When God Says “No”
In 1990, our first child was born prematurely here at Mayo Clinic Rochester. All during his growing-up years, I took my son to Mayo Clinic to see his doctors and therapists and have testing, procedures & surgeries done. I prayed for God to heal Andrew, but as it became clear that God was not going to provide instant & complete healing for him, my prayer changed. As I rode the elevator each week with strangers, I looked at the other families and wondered what their stories were. I asked God to provide a way for me to minister to them with the love of Jesus someday. I trusted that if God said “no” to Andrew’s healing that He would bring something good out of his challenges.
In 2002, I became seriously ill with 2 rare neurological conditions. I underwent 17 spinal procedures and 3 years of bedrest with no relief. I was 40 years old and had 4 kids ages 2, 3, 10 & 12. I have Chiari Malformation. When God knit me together He made my skull too small for my brain so my brain herniates down my spinal cord. I had non-stop severe headaches, hearing loss, balance issues and other neurological complications.
The pastors and elders at my church, Autumn Ridge Church, anointed me with oil and prayed for my healing 3 times. God said, “No”. As I wrestled with the fact that God gave me one of these conditions, and I may have given my children the other, it tested my faith. I went through a time of bewilderment and grieving the loss of the God I thought I knew and learning to accept the God whose choices for my life I could not understand. And I came full-circle to pray the same prayer I prayed with Andrew – I trusted that if God said “no” to my healing that He would bring something good out of my challenges and I actively started praying silently for the other patients while I sat with them in the waiting rooms, procedure rooms, and surgical areas. I asked God, again, to provide a way for me to minister to them with the love of Jesus.
In 2007, I went through Mayo’s Pain Rehabilitation Center (PRC) which helps patients living with chronic pain regain as normal a life as possible. They helped me get me on my feet again. Our family became friends with another family who had gone through the PRC, Greg and his family. Together, we started Serenity House Network, which provides housing and Christian support services to Mayo Clinic patients and their families.
My medical testing and treatments for my spinal fluid leaks continued on a regular basis. Eventually I would have 50 blood patches, 20 other spinal tests and procedures and 2 neurosurgeries. None were successful.
In 2019, my neurosurgeon told me there was nothing left to try. That same day, my husband had his 2nd cancer surgery. Then came the Pandemic.
After the Pandemic, my spinal fluid leak specialist doctor called me and asked me to come in for a brand new treatment. He said that during the Pandemic, he couldn’t get me off his mind and he wanted to be able to help me. Because of Covid, he had extra time on his hands and he set out to create a new procedure that could help me. He did just that.
In 2022, I had this procedure (spinal venous fistula embolization) done the first time. It embolized 5 spinal fluid leaks. A month later, I had the procedure again to embolize 3 more leaks. For the first time in 20 years I had no headache! I have been headache-free for 4 years! And one of the best parts is that my doctor now performs this procedure on several people each week. And they are being helped, too! People that had no hope prior to this. In fact, one of them was a young mom like me (20 years ago). She was healed completely.
In 2023, I had a repeat MRI. We were saddened to learn the embolization procedure did not improve my MRI findings. Because I had so many spinal fluid leaks, for so many years, I had a Traumatic Brain Injury. The doctor was unsure if my other symptoms would improve over time or not. I am about 90% recovered but still struggle with short-term memory loss, mild cognitive issues, balance, etc. I retired from Serenity House Network in 2017 due to these things. But I am volunteering at SHN and loving that!
In 1990, I started praying for God to give me a way to support & encourage Mayo Clinic patients and their families. We have helped over 2,000 families since 2008. God is good.
