July 26, 2017
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| Dr. Castillo talking to Jay |
As I sat in the
hospital emergency room praying silently for my husband, I had a powerful
feeling that God is in the details of our lives. Perhaps this story really
began three days earlier in a small cinder block room with one barred window.
July 23, 2017
I peered through the
bars, wondering why Jay had returned to class after church services had ended.
In the dim light, I could see Jay and another man place their hands on the head
of a tiny baby. Several women were crying. Their painful expressions told me
that these were not tears of joy, but of sorrow.
After giving the
two-month old child a priesthood blessing, Jay explained to me that the
"soft spot" on her head had prematurely closed. The fused sutures
would not allow her skull to expand and accommodate her growing brain. Without
surgery, pressure would build, causing seizures, developmental impairment and
eventually death.
Her parents, Brother
and Sister De La Rosa, had lived with this terrible knowledge for a month. They
dearly loved Emily, their young daughter, but had no money for the costly
doctor visits and multiple surgeries that could save her life. Jay and I sensed
their despair; and we too, felt helpless. In this foreign country, it seemed that no "safety net" existed for children like Emily.
Although the priesthood blessing that Jay had offered, on behalf of little Emily, promised her that she would be healed, we still felt that she needed to have proper medical care. That evening after
praying for guidance, we called our friend and fellow missionary, Dr. Robert
Frampton. He advised us to tell the De La Rosa's not to wait for a doctor's
appointment, but to take their daughter to the emergency department of a
Esperanza Hospital in Guatemala City. He hoped that because this was a teaching
hospital, the interns or someone might consent to see Emily. He gave us the
name of an LDS doctor who could recommend a good pediatric neurosurgeon. Dr.
Frampton also thought our branch president would give Emily 's parents money to
help pay for the bus ride to the hospital.
Jay immediately
called the De La Rosa's with this news.
July 25, 2017
Late Tuesday night,
Jay was able to contact our mission president. When Jay told him about Emily,
President Shumway felt certain that, if necessary, church funds could cover her
medical expenses. In his words, "This is exactly the way welfare money should be used."
I was absolutely
thrilled! Things were looking up. All was well.
For ten minutes.
Almost as soon as Jay
hung up the phone, his heart began to pound irregularly. His world began to
spin; and he had trouble standing. We both recognized the symptoms of atrial
fibrillation. In December, it had caused us to postpone our mission. Now the
demon fibrillation was back. Could it lead to heart attack or stroke? Would the
doctors here have the knowledge and equipment to help Jay? Would we be able to
stay in Guatemala?
Although we felt
guilty for doing it, we again called Dr. Frampton. He advised us to wake up two
more friends, get a priesthood blessing, then try to rest.
If Jay's heart was no better by morning, he would need to go to the hospital.
Elders Jeff Clason and Larry Hogge came at once to bless Jay. The next day,
however, Jay's heart was still jumping like a frog.
July 26, 2017
On our way to the
hospital, Jay's cell phone rang. Sister De La Rosa was desperate. She and her
husband had traveled two hours to take Emily to the emergency room, but now
were told that Emily wouldn't be seen by anyone unless a deposit was paid up
front. Jay calmed her by saying, " Don't worry. We are only minutes away
from the hospital."
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| Esperanza Hospital |
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| Silvia De La Rosa with little Emily in the hospital. |
Then another tender
mercy happened. I remembered another paper that was tucked inside my purse.
On it, I had written the information concerning Emily. On this paper was
written the correct number for the LDS doctor. Jay called Dr. Marraquin who
quickly contacted a cardiologist friend of his. Almost instantly, Jay was
escorted to another nearby hospital where he received excellent treatment.
Atrial fibrillation
can cause spikes and dips in blood pressure. When the hospital staff first
started monitoring Jay's blood pressure, it was high. Then it suddenly dropped
to a measly 70 over 39. After 7 1/2 hours, Jay's heart was still out of rhythm,
but finally stable enough for him to go home.
We finished our paper
work at Herrera Llerandi Hospital then began to walk out the door. Before we
had reached the parking lot, Jay's phone rang again. Baby Emily had just finished
her day of medical tests. Her parents were in the accounting office, hoping to
get in touch with us so that we could receive a partial refund for the deposit.
