Praise God – He Heals Afflictions I am Living Proof: Chapter 5

PRAISE GOD HE STILL HEALS OUR AFFLICTIONS I AM LIVING PROOF CHAPTER 5

The first two installments of this series dealt with the circumstances and prognoses of a severe stroke I suffered. Chapter 3 dealt with faith and prayer while Chapter 4 dealt with the enemy, satan, who is trying to defeat both me and God, and is failing monumentally in his endeavor.   Some people have inquired as to why I believe as I do under the circumstances, that I have waited so long for restoration that I have not yet seen so this chapter is an explanation of why I continue to believe in divine healing. This isn’t my first experience with a serious health issue. About 10 years ago I got food poisoning that resulted in vomiting so violent that a vein the size of a no. 2 pencil in my back ruptured, leaving me with a huge blood clot pressing against my spine causing extreme pain. When I finally went to my doctor after several days of intense pain he put me in Claremore Regional Hospital for tests that resulted in finding the clot. Also found in the CT scans were 3 cysts the size of nickels on my liver. I also developed what they called C-dif. I have no idea what that is but it was serious enough to keep me in the hospital for 10 days. Dr. Dwight Korgan, my family doctor, decided the cysts needed to be tested to see if they were cancerous but didn’t feel that he had the skill necessary to poke them. He told me that if he tried and went through the cyst into my liver that he could essentially cause my death so he wanted to send me to Southcrest Hospital in South Tulsa to be treated by specialists. This was on a Wednesday afternoon. Dr. Korgan also wanted to test me for possible HIV infection since he didn’t really know why I was having some of the problems he saw. I was devastated because I wasn’t living a lifestyle compatible with HIV infection but I consented just to cover all possibilities.

On Thursday afternoon about 4:00 my pastor, Rick Burke of Cedarpoint Church, stopped by to see me and I told him what Dr. Korgan had said and asked for prayer over both situations. Rick prayed for me and comforted me as best he could then left. At 11:00 a m or so on Friday I was sent to Tulsa by ambulance. At about 2:00 pm I was given a CT scan at Southcrest and the doctor came in looking rather concerned and wanted to ask me some questions. His demeanor scared me but I told him to ask away. He quizzed me about Dr. Korgan’s report on the cysts, asking me if I was aware of the situation and what my understanding was. This only deepened my concern as I told him what I knew. His expression changed to one of puzzlement and he told me there were no cysts visible, only shadows where something had been at one time. He verified the size and position of the blood clot then returned to the discussion of the cysts. I told him about Rick praying over the liver situation and he simply said, “well, the cysts are gone”.  He also told me the HIV test had come back negative, much to my relief.

At Southcrest I had 5 different doctors looking at me, all looking at what to do about the clot and how to treat the case of pancreatitis I had also developed. One of the doctors was a woman from India. I think her name was Singh. She was of the Hindu religion and we had several very nice discussions about the power of faith and prayer. During the talks she told me that the only real difference between Hinduism and Christianity is the status of Jesus Christ. They believe very strongly in the value of prayer although they pray differently than I do. I consider Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of God, sent here for the remission of sin while Hindus see Him as a great prophet, healer, and holy man but not God. She told me how much she believes in prayer for healing and she prayed for me in her own way but not in the name of Jesus as Christians do. Not one to pass up any prayer, I was more than happy to accept her offer to pray for me. She also told me that pancreatitis is a very painful situation and that people suffering it required massive doses of morphine to deal with the pain but I was on a very low dose of a very mild pain medication and was in very little pain, more discomfort than pain. I don’t recall the name of the pain medication.

I was there for a few weeks and several church members came to visit me and pray for my recovery. The clot busting medications weren’t doing the job so they decided surgery would be needed to remove the clot. They said it would require an 8″ incision in my groin to allow them to go in and manually pull the clot out of my body and I agreed to have the surgery as that was the only way to save my life. They did a CT scan that afternoon to get a final pinpoint on the clot and scheduled surgery for 1:00 p m the next day. That night Rick came to visit me and he again prayed for healing. Although no shrinking of the clot had been seen over a three week period we both believed that God would help me so he prayed and I believed. The next morning technicians came to get me for a final CT scan to verify everything before surgery. At about noon the surgeon came in with a folder and a puzzled look on his face and asked me if I was ready. I answered that I was and he broke into a huge smile then showed me the CT scan and told me what I was looking at because I had no idea what I was looking for. He then told me that the clot had shrunk by 90% since the previous scan the day before and that I could go home later in the day and take IV treatments at home to finish dissolving the clot. He set me up with home health to come by and show my wife and I how to use the machine to administer the medicine. I called my wife and told her the news and we both shed tears of joy and relief. I had to have 3 treatments a day for 6 months but after 31 days in hospitals I was home and on the mend, without morphine and without surgery.

That situation was my first miracle experience and I haven’t forgotten what God did for me then and I KNOW He is going to finish restoring me to health this time because He has things for me to do for His kingdom and I am willing to do my part in the recovery process. Faith moved a mountain, actually more than one, then and I have seen miraculous healing thus far after the stroke so I have a very justified reason to believe that God will finish my healing. As I mentioned in Chapter 4, it has and continues to be a slow, tedious process but I am waiting in faith with the expectation every night that the next morning will be the morning in my dream of last May. When that day comes I will be so thrilled because I will be able to show others the power and faithfulness of my God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the creator of all things, and others who may not believe now will have the proof they need to turn their life to Jesus Christ and find eternal salvation through Him. It is such an honor to be used by God to show His love, power, and mercy to others and I am thankful He is giving me the honor of being His messenger. Thank you, Jesus!!!!!

I submit this in the name of the Most Holy Trinity, in faith, with the responsibility given to me by Almighty God to honor His work and not let it die from neglect.

Bob Russell

Claremore, Oklahoma

February 23, 2017

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