God’s Wonderful Grace, Mercy and Love (2)

In the name of our Lord Jesus, I continue this part two of my testimony.

My Admission to the Hospital and God’s Providence

God provided an advisor in times of panic and anxiety – Late in the night of 22nd July, my oxygen level dropped to only 91% Spo2 and I was gasping for air. All this while, we had been consulting a deacon (who is also a medical doctor) for advice. But that night, I did not call him due to the tense situation. But thank God, that deacon unexpectedly called my mom and video-called me (after being informed of my condition by my aunty). Taking note of my condition, he advised that I should be taken to the nearest hospital immediately for an oxygen supply.

God provided a hospital for me to be admitted to – While my mother was driving me to the Sunway Medical Centre, my dad and the deacon telephoned four different hospitals (3 government hospitals and 1 private hospital) to enquire about the availability of beds for Covid-19 patients, but all the hospital beds were occupied.

Upon arrival at the Sunway Medical Centre, I was pushed into the Isolation Room just outside the Emergency room. The nurses gave me oxygen support, Panadol and IV drip for the fever. Twice, a staff member told my parents that there was no available bed. Then, a doctor came in, saw my condition, and told us that she would try her best to find an unoccupied bed. After about 2 hours, by the grace of God and the prayers of brothers, sisters and ministers, there was a bed available, and it was reserved for me pending payment of the deposit.

God provided the deposit – It was indeed a huge sum of money for the deposit. As I needed oxygen supply urgently and it was so early in the morning, how were we to get money for the deposit? Furthermore, my parents were asked whether they could come up with the deposit. Thank God, an Elder who was in Ipoh at that time communicated with my dad and he arranged for his wife and son to come to the hospital (some distance away and around 2 am in the morning) to pay the deposit money so that I could be admitted.

God provided the strength to endure the pain and discomfort– I was in the Isolation Ward in the early hours of the 23rd and I was fine all through the day. In the evening, the doctor came and told me he needed to draw blood from an artery in my hand. However, he failed to draw any blood due to excessive bleeding. It was very painful indeed and I even felt the needle scrapping my bones a few times! The doctor then asked a phlebotomist (a person trained specifically to draw blood from a patient) to draw my blood and finally, after many painful tries, he succeeded.

On 24th July, my condition had still not improved, and I was put in a prone position despite my slip disc problem. I went for a CT scan and was admitted to the High Dependency Unit (HDU) for higher oxygen flow. At the HDU, the healthcare personnel opened a central line in an artery in my arm for blood work every day. It was a procedure that required local anesthesia while an 8-10cm long tube was inserted into my arm. Thank God, despite all these procedures, I was still able to join the afternoon online Sabbath service. Although things appeared blurry, I was able to attend the Sabbath service from start to finish. During dinner, the nurses tried to get me to eat. I had to turn from a prone position to lie on my back, and this action literally took all my strength, and I was gasping for air even with that very simple movement. I still had no appetite. Similarly, turning back to the prone position took all my breath and energy away!

God provided a church sister to encourage and care for me – From the 25th to 27th, I was admitted to ICU from HDU because the condition of my lungs was not getting better (pneumonia). I was indeed worried and scared at that point. I was crying and praying because I was afraid that I had to be intubated. Thank God, a nurse came in and walked me through the procedure on what was going to happen; I would not be intubated but a respirator machine would be used to assist with pressurized air. I was then given two types of medication: steroids and a special drug. Thank God my body responded to these medications and the CRP reading (to check the level of inflammation and infection in the body) continued to decrease day by day. However, I still could not eat or drink; to the extent that I did not urinate the whole day (which was not good for the kidneys).

On 26th July, everything was blurry, and I was not aware of things as I was stuck to the respirator machine with a huge mask. I heard someone calling me, “Seth”, and I did wonder for a while. I realized that no one in the hospital would call me by that name as it is not on my Identification Card. At first, I thought I might have been dreaming. I was turned from prone to supine position to have my meal and then back again. Then a staff nurse told me that she a sister from the Subang Jaya TJC. She normally does not work in the ICU; but for those few days, wonderfully, she was transferred to the ICU to replace another staff nurse (it was indeed God’s wonderful arrangement!). Only then did I realize that it was not a dream, but it was this sister who had called my name.

Thank God, she encouraged me to eat and drink and even placed food orders on my behalf. Thank God for sending her because she was someone I know, and it was comforting and encouraging compared to many other good nurses who were strangers to me.