God heals my son
Sis Janet Ho
Newcastle Church, UK
Hallelujah! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I bear testimony.
This testimony is about my eldest son Damien when he was nine and half years old. It was in November 2012 while the Norovirus (winter vomiting bug) was going round his school, and quite a number of students were kept away.
Damien began to get abdominal pain, which I assumed was the onset of the virus he had caught from school. I gave him Calpol to try to relieve the pain, and kept an eye on him. This helped briefly, but the pain came back and did not completely go away. Damien continued to experience this pain for a few days and gradually the pain was localised on the right hand side of his abdomen He began to have a fever and was sick on the Sunday. By Monday morning the pain was still there, so we took him to see our GP. The doctor examined him and informed us that it could be appendicitis, and advised us to be ready for a hospital admission. After packing a few things from home, we made our way to the A&E. The doctors examined him and told us that they suspected he had appendicitis too, but could not confirm it as Damien had moderate pain, not the severe pain typical of the condition. Damien was transferred to the children’s ward where they continued to do tests and to monitor him. Various doctors came to assess Damien, and told us that they had to perform a laparoscopy (camera inserted into his abdomen) to confirm. If he did have appendicitis, they would operate by a keyhole surgery straightaway to have the appendix removed.
We waited and waited to be offered a slot for him to go to theatre, but he was not considered at high risk so he was pushed further down the queue due to higher priorities and emergency surgeries having to take place. . By 8:50 pm, a nurse came and informed us that due to the sheer number of high priority cases that day, we would most likely have to wait till the morning for Damien to go to theatre. However, at about 9:00 pm, another nurse told us that they now had a theatre available and Damien would be the last patient in theatre that day. The surgeon had told us earlier that if Damien did in fact have appendicitis, the procedure being very straightforward, should take only about thirty to forty minutes to complete.
My husband and I waited in the children’s ward while Damien was in theatre, and about one hour forty five minutes later the surgeon came and updated us on Damien’s condition. He did in fact have appendicitis, but his appendix had raptured and was gangrenous! They ended up removing the entire appendix and thoroughly cleaned the surrounding area to prevent an infection. Damien was then prescribed morphine and strong antibiotics, and stayed in hospital for supervision until the Sunday, when he was discharged.
After waking up at home the next day we noticed that there was a leakage out of his wound and the wound was swollen, so we took him back to the hospital. The doctors told us that he had an infection (Peritonitis, a serious infection in the lining of the abdomen) and would require a second procedure to insert a drain to drain the infected matter out. He was readmitted into hospital for another ten days, given two different kinds of strong antibiotics, and closely monitored. Thank God, by 5th December the infection had cleared and the drain was removed, so he was discharged to recuperate at home. Two months later we returned to the hospital for a follow-up appointment and after the doctor had checked him over, we were told that he had fully recovered without any after-affects from the ruptured appendix.
God truly works in mysterious ways! For one thing, Damien did not suffer from the excruciating pain associated with appendicitis. For another, he was able to go to theatre that same day rather than the next morning when there would have been even more complications; if left untreated it could have been fatal. Also, my husband and I could wait with Damien for his operations because our two younger sons aged eighteen months and six years at the time had happily stayed at home with their grandmother. At times I was very anxious, but Damien reminded me with the simple faith of a child, to pray to God, to ask Him for healing. It was as if God was speaking through Damien to tell me not to waste time worrying unnecessarily when all we need to do is to have faith and believe that God will hear our prayers. We are truly thankful that God answered our prayers and that we have experienced first-hand the great love, compassion and healing of our Lord Jesus Christ. May all glory be unto His name, Amen!
By sis Janet Ho, Newcastle church
