“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7
Waiting.
The day after symptoms sent me from Urgent Care to the Emergency Room, I was waiting in a chair for the results of a heart stress test. The stress test team had moved on to the next person in the room next door to mine. I was simply waiting for the test results.
What happened next is hard to describe, and I do not remember the timing clearly. I would feel waves of intense pain, then I would feel better. That pattern repeated. I could not talk, but I finally got the attention of the cardiologist standing in the hallway. He read my EKG, which was still running, and suddenly I received a lot of attention. After another wave or two of pain, I was loaded onto a gurney and literally run through the hallways to the Emergency Department.
As I entered that room, I immediately experienced a peace that could not be described. It did not descend on the room while I was there; it was already there when I arrived. Because of what God had spoken to me years earlier in the chapel during Bethany’s crisis, I knew again that I was in His hands.
A waiting team of doctors and nurses began a flurry of activity. I received drugs through an IV to treat my heart and to manage waves of pain that were becoming more frequent and more intense. I was in significant pain, but I was not afraid. The cardiologist repeated a bad word over and over while pacing and talking on his cell phone. One of the nurses and one of the doctors argued over how often to repeat alternating drugs, with the doctor saying, “He has to have it.” I heard ‘morphine’ a couple of times. After about the eighth wave, the pain finally subsided, and I was rushed to a heart catheterization.
I received a stent in the Left Anterior Descending artery, one of the main blood vessels supplying the heart, to correct two adjacent blockages: one 99% and the other 70%.
I am deeply grateful for the prayers offered on my behalf. God showed mercy to me and my family. I received a 100% recovery prognosis with no damage to my heart. I am thankful for my family and their support during this time. I know this was devastating for them. They are my rock. Rena, my wife, is my rock.
The peace that covered me in that emergency room was not just for me. The peace I experienced is available to everyone who reads or hears this story. His grace is here, for you, now.
This was not the end of this story. Click on the Part 3 link to read what happened next!