I was blessed to do a Give back for Eileen! It was amazing to bless this family with a session and read her story below.
I was 21 years old when I came to truths with myself and my family about my eating disorder. The timing was perfect. My body had begun to shut down, and a journey of 10 difficult months would begin. I spent 9 months going from hospital to hospital, as my parents desperately sought a “cure” for anorexia/bulimia. And then things got hard. The doctors called my family to inform them that I was very likely on my last day. I fell asleep praying with my mother. I woke up the next morning feeling an intense heat, at that point I thought I was dead. A nurse walked into my room with a shocked look on her face. My checks were rosy and I looked so alert. My stomach rumbled, a sound so unfamiliar. I pushed myself up on the bed and asked if I had missed breakfast. The nurse ran out. Then a call came from a psychologist asking what I would like to eat. So I asked…, for Cheetos, chicken nuggets, a hot dog and a raspberry diet Snapple. The psyche team at UCLA sat me in a glass room to study and evaluate me. I ate, and ate, and ate. They said it was impossible and that patients with a history could take 7+ years to recover. I never fell again into the temptation, and I knew then that my restoration and my recovery wasn’t coincidence but salvation and a blessing from my Heavenly Father.
About a month after coming home my vision began to decline. I woke up one morning and could no longer see. My eyes had filled with blood, and glaucoma had also set in. So there I was back at UCLA, every 6 weeks for surgery in hopes to save my eyes. After a year of surgery, the team of doctors, professors, and researchers had nor operation left to try. I had nothing to lose.i was at that time living in a skilled learning home for the blind. I had a great desire to head home that night to hear a great service at my home church. After services had ended I asked an usher to help me find an old friend who was involved with the ministry. My friend was blown to see that I was blind. He gathered some men of the church and that nights speaker, and they began to pray over me. I wanted so much to see again I fell to my knees in tears begging God for his healing,and Grace. I stood up and took the hand of one of the men. As I opened my eyes light began to break through and I saw his watch. The blood in my eyes began to clear up, and now 14 years later, they have stayed stable. God is good, and that was no coincidence.
A few years later I moved to Sacramento, it was here I met my husband. I was so afraid to share with him as we became more serious that I could never bear a child. You see, so much internal damage was done as I battled my eating disorder, that doctors said I could not and should not ever become pregnant or I could die. We had only been married four months, when I had returned home from a business trip. I thought I was getting the flu. My husband took off and came home with several pregnancy tests. I was offended and hurt. He knew that it was impossible and dangerous. I was positive. I went to my doctors at UCD, and I was 100% pregnant, 6 weeks with a baby in full development. Our OB highly opposed the idea, she strongly suggested I reconsider. In those very moments I realized that this was not my plan, but God’s plan. I moved forward with my pregnancy, and each visit they told us my son would not last past 18 weeks. Jacob was born a healthy premie at 32 weeks. He is our greatest blessing and miracle.
Eight months after delivery I began to feel extremely fatigued. After many tests doctors realized that after my pregnancy. Y kidney function never stabilized. An ultrasound showed that my kidneys had cysts. It was disease called Polycystic Kidney Disease. Completely undetectable until it rears it’s head in the late 20’s/early 30’s, this was beyond me. I lived 8 years wondering if I’d ever find a match, and how long I could enjoy my son. It was Christmas2012, the day after when we received a call from the transplant team at UCD. They informed my family and I that my panel reactive antibodies were 99/100. Which meant I would reject all donors. The only possibility was if a Perfect match came available. My neurologist said that in his 35 years of renal medicine he had only seen a perfect match once. I was devastated. I was on the verge of dialysis, and I began to lose hope. I began to be grateful for all that I had, and leaned strongly on my faith. If The Lord had healed me from dying and my eating disorder, gave me my sight back, and a son all when everyone said it was impossible, I knew I had to trust him. So I did. Last march my friends and family began screening as live donors. No one was a match. The last candidate was my brother. The team told him there was really no point, he wasn’t going to be a match. He would not take no for an answer. Three weeks later they called speechless and apologetic. My brother was a match, a100% PERFECT MATCH. I received my new kidney July 22, 2013. This miracle transformed the lives of many. God is so good.
I celebrate everyday. When you’ve faced so many mountains, and have watched each one crumble, nothing feels impossible. Often when I share my great testimony people sympathize and feel pity for me. I’m not sad nor do I have self pity. Each blessing and miracle in my life has been for God’s greater good:) I’m just honored that he loves me that much!
