It’s been a very, VERY long time since I posted anything at all, and I apologize for that, but I’ve been very ill, and I just haven’t been able to post anything. My health has been compromised on a number of fronts, with both digestive and heart issues.

On August 27th I went to Loma Linda University Hospital, because I was so everlastingly tired of having diarrhea all the time that I was hoping they’d admit me. The medication I’d been taking, Lomotil, that was keeping it under control, had stopped working, and I was frustrated out of my mind, because I kept having these attacks of explosive diarrhea that I couldn’t control.

I talked to my doctor, and she told me it was okay if I went to Loma Linda. It turned out to be a very long wait, because their ER was extremely crowded, but the nurses, doctors, and lab techs were wonderfully kind and caring, and that made a huge difference. My roommate, Karen, drove me there, so she was there as well, though I wish she hadn’t been stuck there waiting with me, because they ended up sending me home, and she was stuck waiting all that time for nothing.

The reason they sent me home was because none of the lab tests and X-rays they did showed anything irregular. If anything abnormal had been revealed then they would have had a reason to give me a bed. But there wasn’t so they couldn’t. I got it. I didn’t like it, but I got it.

So Karen and I got home around 5 a.m. the next morning, and that day was the diarrhea day from hell. I had nonstop attacks all day long, until I finally begged, BEGGED, God to make the Lomotil start working again. And He answered! Thank God, He answered! It started working again immediately.

For the next three weeks, things went along fairly well, except they weren’t going as smoothly as I thought. The bad stuff was going on below the surface so I didn’t notice. First I got a sinus infection, which resulted in both ears being almost completely blocked. That was about two weeks ago, and I still can’t hear in my left ear, and my right ear isn’t a lot better. Then my heart was racing off and on at different times, and I was feeling completely exhausted all the time for no discernible reason. I would be sitting reading my Bible or another book, and I would stand up, and all of a sudden I could feel my heart pounding in my head. Then after a while it would slow down. It happened a bunch of times everyday.

Then a few days ago, on Wednesday, September 25th, my heart started racing again, only this time it didn’t stop. I had a phone appointment with my doctor, Dr. Ahearn, anyway, so when she called I told her about my heart. I have a pulse oximeter that you can put on your finger and it will tell you the oxygen level in your blood and your heart rate. So I put it on my finger, and my oxygen level was 97%, which is fine, but my heart rate was fluctuating between 182 and 220, which is way too fast. And when I told Dr. Ahearn those numbers she told me that I had to get Karen to take me to the ER immediately, because she said my heart rate wasn’t compatible with life (her words, not mine).

She told me to go to the ER in Arcadia where I went the last time this happened a couple of years ago. It used to be called Arcadia Methodist, but they’ve become affiliated with USC Medical Center, so now they’re called USC Arcadia. So that’s where I went. It was about 1 p.m. when Karen and I got there, and because my heart was racing so rapidly I didn’t have to wait to get in. I had my oximeter with me, so I stuck it on my finger and showed them the number, after which they put me in a wheelchair and raced me back and put me in an ER room right away.

They ultimately diagnosed me with something called SVT, or Supraventricular Tachycardia, which was the same thing they determined was wrong the last time I was there. Apparently SVT is caused when electrical signals are sent out from areas of the heart that don’t normally send out signals. And they did this weird trick to bring my heart rate back to normal. They had me blow hard on a syringe for fifteen seconds while they elevated my legs straight up in the air, kind of like they were folding me in half. It looked pretty funny, but it worked, so I guess I can’t complain. If it hadn’t’ve been necessary to slow down my heart, it would’ve been great for an episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos, because it looked so wacky.

Looking back, I realize that, with my heart beating that fast, I could have had a stroke, or even died, because it was beating too rapidly to pump blood. And this isn’t the first time my heart has done this. My heart rate has been that high several times before, and nothing bad has occurred. The worst that happened was I broke out in a cold sweat and got a little dizzy.

I am so very grateful! I don’t know why God keeps preserving my life like He does, but I will keep doing my best to serve Him and please Him. The only thing I can think of is that He still has something for me to do. I just don’t know what it is.

I was there for about four hours. The doctor who took care of me talked with Dr. Ahearn, and they decided together that I could go home, because they’d been able to knock my heart rate down with that weird procedure with my legs in the air. They did three EKG’s and a chest X-ray, and I guess they were satisfied with the results. And the cool thing was, the nursing staff and the doctors and the techs were all wonderfully nice and kind. I was really impressed.

Karen and I finally got to leave at 5 p.m., right when rush hour traffic was starting, so we decided to take surface streets. USC Arcadia is close to Foothill Blvd, (Route 66), so it seemed easiest to head in that direction. As it turned out it probably took us the same amount of time driving surface streets as it would have if we’d driven the freeway, because there was a lot of stop-and-go traffic on Foothill Blvd. So first we stopped so Karen could eat because she was starving, and then after a while she became so exhausted she couldn’t stay awake any longer, so we switched places and I drove.

Then, once I started driving, while Karen was sleeping next to me, I started craving a cheeseburger. An In-N-Out cheeseburger with all the fixings, to be exact. I started thinking about how long it had been since I’d had a tomato, or an onion, or a piece of lettuce, or a meat patty, or… or… or… You know, all the stuff you put on a cheeseburger and as I thought about it, the craving only got worse. I started talking to God about it, because I was sure this craving couldn’t be from God. I thought for certain He’d probably talk me out of it.

So I decided I was going to stop at an In-N-Out on the way home. I would be good. I wouldn’t get a double-double, or French fries, or worse, animal fries, or a milk shake, or anything like that. All I would get was a cheeseburger. And I continued talking to God about it while I was driving, explaining why I wanted to do it. I was positive He would tell me I couldn’t do it, that it would be bad for my digestion, that it would cause more diarrhea, but He didn’t tell me anything at all. He just listened. So I went to the In-N-Out that’s two blocks from my apartment. I parked in the parking lot rather than wait in the drive through, and I went in and got my cheeseburger with everything on it.

I was a little afraid to eat it, because it was the richest food I’d had in many months, but I prayed over it, and prayed for God’s mercy over me, and then I started to eat it.

And do you know, that was the BEST cheeseburger! I thought I had died and gone to Heaven, it tasted so good. I could taste each individual flavor: the tomato, the onion, the meat, the bun, the lettuce, the sauce, the cheese, all of them, and each of them. And the wonderful and amazing thing is, NOTHING HAPPENED! No upset stomach, no diarrhea, no nothing!

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him! ~ Psalm 34:8, NKJV.

You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. ~ Psalm 23:5, NLT.

And that feast could be a feast of cheeseburgers! Oh boy, oh boy!!

When I told Dr. Ahearn the next morning that I’d gone to In-N-Out she was surprised and excited (her words), so I asked her if I could do it again, to which she replied, maybe once every two weeks or so. So I now have a visit to In-N-Out for a cheeseburger on my calendar every two weeks.

⁶Now godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. ⁸ And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. ~ 1 Timothy 6:6-8, NKJV.

Oh my goodness, I am so excited and pleased!! October 9th is my next cheeseburger! Oh goodie and yippee!

God is SOOO GOOD!!