God Still Heals

God Still Heals!

A few years ago I started feeling sick and over a period of months I lost 40 pounds, from 205 lbs. to 165 lbs.  I would vomit quite often and the color of my skin had changed, but I didn’t have any pain.

During this time I was seeing a chiropractor/nutritionist by the name of Dr Thomas McKay.  Over time he became very concerned, so he sent off blood and urine samples for analysis.  When he got the results from the lab he called me to his office and proceeded to tell me the bad news: the bun and creatinine levels were off the charts.

Dr McKay had already called ahead and made me an emergency appointment with Dr. Jonathan Nestor, a Nephrologist (Kidney Specialist).   Dr McKay insisted that I see Dr Nestor, so I drove across town to his office.  After a brief examination he told me that my kidneys were no longer working and that I had to be put on dialysis.  My response to that statement was to nearly pass out.  I knew very little about dialysis, kidneys, or health care.  I did not have a family doctor and had not seen a doctor or had an exam in 30 years except for the nutritionist.  I had to gather my thoughts to make a response.  I said, “What if I don’t go on dialysis?  How long do I have, a couple of months?”  He said, “You’ll be dead in 2 weeks.”  I looked at him and gave him a weak ok.  His office called my wife, Judy to come to his office and together we drove the two blocks to the hospital. It took three attempts at two hospitals, but finally the tubes were put in my chest and a regular routine of dialysis was established.  I did dialysis Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday 2nd shift.  The reason for the second shift was, after dialysis I was too weak to work, so I worked first and then did dialysis.

The first month or so Judy took me to the dialysis center and then came back to get me when the treatment was over.  The drive was 15 miles each way, so two trips were 60 miles.  Later I told her I wanted to try driving myself, which worked out with a couple of exceptions, and those times I was too weak to drive. As time went on, I learned more about the dialysis process.   I learned that the machine could operate at different settings and the setting was critical to how you felt during and after the treatment.  A patient could get cramps, pass out, or feel faint if the setting was wrong.  Another problem was, I started having blood in my urine and I found out that they put heparin in my blood through the machine to thin the blood, so it would flow through the machine, otherwise it would clog up.  I insisted that they try the process without heparin, but the machine clogged up.  So we tried half as much heparin and it worked and I had no more blood in my urine. Dr Nestor told me my kidneys were shrinking and would shrink to the size of walnuts, but it would hurt nothing to remain in my body, so surgery was not necessary.  He also said my kidneys had already quit filtering and soon I would no longer be able to urinate.  It was therefore critical for me to monitor my total fluid intake.  These facts all seemed so fatalistic and out of my control, that I wanted to scream.  A week later the nutritionist repeated the same story and I knew it was her job, but it irritated me and I went through the same sickening feeling and emotions as the first time.

               Well, I was a Christian and I knew if my circumstances were to change it would have to be God.  At home I changed the closet in my bedroom to a prayer closet.  I removed everything and replaced it with a chair, lamp, bookshelf, books, CD player, and end table for my bible.  I spent time alone with God reading Christian books, listing to Christian music, reading the Bible and praying.  One day I was reading the Bible and saw the verse that said, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever.”  I read that verse again out loud to God and I said, “God you said that you are the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Then I flipped my red letter bible though the pages of the gospels and said, “God You said here You healed the blind and the deaf and you even raised the dead and God, You are going to heal me.”  Well to be honest, I wasn’t sure God was going to heal me, but I sure did feel like I made a point and God was going to have to do something. A few days later I was reading the Bible and I came to verses 20-23 in the 4th chapter of Proverbs, which reads,  “My son, attend to my words; incline your ear unto my sayings.  Let them not depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart.  For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.  Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”   In my spirit I was impressed that I should memorize those verses. It was like God had said it because I opened my mouth and said, “But I’m not very good at memorizing.” And again it came to me, “But you don’t have to be good; the act of trying will be enough.”  So I wrote those four verses on a piece of paper and taped them to the wall that was about one foot from my head when I was sitting in my chair.  I also put a copy in my pocket to carry with me. I memorized those verses, and a few days later I was impressed to memorize another verse, Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God.  I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.”   This happened two more times with the following verses, the first one being Hebrews 10:35-36 “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.  For you have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.”  The second one was 1 Peter 2:24, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes you are healed.”  I added all of these sets of verses to my list on the wall, and memorized each one, and looked at them continually.

June was the month that I started dialysis and the following October we had planned a family fishing trip to North Myrtle Beach, SC.  I was told I could do dialysis at North Myrtle Beach.  My dialysis center said they would make the appointment.  They found out that the center was full and could take no more patients.  I talked to my doctor and we agreed that I would go for half a week and miss one treatment, but that if I felt bad I was to come straight back to Laurinburg, and they would treat me immediately.

All went well over my vacation, and the next week at the dialysis center the nurse said she could not tell that I missed a treatment.  I started wondering how I would know if God healed my kidneys.  I asked the nurse, and she said the only way I would know would be to tell the doctor and he would have me tested, but they could not do that at the dialysis center.

I didn’t have the courage to tell the doctor that I thought Jesus had healed my kidneys because he was so adamant that kidneys never heal themselves and that kidney failure was permanent.  I decided to skip another treatment the next week and see what happened. Nothing happened and the nurse again said she could not tell any difference.  At our church during the beginning of January, the Pastor asked any of the congregation that could, to fast and seek God for whatever need they might have.   At the end of the fast I was convinced that God had indeed healed my kidneys.

The next time I was at the dialysis center I asked the doctor to test me to see if my kidneys were working.  The doctor rolled his eyes, looked irritated but he scribbled on a piece of paper and said, “Take this to the hospital.”  He turned and left and that was the shortest conversation that we ever had.  Two weeks later he called me to his office and said, “It looks like your kidneys are filtering.”  He said, “You can skip dialysis for one week and come back and see me.”   One week later my kidneys were still working.  Then he let me skip two weeks and checked me again, and now he checks me every three months.  I have been off dialysis since the end of February 2007.  My last visit to Dr Nestor’s office was in July of 2009 and he smiled and said, “Your kidneys still amaze me.”  After being on dialysis for nine months I have now been off for twenty nine months.

        “O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.” (Psalm 30:2)