Virginia's Christmas Blessing
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In October 1997, we were traveling to Utah and had stopped in
Flagstaff for the night. Virginia woke me up about 3:30 in the morning because
her pulse was pounding so hard on the left side of her body that it was making
her arm and leg jump. I anointed her with consecrated oil and gave her a
priesthood blessing. For the first
time since I became an elder I felt inspired to call upon "the full power
and authority of the priesthood" and the seizure immediately passed (see James 5:14-15).
The day we got back from Utah, Virginia had an attack of arrhythmia. (She's
experienced atrial fibrillations as a result of stress for a long time, but
it's been controlled by medicine the past two years.) I took her to the
emergency room. We mentioned the seizure in Flagstaff, but it had been two
weeks and they were more interested in her heart. As in the past, a stress
echocardiogram showed that Virginia's heart is incredibly healthy. They
increased the dosage of her arrhythmia medication and discharged her.
The Saturday morning before Christmas, Virginia woke me up about 6:30 and told
me her left side was throbbing like it had in Flagstaff but not as strongly. I
anointed her and gave her a blessing, wherin we were promised that there would
be traces of whatever was wrong and the hospital would know what to do about it.
We called a friend from church, who found someone to come stay with the kids,
and I took Virginia to BAMC. After several hours of observation and
examination, the ER doctor asked if they'd ever done a scan of her head to see
if there was any circulatory abnormality (the symptoms could indicate a
pre-stroke condition called transient ischemic attack--TIA). We said no, so he
ordered a C/T scan of Virginia's head. Several hours later, he told us there
was no blood abnormality, but there was a swelling or growth that could be a
tumor. He admitted her as an inpatient and ordered an MRI of her head.
Sunday, the Neurosurgery staff told Virginia that the MRI had confirmed a
tumor, that it was operable (once you get past the fact of the tumor, operable
is very good news), and that they were going to schedule surgery Monday. They
told us more about where the tumor was and recovery expectations (overnight in
the ICU, then 5-7 days in the surgery ward for observation). The Neurosurgeon
said there was no strong indication that a C/T scan was needed Saturday, but if
the ER doctor had not done the scan, it might have been a year or two before
Virginia experienced symptoms which would point to the tumor.
Monday (from 7:30 to 4:00) Neurosurgery took a benign tumor from the upper
right surface of Virginia's brain. The neurosurgeon said that the tumor was
firmly attached to the surface of the brain, so there was some trauma removing
it, but that recovery should be complete. A post-op MRI showed that they had
gotten all of the tumor. It was a meningioma, which is frequently curable by
surgery alone.
Tuesday morning, the neurosurgery team released Virginia from the ICU to the
post-op ward. By Wednesday, she was moving the leg and foot that are controlled
by the traumatized area of the brain, so it looked great for a full, quick
recovery.
On Christmas, I stayed home in the morning and had Christmas with the kids and
grandkids. After a light lunch, we packed Grandma's presents into the trunk and
everybody trooped up to her hospital room, where we finished Christmas.
The Monday after Christmas, Virginia was walking with a walker and all her body
functions were working, so neurosurgery sent her home to complete her recovery.
Thank heaven for the power of the priesthood to (1) Relieve her symptoms when
we were a thousand miles from medical support (2) inspire the ER staff to
investigate a problem that wasn't clearly indicated.
Here's hoping your Christmas was as wonderful as the one we were given in 1997.
Every day is a gift. Treasure each one.
References
Find medical information at the MayoClinic.
For Atrial Fibrilation, click on Condition Centers, Heart and Blood Vessels, What is atrial fibrillation.
For TIA, click on Diseases & Conditions A-Z, then T, then Transient Ischemic Attack.
For meningioma, click on Condition Centers, Brain & Nervous System, Meningioma.
For information about the LDS ordinance of blessing the sick, here’s an article from the February 1982 Ensign magazine.