Another Life Experience

Skype Talk

I am diagnosed with HVC - my sister was writing to me over Skype and it would not fit my mind. I could not grasp that my only 26 year old sister with 2 small kids got infected with such a vicious disease.
I quickly make a google research and find out that HVC is almost like HIV, it breaks the liver, leads to cancer in many cases, and makes the infected person die very early.

Tears flooded my face as I was still skyping with my younger sister, trying to console her and silently praying at the same time. I remember I told her that she needs to pray too, and to my surprise she agreed.

My sister was attending the seventh day adventist church only for a few years - when she was as little as 11. Then she started a separate new life, ran away from home and never returned back. One day she got happily married and in several years successfully divorced left with 2 little kids on her hands. She used to smoke and quit, and start again and then quit again, drink sometimes, as they call it socially, drugs sometimes, too, maybe they would call it in Netherlands Social drug addict. By 26 she had 2 surgeries, broken life and no education. My mom would support my sister with money for renting a house, i used to share with her a little money for food. My grandpa would also help as well as my uncle.

And here it is: a horrible diagnosis! Hepatitis...

Hepatitis 

We finished our skype conversation and I headed to google again, searching for treatment, cause and clinics. Quickly did I realize that there is a tremendously difficult treatment, an expensive one, a very expensive, I should say. A challenging one! 40 000 USD for 24 weeks, just to keep the virus suppressed... I was overwhelmed, but did not lose my consciousness. My next step was to go to odnoklassniki.com - pretty much like facebook, but for russian speaking audience site. Found there a group full of doctors, posted there a request for a good doctor in Dnepropetrovsk (my sisters city of residence) and waited.

Waited? Did I write simply that? Wait, no 100% correct. We - me, my mom, my friends from church, my sister - we all prayed.

I already decided that I will have to work and all the money I will earn in the next year I will put aside for my sister's treatment.

SO, time went by. Very little time comparing to infinite, and very long time for us. Within 2 (two) days only I received a message on odnoklassniki.ru, saying: there is a company in ukraine, that is reseaching a new medicament - a new drug developed in Ukraine. They need 70! people infected by HVC, that were never treated by any kind of treatment, and have hepatitis C#3.

Hmmm... Puzzled, I forwarded the message to my sister and reiterated to my mom the content. My sister said she does not know whether she's got Hepatitis C #1, #2 or #3. Additional tests were required to finalize. Additional intensive prayers were rising up to Jesus for next 1 week (it takes 1 week to decipher the tests).

Just let it be your will, dear Jesus! Let is be your will... SHould my sister go for this treatment? It is helpful? Will she be accepted?

The day of the test results is here: we all are nervously waiting for the final results. We are shocked, we are excited, we are stunned, we lie down on our faces to bring glory to our powerful God again: My sister has got HVC # 3 and she is accepted for treatment FOR FREE!

Imagine!.. I was just now thinking how to get 40 K USD, a huge huge amount of money, and here Jesus say: here you are! Have it for free! Unbelievable... inconceivable... Almighty God - for Him nothing is impossible!

SO, my sister started the treatment, 1 shot every other day. Anywhere. Everywhere. Her body soon became a pillow for needles. The drugs with severe side effects - up to suicidal tendencies - so painful were headache, muscle ache, and sores, that would appear from time to time all over her body as an allergic reaction to the treatment.

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We prayed. Prayer became my sister's help. She started attending church and was longing to go to the worship service every sabbath. We did not need to tell her, she would do it all by herself. Willingly.

The treatment was prescribed for 24 weeks. If the body would bear it...

1st week past. second did. third did, too. Every single week my sister would have to make a new test, to see how the drug works. That was a must. And that was good, for at least she did not need to pay for tests.

4th weeks past. Test again. Skype message: HVC negative. Unconceivable. Unimaginable. Amazing, BLOWING MESSAGE: HVC - NEGATIVE!!!!

Facedown on the floor, prostrate - crying - and laughing and praising my God - Jesus! He did that! He healed my sister!

A big battle that we go through everyday - how does it affect us? God claims we are His, satan claims we are his.

It takes only 2 month for God to reveal Himself to my sister: He allowed her to get into prison of sickness - and then He gently took her out of it, just to put her on the right track, to follow Him, to be happy, to be blessed, to BE. God has many ways to bring you, too. He wants you to be happy acknowledging Him - your Creator, sustainer, your Happiness. Do not hesitate, do not wait. Accept him today and LIVE.

Still Have Faith?

As I reminiscent about my life, this words stand out: Listen for God's voice. How many times have you tried to do that? How many times have you knelt on your knees and strained your ears to hear nothing? And then how many times have you appealed to God with a plea: Let me know Your will? I have. Many. Many times I would not get a direct answer - God kept quiet. No! He did not leave me, but He had something better for me, much better. At the moment of prayer I would not realize the benefits of His will, only later. Later on.  

