Do you believe people can come back from the dead? I never thought much about this question until I had my own Near Death Experience.
Since the year 2000 I'd become increasingly ill. This was disheartening since I was only 48 years old at the start of chronic physical problems. I developed Sjogrens Auto Immune Disorder which, over time, attacked my salivary glands, heart, and lungs. At the age of 49 I needed open heart surgery for idiopathic pericarditis. (See February '13 blog, "ABANDONMENT, ANGER AND AN ANGEL")
In 2005, three years later, I was diagnosed with an incurable lung disease. By October 2008, at 56 years of age, I depended 24 hours a day on supplemental oxygen, and struggled with an addiction to opiates and benzodiazepines. Due to difficulty breathing Prednisone was prescribed which brought my weight up to over 250 pounds, and necessitated two cataract surgeries. I was often bed-ridden, and wheel chair dependent. Severely depressed I slept an average of 16 hours a day. I'd given up hope of ever being healthy. I spent a lot of time in doctors offices and in the hospital, but all the doctors could do was try and manage my symptoms.
I became isolated from family because they could not comprehend what I was going through. I had no friends because I was miserable and depressed. I made very poor company, and stopped socializing. I seldom left the house since I had to always have oxygen with me, but mostly my obesity shamed me. In public people treated me differently as a direct result of my excess weight. I saw the harsh looks, and heard the unkind comments directed at me. Before my illness I'd been anorexic for twenty years! The difference in the way people treated me as a heavy woman was shocking and painful. Church attendance stopped because I felt as though God had forgotten me. The only person in my life was my faithful husband who took care of me, but I couldn't even appreciate him. It was the darkest time in my life, and I felt I would be better off dead.
Three days before my accidental overdose on Valium it had became necessary to have my remaining teeth extracted due to damage from “dry mouth” associated with Sjogren's Auto Immune Disorder. This was the straw that broke the camels back, as the old saying goes. A valium drip was used to sedate me for the surgery, but Post Traumatic Stress kept me from completely going under. I have absolutely no memory of the gruesome dental surgery, or my fighting the dentist or yelling for him to stop. My husband witnessed all this, and told me about it later. I also have no memory of the following three days at home recovering while I self-medicated on my stash of Valium. Then I overdosed.
I remember only one moment clearly. October 23rd at 8:30 in the morning I heard the voice of God say, "Call 911". I began to argue with the voice because I felt just fine. I was in a place where there was no light, no sound, no feeling. Nothing. But it was a very peaceful place. Then the voice of God commanded more firmly, "Call 911" and He added the word "NOW". I don't remember making the phone call, the ambulance attendants taking vitals, or putting me on a gurney and transporting me to the emergency room, or the fiasco that took place at the hospital to save my life. I remember absolutely nothing but the powerful yet loving voice of God calling me back to life. It was a profound moment which forever changed me in many ways.
I awoke in intensive care with inhalation pneumonia in both diseased lungs, intubated, and very confused. When the tube was removed I was unable to speak, or write. It's like my brain had been "rebooted" and I had to re-learn these things all over again. After I completely woke up, and the intubation tubes were removed, and I had stabilized enough to be moved out of intensive care into a regular room, I knew the only reason I was alive was because God had literally called me back to life. If I had not called 911 early that morning my husband would have found me dead that evening when he got home from work. I knew I should (and perhaps did) die, but God protected me and brought me back! I was ecstatic! I felt God’s love in the most profound way, and I couldn't stop talking about Him or giving Him praise.
While in the hospital, on top of my positive mental attitude and spiritual awakening, I quickly discovered I had NO PAIN anywhere in my body. I'd been taking opiates for 20 years for chronic back pain. Pain was part of my everyday life. AND I'd just had all my teeth removed; yet I felt NO back pain, or mouth pain in spite of a mouth full of sutures. When my primary care physician suggested I be taken off all Valium, and most of the opiates I readily agreed because I was "healed". That's what popped out of my mouth. “I’m healed!” I had no idea what I'd been healed from, but I "knew" my body was different, and God was totally responsible. Seven days later I was released from the hospital to recover from inhalation pneumonia, and begin withdrawal from three different drugs.
For three months I was desperately sick from withdrawal symptoms, and didn't leave my bed except to use the bathroom. I lost 50 pounds. As horrific a time this was for me physically I was filled with joy, and happiness, and peace. God was in that room with me; encouraging me, teaching me, and showering me with love. I heard God's voice giving me instructions as to how I was to live my life from that time on. In what I'm sure must be record time the pneumonia disappeared. Remember, when I contracted double pneumonia I had diseased lungs which didn't work properly. The fact that my lungs healed in just 3 months is incredible! But much more was happening to my body. Six months after my overdose I stopped using supplemental oxygen during the day, and by the eighth month I stopped using oxygen altogether. All my Sjogren's symptoms completely disappeared! My mouth, which hadn't produced saliva in over 15 years became moist. My eyes became moist as well.
By the time the worst of the withdrawal symptoms disappeared (just three months) my back pain slowly returned, but it was completely manageable now with a minimum of medication. I've had individuals tell me it took them over a year to withdraw from the amount of Valium I'd been taking. Over a year! And I was feeling normal in just three months! I also asked my physician if there was any possible natural explanation for the three months of no back pain while I was going through withdrawal. She shook her head no, and added she’d never heard of anyone who didn’t have INCREASED pain during the first months of withdrawal from opiates. She said there was absolutely no explanation for my lack of pain. This was just another incredible miracle!
On the one year anniversary of the overdose my physician could find NO disease in my lungs. It was as though I'd never had a lung disease, much less an incurable one. There was no residual lung damage. She was astounded! So was my pulmonolgist when she saw me. Both doctors told me that this sort of thing NEVER happens, and that there was no explanation. Also, the auto immune disease Sjogrens disappeared as well. I was more healthy then I'd been in over 15 years. I knew I'd been healed physically by God.
During that same year many other changes began happening to my body, mind and spirit; increased sense of smell, more tolerant and accepting of other’s beliefs, less controlling and less obsessive behaviors, “evangelistic” about telling others about God's love, less materialistic, a better listener, cured of bi-polar disorder and chronic depression! In my life before the overdose I seldom read a book; now I’m an AVID reader, and “consume” four or more books a month. I've read the entire Bible three times! My 22 year marriage is profoundly stronger then I even knew was possible! And I continue to be in excellent health. These are some of the changes that have transpired in the last almost six years. I give God the glory!
I didn't understand what was happening to me until I began to read about “Near Death Experiences”, and the profound effects of such an experience. (Read my blog, "The Fascinating Subject Of Near Death Experiences" in June, '13) My spirit confirmed that the close call with death during my Valium overdose was a Near Death Experience.
On October 23, 2014 it will be six years since my NDE. My life will never be the same. Praise God! This has created nothing but positive changes in my life, and marriage. My husband, who never believed in a personal God, now believes in a God who loves and cares for us because of the miracles he's seen in my body, mind, and spirit. We are involved in a spirit-filled Four Square Gospel church, and I LIVE MY FAITH! I speak of my experience whenever I'm given the opportunity. The message I want to communicate with anyone who will listen is that God loves us beyond measure. Jesus' love is the ultimate answer to any problem. We can trust our Heavenly Father and His Son with our lives! No matter how dark things may seem in our lives, God is there with us!
This photo was taken of me one year before my Near-Death Experience.
This photo was taken two months after my overdose while still on oxygen.
This was taken one year after my Near-Death Experience with my adult children!
