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Jan 5, 2011

The Waiting List



What can you do when surgery to repair a structural problem in your spine fails?

Here's one solution:

On recent call, we took an elderly man home from the hospital. He had terminal metastatic cancer of the spine that had spread to multiple organs. When we got to his home we were met by his family. His daughter wanted to help us lift him into bed but couldn’t. She had a severe back injury. My partner and I moved him over with ease then I asked his daughter about her back injury.

She sustained a crushed vertebrae in a car accident years ago. Typically, the damaged bone is repaired surgically with bone grafts. Metal plates or rods are attached to stabilize it further. Unfortunately, many patients suffer severe pain after the procedure. This was one of those cases.

She has severe pain every day. She's on the waiting list for a vertebral implant; a device that replaces the damaged bone. It's used with a bone graft to fuse the vertebrae together.


I asked if she wanted to be healed. She asked what I had planned and if it would hurt. She wasn't very trusting, but I decided to have fun with her.
I told her I wanted to show her instead of tell her.
She asked what I was going to do.
I asked her to trust me.
She wanted to know if it would hurt. I promised not to hurt her and asked if I could place my hand on her back.
She gave in.
I placed my hand on the middle of her back and commanded it to be healed in Jesus name.
With a huge smile that soon turned to laughter she said, “I just love my holy ghost friends.”
I asked if she felt anything.
“Just the presence of God.”
I spoke to the spirit of pain and commanded it to leave, then commanded her spine to be healed and asked how she felt.
Twisting back and forth at the waist she said, “I can’t feel any pain.” She bent down and touched her toes and informed me that all the pain was gone.
She wrapped her arms around me and gave me a big hug and thanked me.
She's bound to have an MRI soon. I wonder what they'll find.
She asked if I’d pray for her dad who we brought from the hospital. I didn’t get a chance to pray with him in the ambulance because I was driving. We knelt down beside his bed and prayed for healing. I gave her some infomation about how to keep the pain in her back from returning and gave her a card to the website.
She thanked us and we left.
I can't describe in words how wonderful it is to be used as an instrument in the hands of God. Nearly everywhere I go there are people who need the great physician's healing touch. Some are on the waiting list, hoping for man's best invention as a remedy for their pain.
Jesus is so much better at healing than we are.