An Angel Story...

 

A favorite verse and when I think of it, I remember it because we call 911 in emergencies...

Several people have asked me to share my Angel story and I thought I would do it today (since, as usual, I don't have new photos for Friday Fotos).  I want to preface this post by saying that I don't think I am special in any way.  I tell people that we just need to pay attention when things happen around us.  I believe we all have an Angel story (or several).  We had this print hanging in our house when I was growing up and my grandmother also had one in her house.  I believed in a Guardian Angel for as long as I can remember.  God's watchcare through His Angels is real.  Read that Psalm again!

In 2006, Joe and I were just watching TV when my heart started racing and beating crazily.  It scared us both and he took me to the emergency room.  My blood pressure was high and my heart was beating over 140 beats per minute in atrial fibrillation (AFib).  I knew nothing about AFib but they admitted me to the cardiac unit and started blood thinners.  I had a private room, lots of monitors, and lots of bags dripping into me.

On the second day, the doctor told me they were going to administer a drug that would stop my heart for just a second, and then it would start again.  I would feel dizzy and maybe nauseous but they hoped it would put my heart back in normal rhythm.  There was a team of doctors and nurses around my bed.  It did make me dizzy and felt strange, but only for that second.  My heart started right back in AFib.  They gave it a few hours to perhaps kick back in but it didn't.  A nurse came in and told me that they would use the paddles on me the next morning.  They would put me out for that.  

Joe was in and out during all that time.  He couldn't sit still and I always told him to go home and feed the cats.  LOL  I was being cared for and I would call him later.  

I drifted off to sleep but woke up when the door to my room opened.  A Candy Striper walked up to my bed and started asking me if they had checked my thyroid.  She fiddled with the bags and several more times asked about my thyroid.  I knew nothing about my thyroid gland and certainly had no idea it could be playing a part in my heart issue.  She left and I drifted back to sleep.

When my nurse came in later, I asked her if they had checked my thyroid.  She looked at me funny and told me that my thyroid numbers were all good.  She then asked why I asked.  I told her that the Candy Striper had come in and was asking if my thyroid had been checked.  The nurse asked me to describe her.  I said the Candy Striper pinafore, while blouse, long blond hair...  The nurse told me there are no Candy Stripers in the hospital anymore and that no one with long blond hair worked on this floor.  I'm sure she thought I was bonkers.

The next morning, day three, when I woke up, my heart was in rhythm.  No paddles!!  They made me stay until mid-afternoon and Joe got to take me home.  I had instructions to see my primary doctor as soon as possible and the records would be available for her.

I made that appointment for a few days later, and while there, I asked her if we could check my thyroid further.  She said of course and ordered an ultrasound later that week.  I didn't tell her why I asked.  They did the ultrasound and found a tumor, less than a centimeter, and biopsied it with a needle.  It came back positive for papillary cancer.  I had my thyroid removed, did radioactive iodine therapy, and five years later was told I was cured.  Papillary thyroid cancer is one of the few that they can actually say "cured". Praise God and His Angels!

I still deal with AFib, to this day (managed and rarely out of rhythm), but I am sure that Candy Striper was my Guardian Angel. I lost both of my parents and my younger brother to cancers.  I am so glad I paid attention to what she told me and followed up with my doctor.  I have had a couple more incidents when I believe there was intervention, but this was the only time I actually saw my Guardian Angel. Maybe in a dream or maybe in person, but I believe.

I would love to hear your stories!  

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!