Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that’s where life starts. —Proverbs 4:23
What started off as an ordinary Monday on July 1st, ended in an extraordinary way—and that was just the beginning of an unexpected journey of the heart.
My mother was being treated for severe acid reflux. Each time she visited the gastroenterologist, she was given additional medicine and her diet was more and more restricted. When she asked the doctor when she should come back for a follow-up, he responded that she was just going to have to live with it, there was no need to see her again—in other words, “suck it up buttercup”—he dismissed her. Mom’s symptoms and pain became increasingly worse; she lost a lot of weight, lost energy, and was losing heart.
In the weeks, and especially days, leading up to July 1st Mom felt desperate for help. She didn’t tell anyone though. My father had been going through chemotherapy and had been doing well and was active, but as his wife and caregiver, she was reluctant to say too much to him about what she was really going through. Thoughts of going to the local hospital emergency room kept nudging her, but she couldn’t bring herself to go—she had a strong feeling that she shouldn’t. Several things she experienced and that people said to her seemed like signs of something, but she wasn’t sure how to perceive it.
Timing Is Everything
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.” —Acts 1:7
On that ordinary Monday of July 1st, Mom had an appointment with a cardiologist for a routine stress test. She was feeling so bad that she nearly cancelled the appointment. Finally, she mustered up the strength, and my sister accompanied her as scheduled. What happened next changed her life forever.
As she was going through the battery of tests, she was becoming anxious and feeling quite odd. The pain in her chest intensified with yet another acid reflux episode—or so she thought. These attacks had become more frequent and more severe in the last week. The nurse, observing all of this, knew better and called the doctor in immediately.
Mom did not have acid reflux; she was having a heart attack—one of many, evidently.
On some level she was relieved because she just wanted someone to help her. She was immediately rushed to St. Francis Medical Center emergency room in Trenton, NJ—not the hospital she had been considering… and not a hospital she would have normally considered. A team was waiting for her. Her heart was catheterized; what they discovered was astonishing. One of mom’s arteries was 99% blocked, and two others in dangerous condition. This was serious!
It was late in the afternoon, and surgeries are usually scheduled for morning, but the heart surgeon assembled his large team of specialists and staff in record time and performed triple by-pass surgery that very evening. He was of the opinion that she would likely not survive the night otherwise. After a six-hour surgery, my mother was in cardiac recovery. She would survive the night after all.
St. Francis Medical Center was founded in 1874. Over the years its reputation had waned for many reasons; more recently, however, they had established a highly reputable cardiac unit—the only hospital in the county that the state of NJ allows to perform open-heart surgery. My mother was in the right place at the right time. She had read an article about this cardiac unit just a week prior to her ordeal and she was surprised by it—this was not a coincidence.
A Grateful Heart
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. —John 14:27
Her heart surgeon was Pasquale (Pat) Luciano. We endearingly referred to him as “Lucky Luciano,” not be be confused with the boardwalk gangster Charles “Lucky” Luciano—we were in NJ after all. What’s luck got to do with it? Nothing, but Mom felt lucky that he was her surgeon, she was in the right place at the right time, and she knew God had orchestrated everything. After surgery and even in ICU, Mom smiled a lot despite the intensity of what she was experiencing. All she could say was, “I am so grateful.” She frequently said that Dr. Luciano touched her heart, and well… he did—literally. He not only touched it, but fixed it.
“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
Pray and be prayed for because we desperately need one another; God tells us to lift one another up. When we pray for one another, God heals us. Mom recalls that as she was going into surgery, many of the attending staff said, “We love you, we are praying for you, and you’re going to okay.” She felt an unusual sense of calm. She was not afraid; she could “be still and know” God was with her and her medical team. She felt as if she was surrounded by angels—and she was.
Our family experienced a miracle. So many things that happened or were said were inexplicable. Why did God wait until the very last hours—we almost lost her. We long to be able to understand the how and why of things that happen in our lives. We want to know what time, where to go, how to get there, and what will happen when we do. It helps us to create a sense of security. But God’s time is so far from our concept that it can be difficult not to panic at the thought of trusting it. When we do, however, we can regain our sense of security, by drawing it from its rightful place—in Him.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” — Proverbs 3:5-6
Although my mother was dismissed by her gastroenterologist, she was not dismissed by God. He will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). Everything that happened to her happened according to God’s plan. He gave Mom a new heart in so many ways. I pray He gave our family a new heart. Is it a coincidence that Mom had three arteries replaced in her heart and she had her three daughters caring for her? Is it a coincidence that my mother had visions of my later sister, Leslie, when she was going into surgery?
Don’t let your heart be troubled, because there are no coincidences in God’s providence. You must truly trust in the Lord with all your heart. Is it a wonder that in the Hebrew language there is no word for coincidence? That’s because God is in control of it all.
Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that’s where life starts. —Proverbs 4:23
