The birth of the first
of our five children was by far the most frightening. The birth itself seemed pretty normal. In those wee hours of the morning we knew
nothing of the imminent danger lurking within his abdomen but as the sun rose that
day we would be startled to discover he was born with an intestinal
malrotation. In his case the duodenum was
wrapped around the colon in a spiral like fashion constricting the blood flow
to the lower abdomen. Obviously this
demanded urgent action.
Everything happened so
quickly! I had gone home to get some
much needed sleep when I was awakened by a phone call from my wife explaining
what they had just reported to her. By
the time I reached the hospital, preparation was already being made to transfer
our son to the finest pediatric facility in the state. He was airlifted from
Ardmore, Oklahoma to Oklahoma Children’s Medical Center in Oklahoma City. A friend and I followed by car. When we arrived I was told that he needed
surgery quickly to correct the problem as a barium swallow had confirmed the
earlier diagnosis. Within forty five
minutes he was undergoing surgery as we sat and waited. A Ladd’s Procedure would be performed in
which the digestive system would be untangled and tacked down to prevent future
problems. The doctor returned from
surgery unusually early. When surgery is
unexpectedly short or inordinately long you assume the worst. Imagine my surprise when the doctor explained
the malrotation was not there when they opened him up.
For the next ten days
this excellent research hospital conducted every test imaginable on his infant
body without finding any explanation of his presenting symptoms. Finally, in a meeting with one of the
surgeons I asked, “Is there any explanation for the discrepancy between the
barium swallow you did and the absence of the malrotation forty five minutes
later in the operating room?” He
responded by saying he had been thinking about that ever since the surgery and
could not come up with one. I then asked
if we could chalk this one up to the miraculous. “If he never has another problem I would be
willing to do that.” I’m not sure if the
surgical team ever knew that people in seven states were praying for him at the
time of his surgery.
We were told at that
time that the surgical scar would disappear with time and when he was older no
one would ever notice it. The scar is
still there and plainly visible to all.
Through the years each time he has visited a new physician or peeled off
his shirt in a locker room the scar has proven an opportunity to testify to the
goodness of God in healing him. Scars
can be poignant reminders of the past.
As this column goes to
print our son is celebrating his thirty second birthday and we rejoice that the
scar still speaks of the power of a miracle working God!
