Mary’s Ultimate Healing

As I have noted previously noted, my  wife Mary struggled with illness and injuries for most of her life, beginning in her teenage years and continuing on a regular basis for all of the years we were together. But during that time God graciously sustained her and touched her often with his healing hand. And on at least two occasions she received what can only be called miraculous healings.  Here is the story of those in her own words:

“God has blessed me with two miraculous physical healings. The first healing occurred when my husband, Bill, and I lived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  I was diagnosed with Crohn’s, a colon disease, in 1976.  The doctor said there was no medical cure for the disease and prescribed a life-long medication, a sulfa-drug, to control its symptoms.  We turned to God and our church family for support, and they enveloped us with love and comfort.  Our pastor anointed me with oil and our church family laid hands on me and prayed for God to heal me of the disease.  Now this was a new experience for us.  We had never been part of a church that held healing services, or been asked if others could place their hands on our arm or shoulder while they prayed for us.   Although I wasn’t healed immediately, our prayers for the medicine to keep the symptoms under control were answered right away.  I was able to continue working full time, be active in the church and lead a full life.  The only downside to the medicine was that it could not be taken during pregnancy, and Bill and I wanted a second child.

After 3 years on the medicine, Bill and I still wanted to expand our family.  We prayed about the situation and I asked the doctor for permission to stop taking the medicine.  At first the doctor said no, but then he suggested a three-month trial period where I would go off the medicine, keep a written record of all symptoms of the disease, and avoid pregnancy.  Three months later I was able to report to the doctor that I’d been symptom-free the entire time.  That was 33 years ago, and since then I have not taken any medicine for Crohn’s nor had any symptoms.  Praise God.

Last week I had a routine, 5 year colonoscopy checkup and the doctor in Dallas said the disease is still in remission.  He calls it remission; after 33 years I call it a miracle!

In 1985 Bill and I moved to Plano and joined Grace Presbyterian Church.  In 1990 I was diagnosed with a rare, auto-immune disease called Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis or PSC.  The disease scars the liver and the common bile duct and eventually destroys their ability to function.  The doctor said the average life expectancy was about 3 years unless I could get a new liver.   By the next year I was having recurring infections, typical for PSC patients, requiring emergency hospitalization, high doses of IV antibiotics and the placement of stents in the common bile duct to allow it to drain properly.  To date, I’ve had 41 endoscopic procedures (ERCPs) with 37 stents placed in the common bile duct.  I’ve also had sepsis once and pancreatitis once as a result of these procedures.  And I’ve been on the liver transplant list at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas for 11 years now, which is longer than any other person on the list.  I still have PSC, but God has blessed me with 22 more years of life (so far) and a higher quality of life than is typical for PSC patients.

And now for the best part of the story about the second miracle. As a pre-transplant patient, I’m required to have an MRI of the abdomen every year.  In 2007 the MRI revealed a small malignant tumor on the liver.  After extensive testing, my team of doctors recommended against treating the tumor with chemotherapy, radiation or surgery.  They wanted to leave the tumor alone and let it grow.   Yes, grow.  The doctor explained that under the rules for liver transplantation, when the tumor reaches 2 centimeters in size, I would move from near the bottom of the transplant list to the top of the list.  The doctors monitored the tumor through MRIs conducted every three months.  The tumor’s size and appearance remained the same for six months.  The tumor was less visible after nine months.  And after twelve months, the transplant surgeon reported there was no tumor—it was completely gone.  The doctors cannot explain why or how the tumor disappeared.  And I’m still tumor-free today.  This was confirmed a few weeks ago after my annual MRI.

Although medical science cannot explain the disappearance of the tumor, I believe that God’s hand was at work.   God performed a miracle, not because I’m special or deserving, but as an answer to prayers lifted up by

  • members of the church Prayer Team who have anointed me with oil, laid hands on me and prayed regularly for my healing,
  • members of  WOW (Women of Wonder Bible Study Group) who have prayed for me and provided love and support for the 15 years I’ve been part of the group,
  • our pastors Bryan and Mark, our former pastors, our deacons and elders and Stephen Ministers have all prayed faithfully for me.

I’m so grateful and deeply blessed to be part of a church family that believes in the power of prayer, that offers healing services, asks God to perform miracles and wants to walk through the hard times with each other, as well as celebrate the good times together.    Our church family is awesome and God is good!”

These words were written in March 2012. Mary lived for more than 5 more years after that, extending her record stay on the liver transplant list to 16 years and her life after the initial diagnosis of PSC to over 27 years. In all of those years we continued to ask God for a complete healing of her body. And on December 21, 2017 that prayer was finally answered. She did not receive healing of her mortal body as we had hoped. But God gave her something better – an ultimate healing. On that day she passed from her mortal body into God’s presence where she received an immortal, eternal body that will never feel pain or suffer death.

Hallelujah! Praise God for his unending, immeasurable love and grace.

 

2 thoughts on “Mary’s Ultimate Healing

  1. Bill, what a testament. Thank you for sharing. Praying for your health, wellness and happiness. ~ Tim Williams

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