Heart Surgery Left Painful Scars
“The doctor said that I would need open heart surgery and that it would be five bypasses,” Nancy says.
In 1998, Nancy’s doctor discovered blockages in all five major arteries entering her heart. News that left Nancy and her husband Omar reeling.
Nancy continues, “At 7 o’clock I had the stress test and by 11 o’clock I was in surgery.”
“I was shocked that it was that serious because she had never slowed down any, she had just complained of being short of breath,” Omar says.
The surgery was successful, but recovery was a different story. To access her heart, surgeons had to cut into her sternum using a saw.
Nancy says, “I was in the hospital for nine days, I came home on the ninth day, and I was really sore…they had me wired together.”
As weeks, months and years passed, the pain persisted.
Omar says, “It should have gone away, but some people never recover from that because that’s a sensitive part of the body.”
“I had a huge sensitivity in the sternal area. I couldn’t pick up anything, and if I squeezed something, it centered right into the sternal area and caused it to hurt, just ache. Sometimes when I would just move or bend down, it would aggravate it,” says Nancy.
The pain continued for 20 years, with flare-ups so agonizing, Nancy often turned to the Lord, asking for relief.
Nancy says, “I’d say, ‘God I give it to You, I give it to You. I need Your touch; I need Your help. And, You know, Lord, I’m trusting for this to leave in the name of Jesus.’”
Through the years, Nancy and Omar have found encouragement watching the 700 club.
“When I listen to The 700 Club, one of the greatest things that they do is when they have a Word of Knowledge—when they pray for someone. Or when they bless somebody in some way. That to me is so encouraging, so helpful,” Nancy says.
Then in July, 2019, while watching the 700 Club, Nancy heard a word that was not only encouraging, but life changing.
Nancy recalls, “Gordon had a Word of Knowledge... “There’s someone who had open heart surgery and they were having problem in the sternal area…”
“There’s someone here, you’ve had reoccurring pain in your sternum from open heart surgery and it just never seems to go away, and you’re not even asking for relief. But God sees your pain right now and He’s saying, “Be healed.” And that entire bone be restored now, cause no more pain, no more discomfort, in Jesus name be healed and be set free,” Gordon says.
“I kind of jumped out of my chair and I said that’s me, I know it’s me, God did something for me, (emotional) I know God did something for me,” says Nancy.
Omar says, “And I said, ‘Is it bothering you now?’ And she said, ‘No, I don’t hardly feel it!’”
“By the grace of God the pain is gone. I do not have the pain. And I am so grateful for what He did. Because I can lift now and I am free,” Nancy exclaims.
Freedom from decades of pain has given Nancy a new found sense of living. She exercises and walks more, and she continues to live a life that testifies of God’s healing power and love.
Nancy says, “I try to live for Him every day. And ask for His blessing that I would be a blessing to others because He’s such a blessing to me and I’m just very grateful for what He’s done for me. (Emotional) I’m so grateful!”
