BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

“I want to be born again too,” he said. Soon the whole family had given their hearts to Jesus. Not long afterward, Karen’s mother took her to attend Kenneth Copeland Ministries’ Washington, D.C. Victory Campaign in Virginia. It was her first introduction to the message of faith. Reconnected Later, as a young adult, Karen had flipped through television channels and stumbled across a televangelist. Another television preacher after money, she thought. She watched the entire program, waiting for it, but it never came. The man never asked for money. She enjoyed the program so much that she recorded it and watched it on a regular basis. Only later did she realize that the television preacher she was watching was Kenneth Copeland, the same man her mother had taken her to hear as a child. Soon after, Karen became a Partner with KCM and began regularly attending the meetings in Virginia. Over the years, she learned to live by faith, and to keep God’s Word in her heart. It was a good thing she had learned those things, because now Karen couldn’t even read the Bible. The letters on the pages all swam together, making no sense to her at all. After a total of five weeks of rest, Karen was no better, so she went to see a neurologist in Baltimore. “You’ve got occipital neuropathy,” he told her. “It occurs when the occipital nerves at the base of your skull are pinched.” “Why do I have so much trouble using my brain?” “Your brain has almost shut down from the pain.” Looking her in the eye, the doctor told her, “Karen, I will fix you. You will have your life back.” Karen sighed, relieved that, finally, there was an end in sight. A Surgical Repair The neurologist prescribed pain medication and other prescription drugs. Over several weeks, he injected large doses of steroids into her neck, hoping to reduce the inflammation. “I took so many steroids that I developed a moon-shaped face, which is a side effect of the drug,” Karen remembers. “When that didn’t work, he referred me to a surgeon at George Washington Hospital in McLean, Va. “Before I went to surgery, I called KCM’s prayer department and asked them to pray with me. The surgeon told me I might have to have multiple surgeries. He cut most of the nerves, twisting them so they couldn’t grow back, and he saved a couple of the large occipital nerves.” Four days later, Karen was at home resting when she noticed she was a little short of breath. She also had mild left chest pains that seemed to come and go. That night, the shortness of breath worsened. By morning, the pain was so severe she felt like she was suffocating. She called Ralph, who took her to her primary care physician. “I think you have a blood clot,” the doctor told her. A CT scan was ordered, and afterward the radiologist showed Karen the scan. Her lungs should have been white, the radiologist explained, but instead they were black. “You have extensive bilateral pulmonary emboli. There is no oxygenated blood going into your lungs. You need to get to the hospital and you’re going to be there for a few days” the radiologist said. No wonder she hurt and felt like she was suffocating. She was. “I can get her to the hospital faster than waiting on an ambulance,” Ralph said. “Go, take her now.” Choosing Life Ralph rushed Karen to Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Md. Her primary care physician had called ahead and given the emergency room physician Karen’s diagnosis. They whisked her past the waiting room and straight into emergency care. Suffering incredible pain, Karen gasped for air 40 to 50 times a minute. Oxygen didn’t seem to help. “If her vitals change at all, we’re going to airlift her out of here. We aren’t used to dealing with situations like this,” the physician told Ralph. Karen was in tremendous pain and fighting to breathe. Every breath increased the pain. Closing her eyes, she focused on her breathing—trying to survive the pain while she felt like she was suffocating. She heard monitors beep and alarms sound, and felt the squeeze of an automatic blood pressure cuff. People and noise swirled around her in a sea of confusion. Her aching brain and lungs needed oxygen. Catching snatches of conversations, she realized what the doctor had said. She didn’t just have blood clots in her lungs. She also had them in her liver. In a moment of clarity, she realized that she might die. Both conditions could be fatal. If the emboli in her lungs didn’t get her, the ones in her liver just might. She monitored her own vital signs to see if they were fluctuating. She wanted to know if her body started showing signs of distress. She needed to speak—to declare God’s Word over her situation. But she was too busy fighting the pain and gasping for air to be able to talk. Her oxygen-deprived mind pulled up one verse—Psalm 91:16, “With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.” Barely able to talk through the pain, Karen realized she needed to stop focusing on what was happening and focus instead on God’s Word. She needed to stay rooted and grounded in the Word of God. Those words needed to be more real to her than what she was experiencing. Karen sent God a cry from her heart. Father, Psalm 91:16 says that You will satisfy me with long life! Lord, 47 years isn’t long! I stand firm on Your Word that I will enjoy long life! She willed herself to keep meditating on those words. A few minutes later, her younger brother John slipped into the room. “The Lord told me to leave work, come lay hands on you and pray,” he said. She nodded in agreement, and he prayed. BVOV : 15

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