Miracles are Happening Right Now
By Karen Putnam | October 25, 2012
Saturday, October 13, 2012
I am writing with
grateful heart . . . and now tears come to my eyes before I can even type this
first sentence. Though I read and hear of God's miracles,
there are no words that begin to describe how I feel at this moment in time.
About 9 months ago, I started to experience mild to extreme headaches. Early
this year, an MRI/MRA test revealed an aneurysm in my brain. (An aneurysm is
a bulging section in the wall of a blood vessel that has become stretched out
and thin. As the wall of the blood vessel bulges out, it becomes weaker and may
burst or rupture, causing bleeding. If an aneurysm in the brain bursts, it may
cause a stroke. An aneurysm in a vessel that carries a lot of blood, such as
the aorta, is often fatal if it bursts.)
In February, an angiogram was performed on me at Cottage Hospital.
(During
my angiogram, a thin tube called a catheter was placed into a blood
vessel in my groin (femoral artery or vein) the catheter was guided to my
brain. Then an iodine dye was injected into the vessel to make the area show
clearly on the X-ray pictures. This angiogram found the bulge in my blood
vessel (aneurysm). This angiogram procedure confirmed
the size and location of my brain aneurysm. Two other doctors confirmed these
results. I considered it a GIFT from God to know about this aneurysm, because
most people do not know if they have an aneurysm until "after" they burst, bleed into the brain and cause strokes or death.
After much prayer and medical research, surgery was scheduled this past Tuesday
- October 9th, with Dr. Zauner - nationally renowned Neurosurgeon. (http://www.snc.md/) We are blessed to have Dr.
Zauner living in Santa Barbara. I first met him when he performed brain surgery
on Mom in September 2011. Though Mom passed away, our family knew that Mom was
in the best of care with Dr. Zauner. Once he was in charge of her care, there
was a definitely an increase of team effort with all involved. Dr. Zauner and
his team demonstrate an incredible dedication and passion in their work - a
great example to us all.
Though my emotions often become curlier than my hair . . . during the weeks
prior to my scheduled brain surgery, I experienced God's miracle of peace
beyond my understanding. Details fell into place bigger than my plans with the
truth of Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean
not onto your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will
direct your paths."
A couple of weeks ago, I was telling a friend that I wanted God to give me a
sign that I was going to live past Tuesday, October 9th. I love my friend’s
quick response of wisdom, "dahhhhhh, we should ALL live like we don't know if we are going to
live past Tuesday!"
As I continued to ask God to replace my worries, anxieties and fears – He
did. Rather than spend time on the phone
giving friends and family details, I was inspired to spend time taking care of
me. In September, my husband and I
enjoyed one of our BEST motorcycle adventures together. I shared some awesome concert and dancing
times with Anthony and Breann.
Last week, I was filled TO OVER FLOWING with peace beyond my understanding. I was blessed with health the joy to dance away my worries the week before surgery. I am thankful for dancing with D.J. Chris and his club diversity gang, Vanessa's Brazillian Dancers, the residents at Maravilla and Samarkand and my sweet art from the heart students. On Sunday, there was a group dancing celebration at New Covenant Church (http://www.ncwc.net/) with the use of pom poms to cheer about God's blessings.
And though
it may not be what most people do the night before surgery, I rented out a
dance studio specifically for praise dancing to some of my favorite songs. I
asked Jesse Natale with JNorth Productions (http://www.jnorthproductions.com/
to attend and photograph the miracle God's joy the night before brain surgery.
At the end of our joy-filled dance session, this group prayed for God's
healing. One person specifically spoke out, "God, we know it's the 9th
hour, but could you just take away that aneurysm, in Jesus name."
Just 4 mornings ago, on Tuesday, October 9th - I was admitted to the hospital
at 6 am. With so much peace, we danced a few minutes that morning in the Cottage
Hospital Lobby. Before going into surgery, Dr. Zauner asked me if I had any
questions. He is conservative with the use of drugs, so without being under the
influence other than being high on God's nearness, I was able to honestly tell
him that I had SO much peace about this operation and thankful for his
dedication to his work. In the operation room I requested singing, the last
thing I remember is one of Zauner's team members sweetly singing in my ear, and
someone was holding my hand, and I remember saying, "Thank-You
Jesus."
The surgery plan was to place a coil stent in my brain to divert the blood flow
from putting pressure on the aneurysm. Dr. Zauner has saved countless lives
performing this surgery! While I was under general anesthesia, they did another
angiogram. The result of this test on Tuesday, revealed NO ANEURISM! Rather
than being at the hospital today as “planned,” I am home recovering from this
surgery, the general anesthesia and the angiogram procedure. I believe that I'm
a living miracle and can put the credit no other place than in God’s hands with
His:
- Miracle of Wisdom as we planned surgery
- Miracle of His extra measures of Grace in response to the difficult people and emotions – including my own - as all part of this journey
- Miracle of Peace and Joy to dance up until the morning of surgery
- Miracle of His Healing with this outcome that is way bigger than our plans. One of Zauner's staff spoke to me on Wednesday morning and said, "This outcome is not normal - you are blessed."
- Miracle of His Divine Appointments with many people. You may or may not know who you are, but, I am so thankful to each and every person who has been praying for, and dancing with, singing to, speaking out the positive over, me this past year – YOU are part of God's miracle!
It is VERY interesting to me that my angiogram on Tuesday did not reveal an
aneurysm, but did reveal an, “in
FUNdibulum” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infundibulum)
Being an artist, I am in the process of illustrating what I think that my
inFUNdibulum may look like – coming soon
You have my permission to share all or any part of this story about how
God’s Grace has been sufficient for me as He replaced my aneurysm with a
medical condition that has the word, “FUN” in the middle of it!
Love, Karen
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