Our dear friend who is a part of our ministry family, Angela Moerchen was critically ill this past month and we had been nursing her along, then finally it came to point where she was not able to breathe and had to be taken by ambulance to Indiana University Hospital in Indianapolis. As I rode with her down there in the ambulance, all I could do was pray. We didn't know what was wrong but only that the fever she'd had for almost three weeks was out of control and none of the antibiotics that her Doctors had given her was helping.
I should tell you that Angela is a transplant patient. She received a kidney in 2004. The surgery was done in Indianapolis at IU Hospital. So, naturally her instinct was that if the Doctors and Kidney Specialist couldn't figure with all the blood tests here, then she wanted to go where they could figure it out and help her get better.
It has been a very emotional and trying experience for both her and us, you see, Angela is like a daughter to us. And her "Papa Al" couldn't bear the thought of losing his "girl". We both continued to visit her and check in as she was in Indy for 11 days. About her fifth day of being in the hospital we received a call from her father saying that she was being moved to ICU because she was not getting enough oxygen on her own. So, our instinct was that, even though we had just come back from there the night before, we wanted to see our "daughter" and make sure she was going to be ok.
We made calls to everyone in our church, Elijah's Fire International, and all our Pastor friends from southern Florida to Wisconsin. By the grace of God, Angela was able to take in the oxygen as it was forced into her by full-face mask. But, the gas level in her blood of oxygen was not coming up to where it was needed, the only alternative would've been to intibate her lung and get air to it by inserting a tube through her mouth down into the lung. This was last resort and Angela nor the Doctors wanted to have to do this.
The diagnosis was Histoplasmosis, a fungal disease from bird droppings, this can be in the soil or barns, etc. Angela was exposed somehow and her immune system not being strong enough could not fight it off. Whe has to continue to take medication for anti-rejection of the kidney during this time, but changes were having to be made because her levels in her kidney and liver were elevated. So there was a lot at stake & the main goal was to save the kidney and keep her alive!
To make a long story short, we give God PRAISE!!! Because he brought her through, the Doctors did not have to put the tube down her throat into the lung. She was able to take in enough oxygen through sheer will to live (and the help of the Holy Spirit) that her oxygen levels in her blood increased all through the night as we watched and waited with her in that ICU room.
Angela is well today & has a new job that God has blessed her with. She is a miracle and we thank God for her and pray that her testimony blesses you as much as it has us!
Jennifer & Al
1 comment:
I'm so glad to hear that Angela pulled through. Histoplasmosis is rarely talked about and yet it is such a serious, scary disease. I actually just wrote an article about avian diseases spreading to people a couple days ago. Hopefully your testimony will have the additional affect of educating people so that when they have symptoms like Angela had, they can take action and see a doctor right away.
Sincerely,
Elana
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