When is the best time to pray (continued)?
Part 2.
It was around midnight when we received the call. A surgical patient staying overnight for care was experiencing low blood pressure, a high heart rate, low oxygenation, and was diaphoretic. The nurse’s report conveyed shock, specifically hypovolemic shock.
Two anesthetists and one surgeon headed over to assess the patient. Part of me agonized over staying behind. My stomach seized, recognizing the seriousness of our predicament. If the nurse’s assessment was accurate, our patient needed fluids. More importantly, she needed blood. And blood was the one fluid we did not have.
My mind raced as sleep was inconceivable. As an anesthetist, I understand the dangers of hypovolemic shock.
For two hours, I labored in prayer as my teammates toiled in the clinic, assessing the patient and determining her plan of care.
Finally, under the sound of hushed voices, I heard the door to the Brittney Home of Grace open. Desperately wanting an update, I jumped out of bed to listen to the first-hand account.
Marcelle gave the patient a vial of albumin, and her blood pressure stabilized. She was placed on oxygen, and her stomach was measured and marked to assess for future swelling. Most notably, her blood draw indicated what I had feared most. Her hemoglobin was 4.1. A normal hemoglobin level (Hgb) is between 12-14 g/dl. It was clear our patient had lost a lot of blood. What was unclear was where it was. The anesthetist had reported a 250ml blood loss during the case. But a 250 ml blood loss would have decreased our patient’s Hgb from 10 to 9, but not 4.1. The question was, where was the missing blood? Either a seasoned anesthetist had overlooked more than a liter of blood loss, or our patient’s bleeding was concealed. Most likely, the blood hid in her belly. She was bleeding internally.
The surgeon ordered another lab draw and asked the clinic administrator to find some blood. We had bought time with the albumin, but the clock was ticking. We lacked any good options. We would have brought the patient back to the operating room to find the bleeding vessel and cauterize it in the states. It’s a risky procedure requiring multiple anesthesia providers and several units of blood but no guarantees. After twenty years of anesthesia, I can’t remember any Hgb’s of 4.1, but I remember several women coding on induction of anesthesia with higher Hgb’s.
The 2nd option was to do nothing except pray the bleeding vessel clotted off before the patient bled to death.
Four hours later, we were back at the clinic. Josephus was our priority. Christ left the 99 in search of the 1 (Luke 15:3-7). Josephus was our 1. No surgeries would begin until she was assessed and a plan of care determined. Her repeat lab revealed a Hgb of 3.9. She was stable on oxygen and remained in “compensated shock.” An abdominal ultrasound Tuesday morning showed a moderate-to-large amount of blood in her abdomen. We had found the missing blood. Fortunately, the clinic administrator found a unit of blood for Josephus, hours away. He had traveled overnight to retrieve the blood. It was present and ready to be infused when we arrived at the clinic Tuesday morning.
Josephus was placed on bed rest and told not to eat or drink in case we needed to bring her back to the operating room. She was given a unit of blood, and the surgeon instructed the clinic administrator to find another unit to be infused.
Creflo Dollar said, “Nothing happens on earth by God without someone praying first.”
My prayer for this team had been for God to be glorified. Losing a patient is a risk of any surgical procedure, no matter how seemingly benign. But losing a patient is devastating for everyone. No one is spared the agony or grief of the loss. Our team worked alongside Kenyan healthcare professionals to care for the most vulnerable. We did so in the name of Christ. Just like Jesus said, For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in… I was sick and you looked after me…whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'” (Matthew 25:35-40)
There is nothing the devil likes less than when God’s Word and will are fulfilled through us. And just like I mentioned a few posts back, we should expect the wind, expect pushback, when we choose to obey God. The devil has no intention of missing an opportunity to discourage, distract, or defeat the people God is using to accomplish His will.
Two nights before the drama, when everything was still and quiet, the Holy Spirit stirred. He alerted me of things to come. I sensed a burden to pray, but I didn’t know why I was praying. “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” (John 16:13) The Spirit knew a battle was approaching, and the lines were being drawn. One woman’s life was on the line. The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. (John 10:10) Her life meant nothing to our enemy. She was simply a pawn in his hand. But to God, she was the 1 He left the 99 in search of. She was worth pursuing. She was worth 3 am prayer sessions, and 7 am prayer walks. To Christ, she was worth dying for.
Josephus is a beautiful picture of the height and depth and width of God’s all-surpassing love. She is a woman marginalized by society, abandoned by her husband, scarred by the death of her only son, stigmatized by HIV, and suffered from constant pain and bleeding. Our culture espouses the benefits of depopulation while God sends people from halfway around the world to remind Josephus she is not forgotten. She is seen. She is loved. God stopped an entire surgical team to ensure the restoration of her health. He reminded the devil our God marginalizes no one. No one is beyond His reach or His love.
God answered my prayer. He clotted off the bleeding vessel in Josephus’s stomach. She received the 2nd unit of blood. She was walking with a smile by Wednesday and discharged home Thursday morning.
I remember contemplating God’s Word during the chaotic days of the clinic. “Now I know why Jesus got up early in the morning, while it was still dark to go to a solitary place to pray.” (Mark 1:35) There was no time to pray once the clinic started. We were so busy living the Word of God by caring for the sick, loving on those hurting, sewing up wounds, measuring blood loss, and giving anesthesia. We were busy fighting the good fight, much like Christ, when the crowds in need of healing surrounded him.
The moral of the story is we must come to the battle prepared to fight. We must come filled with the presence of God through prayer and His Word.
The best time to pray is before the battle begins when it is still and quiet.
I’m not sure Josephus would have survived her internal bleeding without the 3 am prayer session, or 7 am prayer walk. I didn’t know why we needed to pray, but the Holy Spirit did. He made intercession for Josephus. God fought our battles. He fought for Josephus, and He won!
