It's been a tough and rough go, very emotional. We have lost two family members, one from each side of the family. First, my sister's husband Larry, they are high school sweethearts and were married for 37 years. Larry was more of a brother than a brother in law and we were very close. I have known him since I was about 11 years old. Then, my husband's brother, Gary, he and my husband were very close and he was a witty, funny, amazing person, both were too young to go, both in the early 50's, with much more life to experience.
One week after Robert's Brother passed, my husband Robert, got very sick and was in the hospital in the intensive care unit for 21 days. The doctors didn't give him much of a chance to make it. His organs were failing one by one, and he was losing his fight. Even I didn't realize how close he came to dying until after it was all over with and the Doctors told me that he is truly a miracle and that they never would have believed that he would pull through, much less, have no lingering issues. Every doctor who came in after he was released into a regular room all said the same thing, "Mr, Rutherford, you shouldn't be here, you've been given a second Chance." It was a very frightful time, but, I have to tell you what happened, it was something incredible and I believe a true miracle.
It had started out like it usually does, with an attack of pancreatitis, which is always a serious and life threatening condition, but, he always pulled through, but this time, he wasn't getting better, he was just stuck, every day, I kept hoping to hear that he was just even a little better, but, Seventeen days into it, he was still on the fifty fifty plain, not getting better, but not getting worse, then, he took the turn for the worse. He had been placed on dialysis while in ICU because his kidneys had completely failed, his pancreas had quit working, his liver was failing, his lungs were filling with fluid, in other words, the doctors told me that his body was shutting down. Robert had been having dialysis every day for a week and I was told that if he survived, he would have to continue dialysis for at least several weeks and probably for the rest of his life.
I was standing by his bedside, He was still on the breathing apparatis but, all of a sudden, he took a loud gasp and wasn't able to breathe, the heart moniter was totally eradic and it looked as his heart was finally going to give out, he started to shake and spasm and I was rushed out of the room, they flattened out the bed, they stripped him down and were just about to apply the paddles, and then everything just stopped, his heart went into a regular rythm and everything calmed down. The doctors and nurses had a look of confusion and amazement on their faces. I was standing at the doorway, and witnessed this with my own eyes.
I believe in that moment, the minute that he started to shake and spasm and his heart was going nuts, and I believe this with all my heart, I believe that God himself reached down and grabbed a hold of his soul and pulled him out of his downward spiral. Every organ that was failing began to function, even his kidneys regained full function, no more dialysis. His liver function returned to normal, he was off the machine that was helping him to breathe, and his pancreatic enzymes returned to normal. WOW! Thank you God!! The Doctors were even amazed, every doctor that he had, and there were several, commented, that even they couldn't explain what had occurred. They were amazed that he made it, he was going down so fast, but, after the heart incident, within a couple of days, he was able to get out of intensive care and be sent to a regular room and a couple of days after that, HE WAS HOME!!
Anyone who tells you that God doesn't exist and that prayer doesn't work, I challenge you to tell them this story. Robert was on several prayer chains, even on prayer chains of people that he and in some cases even I didn't know, just people that knew our exteneded family members and cared enough to pray for him and our families.
I don't even know all the people that I need to thank, but, Thank You, Thank you all, if it weren't for you sending your prayers for Robert, I beleive that he wouldn't be here today. I also want to thank both of our families, especially my two sisters, Gay, who even with the loss of her husband was there the entire time to support me, and my little sister Suzy, who came and stayed also. I also want to thank Robert's Brothers Rick and David, who came and stayed and supported me also. We spent many hours together in the waiting room and they made it so much easier, the conversations, and even the laughter that helped to lighten the load was what enabled me to get through all of this. Also, Robert's parents, two amazing people, who love their boys and thier families so much, and it's amazing they are so strong, because they are both in their eighties, and especially after losing one of their precious sons, were still able to support us through all of this.
What would we do with out our families, they are what keeps us strong in terrible times and without them, we would be hard pressed to be able to carry the weight of many of the things that life has in store for us. I suppose that's why God gave us the ability to develope these strong bonds and build our families like we are able to do. So, thank you, thank you so much.
Also, I was working with some clients on some products that I was making for them, and I ran late on all of them because of all of this, and they were so understanding and they also supported us during this time. Thanks Pegi and Valerie and Karen for being so patient.
