Jim – A Miracle from God
It was December, 1991 when old athletic, painting and building injuries finally took their toll on my back. I was in constant pain and was diagnosed with a worn-out disc between the C-5 and C-6 vertebrae. An operation was performed and bone was taken from hip and a bone to bone fusion was performed. When I woke my first memory was “I am not hurting.”
This surgery was a success until January, 1999 when I started back to school after Christmas break. On the way home after school, the first day back, I had to pull off the road with excruciating pain in my left shoulder and arm. I wasn’t sure I could make it home because of the pain, but after sitting beside the road for about 20 minutes the pain eased somewhat and I was able to drive the rest of the way home. The pain remained but was tolerable until Wednesday when I called Norma and told her the severe pain was back, and I was calling Knoxville Orthopedic Clinic (KOC) for an appointment with my spine doctor. I couldn’t get an appointment until the following Monday. During the ensuing time the pain went away. Norma and I even went out and looked at houses on Saturday. On Sunday morning we woke to go to Church but when I tried to get out of bed my left arm wouldn’t move. The odd thing was, there was no pain. Norma called our family doctor and was told to get me to the hospital where they did tests and sent me home with instructions to go to KOC first thing Monday morning.
At KOC they did an MRI, spinal tap with dye and several other tests. After three doctors consulted, they came back to me and said an operation was too dangerous to perform. It would be better to lose the use of my arm than attempt an operation that could leave my body totally paralyzed or worse yet, dead.
I asked if there were any other options and was told that if I went to therapy I could possibly be able to my belt buckle but the probability was very small. For the next six months I went to therapy with no positive results. By this time I was really getting down in the dumps. Norma had to help me get dressed. I couldn’t learn how to get my pants nor my shirt buttoned with just one hand. I was having thoughts like I can’t go fishing, boating, mow the yard, and being left handed unable to write. You should have seen me trying to get a spoonful of Cheerios to my mouth with my right hand. I would start with a spoon full and maybe get three or four to my mouth.
Norma and I were unable to sleep in the same bed because I couldn’t sleep and would roll and toss all night. One night, about six months into this ordeal,I got rolled up in the covers on the bed and couldn’t get out. Being a little claustrophobic I panicked for about a minute. During that minute, I sweated enough to get my covers wet with sweat. I was finally able to free myself and sit up on the side of the bed and was again feeling sorry for myself thinking of all the things I was now unable to do. I then sat up straight on the side of the bed and said “LORD I CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE. HERE IT IS, IT’S YOURS” and with my right hand I handed my problems to Him. At that very moment a peace came over me like I had never felt before, and I got up, went to the other side of the bed, laid down and got the best night’s sleep I have ever had. When I woke the next morning I could move my fingers ever so slightly. My God was making me better. Over the next five to six months I slowly got more and more movement back until I was able to have full range of motion. I didn’t get all my strength back but I am still able to get dressed by myself, go fishing, boating and mow my grass among other things.
When I was released by my doctor he said, “I am not sure how you are able to do the things you are able to do with your left arm and hand.” My reply was simple. “I do. My Lord fixed me.”
I never knew what the Bible meant when it says “peace beyond all understanding” but now I do. I don’t know how it happens but I have experienced that peace. I don’t understand it but I know without a doubt that it comes from God.
Jim Slone