We had recently come home from the hospital with a little baby Steve who was shining like a star. No, he did not smile yet (little babies start smiling as they grow).  But he was very cute, a tiny one with only one strange thing: a tube protruding from his nose.                                                                                                                                                                                                    Steve could not eat by himself. His sucking reflex was gone due to the special therapy that suppressed his birth convulsions. Never mind - I thought. I will teach him how to eat by spoon! He will be the smallest baby that knows how to eat with a spoon :). The idea made me smile. It was an adventure for a young girl/newly-made-mother, that never gave up and here she faced a challenge that was easy to overcome.                                                                             And we started. Steve would swallow his milk given to him with a tiny spoon. 6-7 times a day. Each feeding - 20 minutes. Then - sleep. (Both: the mother and the son). Feeding was tiresome, but it was real. No more tube in his teeny nose and no need to use that ugly syringe. 

The boy grew slow, he would remain very light for many many months. He would keep silent, and started smiling back at us when he turned only 6 month. That was ok for his mother and father. They were delighted to see his occasional sincere smile, no voice heard yet. Eating still the same - by spoon and milk only. I prayed a lot. I knew there was something wrong, but does it matter if Jesus is with you?

Once a friend of mine took us to a pediatrician. He was a well-known doctor with many excellent references. (Famous!) He was old as well which indicated his experience and expertise. So we went. An appointment was at his office, rather a fancy one. My friend was next to me. The doctor examined Steve's eyes. Then he said: I recommend you give him away to the orphanage and have another NORMAL child.      

I just smiled and went out. At home I found myself in resentment: How dare he tell me like that about my son? HOW? I know one day when Jesus comes Steve will walk, and speak, and laugh, how can I give him away? How can I reject my son? How could Jesus reject us, crippled, sinful, blind, grumpy, lame, stuttering? There was no question to leave my son in the orphanage or no, but a big question till now flies in my head: How can a PHYSICIAN propose such a solution? There is no doubt about God's love to us. It is shining through the life of Jesus, that came to earth to show that He did not give us away to have better children, but he came to heal us from our sins. Though a 'doctor' has been telling Him till today: Leave this children, give them to the orphanage, go make new ones to be sure you won't have troubles with them. This is the reality of life.
Why did not I want to leave my child?

 I did not want from Steve anything, I simply wanted him. That's what is built-in. Jesus created us like that. And I am grateful to Him that His love still can be seen in us, fallen humans.

Many years have passed. Steve is a big boy today. He is almost 9. Long legs like his mom has, beautiful angelic face, curly hair from the daddy, and huge smile and contagious laugh. He is our normal child, not normal in general reality, but normal in a sense of his situation. Something that will change one day, but today we enjoy our life the way it is. We make plans, we talk to God. We ask Him is our plans are ok with His will. He answers. Always. Maybe not at the same time we expect Him to, maybe a bit later. Maybe in a different way. Sometimes He surprises us with His will, for we never can apprehend how generous He is. This is a little story, a partial one, for it continues. More short stories about Stivchik will be written with time. More plans will be made in our lives. My wish today is that you have faith that Lord's purpose is the best for you.

Meeting the Angels

It happened sometime ago, in 2002, when I was still taking my BA at Ukrainian Institute Of Arts And Sciences. My friend and I used to love visiting Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, which is just 30 min away from Boucha, where we studied and lived. The campus of my university is located in a thick pine forest - quite a scary place to walk at night taking into consideration crime statistics in Ukraine. The students had their free time after they attended their classes, so that particular day my best friends and I decided to go to Kiev again. It was getting late already. We were supposed to be back to the dormitory by 10-30 PM and we calculated that we would make it back on time. Off we went - to the picturesque Kiev city!

Kiev

I do not remember exactly why, but we forgot about time constrains... we rushed to the train station in order to catch out latest train only to watch the train go in the distance. That was a disaster! The consequences would be the worst ones for me and my friend - eviction from the dormitory which meant expelling from the university. No other public transportation was available around - 10 PM in Ukraine is a time, when usually people are back home safe and sound. Good girls do not walk on the streets for not only it is dangerous, but also it would mean that they search adventures.
We were good girls, - we thought. But how can we get home now? - that question we were pondering upon.
T'was getting chilly. Unfortunately there was only one way to get to our room on time - to catch a car (not a taxi cab - there was no money for that).
We prayed somehow fast but sincerely (realizing that we ourselves were to be blamed for all the problems). "Dear Jesus, we confess that we did not pay attention to time, and we are afraid of the consequences, but more over we are very sorry to make you said by putting our lives in danger in such a silly way. Please forgive us, and let your will be done. We are ready for all kind of punishment." And truly we were...
Up we went to the highway which lead to our university campus. 

