09 The days that followed

January 2022

I have to admit that I was initially confused. In my head I had prepared myself for this condition to last for many months with several medical appointments. Most definitely long enough for hundreds of people to see me in my crippled condition so that when my inevitable healing came, everyone would know without any uncertainty that God had performed a miracle. But since Covid lockdowns, I had barely seen anyone since the symptoms began except at church. Due to continuing restrictions, I had not even seen my family let alone many of my friends. Before that healing took place, I had told only a few people at church.

There was never any doubt in my mind that God would heal me without surgery, but I was confused about the timing. For the rest of the day, it was the topic of conversation. The ESSL staff and students were of course in awe of what God had done. For myself, I was both joyful at what God had done but confused. I just couldn’t get past the timing of it, and I was struggling to quite believe it had actually happened.

That same evening, I was due to meet up with friends for a very early Christmas meal. These were other mums whose children had been at the same primary school as Unique. A few days before I had arranged to meet three of them as their children were still close friends of Unique. I had intended to tell them about the diagnosis and the potential prognosis so that they and their children would be a support to Unique if needed.

On the way to meet them I was wondering what I would say to them. How was I going to explain to them that I was both diagnosed with a condition and significantly healed since they had last seen me. Naturally when I explained about the diagnosis, they were concerned but then I followed that up with a “Well actually…” To be honest I don’t know what they made of my explanation of my healing, particularly as I was struggling to make sense of it myself.

In the days that followed, I constantly tested my healing just to make sure I had not imagined it. God was being very patient with me. Without question the Lhermitte’s sign (see my glossary post for an explanation) was completely gone and has never come back. It was as though God completely repositioned my vertebrae in my cervical spine, one by one. I continued to have numbness, tingling and issues with sensation in my ring and little fingers as well as slight tightness and stiffness in my left thigh. This was indication that the spinal cord was still damaged. Aside from that I had full freedom of movement. I even wore stiletto boots the day after.

With each day that passed, I was becoming more confident that my healing did actually happen. That Sunday, Pete Carter invited me to share my testimony in front of the whole church. So many people were blessed by it and I had opportunities to encourage people with similar conditions and pray with them.

As the days progressed, I was making the most of the mobility I now had. I was dancing and flagging during worship which was a greatly missed blessing and joy.