Miraculous recovery

3 nights ago, while I was on call, I was summoned to the ER for a young woman who was having trouble breathing and was very confused. I did all I could think of- putting her on oxygen by face mask and nasal cannula (to mimic a CPAP), breathing treatments, steroids, diuretics. I did an ultrasound of her heart, which didn’t look abnormal. I told her family that I wasn’t sure she would survive. We prayed together and, when I didn’t have anything more to do, I went home. After more prayers for a miracle, I went back to sleep.

The next morning I didn’t see her on the ward. As I walked to the ER, one of the nurses rolled her by on a gurney, I thought going to the morgue as she looked lifeless. Her family trailed behind, not crying (which is very unusual). I thought she was yet one more person that we could have cared for better back in the States- she would’ve been intubated, scanned, and in an ICU.

So imagine my surprise when I see her on the ward, sitting up and breathing ok. I had to triple check that it was her. Today I told her that I didn’t think she was going to make it that night. We praised God together that she is recovering and doing well, and that He is healing her.

It’s so hard to understand why one person is healed and another not, at least not the way I’d like to see. As I’ve struggled through this confusion, I’ve come to the place of thinking that the Lord asks me to come in faith that he can heal, and leave it to Him. If I trust that He knows best, then I can trust that He will see them through whatever happens. Sometimes we’re not healed, and God works through the grief and confusion. But sometimes they are, like this woman.Read more