Still silently praying, we simply started approaching cars that were parked. We asked 2-3 drivers if they would be so kind to take us to Boucha for free. The answers were negative. In despair we hastened to one more car. We noticed 2 young men sitting in side, and we asked reluctantly if they could drive us home to our uni. To our joy, mixed with suspicion though, the lads agreed to help us. We were still hesitant to go in, but then that was the last chance. So we jumped into the car and the driver started on our way.
While we were with the young men there, we were keeping quiet. Then one of the guys started asking us very particular questions, like Why are you late? Did not you know the dormitory policy? What made you play with the rules? We could not justify ourselves, but we were regretful about the situation and our carelessness. The car approached the university and stopped. We expressed our gratitude to our 'saviors', and got off. It was dark in the forest, only the stars slightly lit the path between the trees. Having made 2 steps only, we looked back to see the car go - SURPRISED TO FIND OUT THAT THERE WAS NO CAR! 

Empty Road

Impossible! - we said to each other. - Where are they?
But still there was neither sound nor trace of a car going away...
We realized that God had sent us His angels that night............

God's Healing In The Forest Of Uncertainty

In 2005 I went to Ukraine. I usually go to my country to visit my parents, relatives and friends at least once a year. That was a special trip. Due to an accessible to all citizens health care, I always do my tests and health check-ups in Ukraine. It is for free and I trust our doctors. So did I that time, in the beginning of summer 2005. After I had my x-ray, I was directed to do another one, a larger picture needed to be obtained. It did not give me any suspicions, for I have always been a very healthy girl. When the appointment to pick up the results of the x-ray was scheduled, I was unpleasantly surprised to be diagnosed with something which in normal case a healthy, not stressed person can not develop. Directly I was sent to a special hospital in the suburbs of Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. I wish you visited that place! Dispensary (that is the real name of the place) has long time ago lost its decent facade. It was somewhere NOWHERE TO BE FOUND in the middle of the fresh smelling pine forest. 

Pine Forest

Unkempt, full of lush greenery, with the cemetery  just behind the fence - a place one always 'wished' to stay to get healed! The ghastly smell of not tasty food mixed with medicine all the way upstairs would make me feel like vomiting. My ward was on the third floor so i had to pass those horrible stairs everyday up and down, up and down. I prayed when I entered my ward. I just fell on my knees and wept: Jesus, do You want me to remain alive? If yes, just give me a sign, Lord! Just give me a sign... then I got up and went to the balcony. I had a privilege to share a room with my Lord only. There was no one else to stay with me. So I stared at those pine trees that have surrounded the place, and thought of my future. Am I going to have Future?.. besides that gloomy rustle of leaves Jesus heard my heart beat and saw my weak lungs movement. 

Hands check up

It was a disgrace when my doctor asked me to show my hands and toes. The majority of the people that were suffering from the same disease were drag addict and my doctor suspiciously examined me for this, too. She was delighted though when she realized that I had no connections with any of bad habits, so she assigned me the treatment course for next 6 months. I had to remain in that place for 6 months!.. I could not believe my ears: half a year of my life, IF everything goes fine. If...

The same night my prayer was even more fervent: If it is your will, Jesus, if it is your will for me to live, just one sign, only one

When I lay my head on the pillow and closed my eyes, I felt something touching me - touching my lungs. I felt some burning on the sick place of my lungs, exactly where the x-ray showed the defect. The burning was strong, it remained for 2-3 minutes. Then the feeling went away.

The next day my doctor new about the incident. She just grinned and sent me to the nurse to get my injections. 

Exactly in 2 months my doctor made the scheduled x-ray. There was such a huge regress of the disease that she had no reason to keep me in the hospital. She even said i could travel back to Lebanon as soon as I wanted. I still had to take pills though for next 2 months. The traces of the disease will remain till the end of your life - the doctor mentioned. Whenever you are going to make an x-ray, a doctor will notice that you were sick. 

I was more then palmy: thanking God was the first thing I would begin my day with! (even till this day)

Lung X-ray

In one year, before my regular trip to Ukraine, I made an x-ray in Beirut, Lebanon. The doctor said that my lungs are fine. I asked him if he could see anything strange or unusual, which he did not. I still insisted on his checking the picture once again. The same result. He could not figure any thing wrong. When I openly told him that i had a particular disease, he said he still did not see any trace of it. 

My Ukrainian doctor was very surprised to observe my whole restoration, when I came to Ukraine again and just decided to greet her. She told me that if I did not contact the hospital on time, I had only maximum half a year to live. half a hear of my life!..  :D 

What a miracle! - i thought... Thank you, my Lord!