Born Again...

Have you ever witness someone being born again? It is the most humbling yet joyful experience for me!!

In 2009/2010 my beloved Glen started becoming ill. Having

played goalie in hockey his entire life until his knees took him out

of reaching the NHL, doctors had said he had nerve damage in his neck and there was nothing they were going to do at the time and wouldn't do anything until it really started affecting him. When he started getting ill, it appeared to be something like what the doctors had described would happen when the nerve damage became severe. So, with this information, his doctor started prescribing him nerve pain medications to help until he could get in to his neurologist, which involved a waiting list.

It got to the point where nothing was helping, his life was nothing but pain, he could not lay down anymore, or stand up, or eat... the only position that provided any comfort was sitting in a kitchen chair backwards and resting his chin on the back of the chair. The doctor suggested he just go to Royal Columbian Hospital's emergency and get in to see someone there. So he did. It was February 14, 2010. 

They wanted to give him an MRI to see what was going on. After giving him 20 units of morphine for the pain, he was only able to lay down for the MRI in 2-3 minute intervals. They realized that his pain was so severe, he was admitted to hospital for further investigations.

On the next Friday night, we were sat together in his room. He was sat up in bed, looking bright and his pain was finally under control. I actually commented on how much better he looked! His skin tone had gone from grey to colourful again. He no longer looked like he was dying. Just after that, his neurosurgeon walked in. With no bedside manners, yet brilliant in his field, he stated "Your liver has shut down and Internal Meds will be up to see you in the morning.", then he left the room. 

We sat there looking at each other... liver? Shut down? Don't we only have one liver? and it hit me... He had colour now because he had jaundice. This wasn't good!

The next day the internal med people decided it would be best to put Glen into an induced coma and run all sorts of scans and tests with him in that state. So off to ICU he went, and the tests and scans commenced. 

It didn't take long for the doctors to gather the family together and give us the bad news... he had cancer... and he had it everywhere in his abdomen that he possible could. We were devastated! There was literally nothing that could be done for him - every organ had it. The prognosis they gave was about 6 weeks left. 

During his time in ICU and in the induced comma, I had taken an iPod and speaker in to his room, having downloaded about 30 of my favourite ‪Christian‬ worship songs. Glen was used to the songs; I used to have my favourite Christian radio station streaming from my computer in the office we shared in our home. I knew that if anything could get through this situation, ‪God‬ could. I ended up buying another iPod and each day I would download more songs and swap the music around. It played constantly in his ICU room, 24/7. 

When he was brought out of the comma, I think he knew what was going on... But he didn't let on. He did however know that Canada had won gold in the Olympic Men's Hockey - that was the first thing out of his mouth!! So even in his comma, he had heard conversations around him, as we talked to him like he was involved in the conversation.

It was just after that, after he came out of his comma, that I prayed with him and he accepted Christ. He couldn't talk much so I said the prayer and he just nodded in agreement. I started off with "Dear Lord, my name is Glen... and I'm a sinner...". I can't remember what else I said after that point but at that point he kind of jerked in bed, his eyes bulged out and he gave me a look that said "Don't tell God that!! I don't want Him to know I'm a sinner!". It was soooooo funny!!! But that was the day ‪Christ‬ made His home in Glen's heart.

When he was taken out of ICU and place back in the regular ward of the hospital, it was then that his oldest son and I told him the prognosis. He was remarkably ok with it. He couldn't talk much at this point and the pain was very high, but he simply asked how long he had, and also wanted to know where his music was. I had taken the iPods home at the recommendation of the nurses so they weren't stolen. My one true regret!

By this time, extended family knew and people were coming to see him, say goodbye and so on. One day, his cousin and I passed each other in the hall as I was coming in and she was leaving. She is just this incredible, beautiful Christian lady - inside and out! And she stopped me to tell me what had happened...

As she and her husband walked into his room for their visit, Glen, who could barely move or talk at all at this point, sat bolt up right in bed and proclaimed to them that "Jesus is in my heart!!", and then lay back down... I knew Jesus was there! That was a ‪‎miracle‬!!
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I wish I could tell you that God came in and saved the day with miraculously curing every stitch of cancer, but I can't. But what I can tell you is that a few days later on March 10, 2010, with the BIGGEST smile on his face that I had ever seen, my beloved Glen went home to ‪Heaven‬. He was born again. And in Heaven he is whole, he is healthy, and he is happy. And that was my miracle!