we got the good news that there’s no longer a problem? We prayed for God to heal her. And we he did, I acted surprised. Why do I get surprised when we pray for something and God delivers? God is amazing. And he’s in control. He’s teaching me new things all the time.

I’m so glad I came.