Have you ever stood by while a friend or loved one’s life turned upside down in a matter of seconds? To say that my friend’s husband could probably empathize with Job right now is an understatement. I received a phone call early Monday morning on February 18th. It was my very good friend Terri’s husband Steve who was calling and audibly upset he asked me to pray for Terri. He informed me that she had had an aneurysm and was in a coma. My first reaction was disbelief, fear and sadness. Terri had a Subarachnoid Hemmorhage while at a church meeting on Sunday afternoon. They had care flighted her to Medical Center of Plano where they induced a coma to repair the aneurysm. The doctors were able to stabilize the vessel with a coil procedure called embolization. They kept her on life support in the ICU for a week where they monitored secondary vessels spasms and treated her for pneumonia. Initially when they lowered the sedation they were able to get her to respond to commands and she was able to move most of her body. However, by the end of the first week, with lowered sedation, she was no longer responding and her CT scan showed that her injury was severe. Steve was then told by the doctors that her chances of living were in the single digits and they began discussing end of life issues. I can’t imagine how dark this must have felt for Steve. He told me that he spent the night weeping & praying to God to please show him either way. |
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Terri, my friend of 16 years, devoted wife to Steve, beloved mother of 4, dedicated nurse, loyal friend to so many. She had become a spiritual mentor and sister in Christ to me. It is Terri who helped me to open my heart to having a living relationship with God. She showed me the importance of practicing spiritual disciplines of prayer and bible study. She showed me what it looked like to turn to God’s word in life. She is my selfless and amazingly calm friend.
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