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| Jay with De La Rosas at the hospital. |
When we met them in
the office, they were all smiles knowing that at last their daughter was on the
road toward her necessary surgery. After finalizing the paperwork, we drove the
sweet family to the bus stop.
July 28, 2017
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| Herrera Llerandi Hospital |
Today at the hospital
we received two good pieces of news. First, Dr. Castillo told us that Jay's
follow up EKG was completely normal. Second, we received a phone call from
Sister De La Rosa saying that Emily was scheduled for an appointment with the
Pediatric Neurologist--one step closer to surgery.
Dr. Marraquin and President Shumway will need to work with the welfare department to make financial arrangements and get approval for funding. Emily will face many challenging times before she is completely healed. Jay will probably need to take medicine for the rest of his life. But all in all, we feel very blessed. We feel our Heavenly Father's healing power and feel the tender mercies of the people entwined in our lives to help us at just the right times.
August 27, 2017
Life is full of twists and turns and journeys into the unknown. We are finding that we need more than casual faith in the judgment of our church leaders who make complex decisions--especially when those decisions affect us personally or affect the lives of those we love. For example, sometimes the choice is between using limited funds to save one small child or using those same funds to provide hospital equipment to help many children. So far, money has been approved for sweet little Emily to receive an electroencephalogram (EEG) and a magnetic resonance imaging exam (MRI), but not for her surgery. We are praying for a healing miracle. If that is not God's will, we are praying that the leaders will be inspired to provide funds for all of Emily's surgeries.
We are also fervently praying that we will be able to complete our mission in Guatemala. Last week we learned that we will need permission from the medical department in Salt Lake City for us to finish our mission. We will go back to Idaho Falls next week for an appointment with Jay's cardiologist. Test results and the decision of inspired leaders will determine our future. Hopefully, that future will include ten more months of service in Guatemala. Please pray for us and for little Emily.
We still have a lot of work to do.
Sept. 18, 2017
Permission granted! After a quick trip to the United States for Carly's baptism and a medical check-up for Jay, we were given permission from the mission medical authorities to return to Guatemala. Actually, after permission was granted, Jay ended up in the hospital in Idaho Falls with another atrial fibrillation episode, but we didn't mention that to the Salt Lake authorities and are returning with faith that all will be well. Jay's cardiologist thinks he can wait until after our mission to have surgery on his heart.
As for little Emily, the latest medical tests indicate that she will need surgery. We don't know where the money will come from to pay for this expensive procedure. She is always in our prayers.
Oct. 15, 2017
No money was allocated, but there has been an even better answer to prayer. Emily is healed! The latest tests show that her sutures have opened and her brain is growing normally!!!
Nov. 5, 2017
Emily is still growing normally and doing well. Although Jay and I believe that professional medical care is always appropriate, in Emily's case, a miracle was needed. Today Jay said to me, " It's funny how faith works. Maybe we should have had more confidence in the original blessing. I had pronounced that she would be healed, and she was."
April 9, 2018
Last night, Jay ended up in the hospital again. It took about seven hours for the Doctors to stop Jay's fibrillation and tachycardia. It will be good to get it taken care of permanently when we get back home. The doctors here don't want to tackle the surgery, but think they can control the problem with increased medicine until we return to the United States.
Sept. 11, 2018
Jay was scheduled today for surgery in Idaho Falls. His cardiologist, Dr. Perez, planned to cauterize the nodes in the atrium of Jay's heart. I had been told that the whole procedure would take less than two hours. The two hours passed, then another, then another. While I sat in the waiting room, I felt surprisingly peaceful despite the fact that no one came to explain why the surgery was taking so long. As it turned out, the extra time was due to an extra blessing. Right after the doctor had corrected the source of the atrial fibrillation, Jay's heart unexpectedly went into supra-ventricular fibrillation. The surgical team was able to diagnose the problem and fix that part of Jay's heart also. No one had previously been aware of the fact that he had more than one type of fibrillation. We are so grateful that the surgery was successful and that Jay didn't need to undergo two separate operations. All is well that ends well.
