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Paul's Story by Jane

A friend's nephew became paralyzed from the neck down the night of his graduation from high school in a swimming accident. He had been captain of his high school swim team. Every opportunity available, I had Paul's name included in the KPC prayer vigil. This went on for well over a year.

At some point, his family became aware of a special breakthrough surgical treatment using one's own stem cells that restores the nerve connection in the spine. This operation was only being done by one doctor in Portugal, and as you can imagine, the line of candidates was endless. The young man was optimistic, but it was a long shot.

I continued to enter his name in the vigil. The very next morning, after what is known as a 10 Million Day (a Buddhist holy day when the merit of prayers is multiplied 10 million times), his family received a call that he had been accepted for the operation. He has now had the operation, which was extremely successful, and he is regaining mobility. His prognosis is for a full recovery, I believe because of the power of the prayers he received and continues to receive.

Mike's Story via Ani Palmo

In spring of '99, I discovered a infection in my middle finger on my left hand. I went to the VA Doctor and he identified it as a nail fungus. As time progressed, it got worse, my nail split and it got a big scab. The Doctor still treated it as a nail fungus for about a year, and I finally insisted that he send me to a dermatologist. When she saw it, she immediately identified it as a metastatic melanoma. I was then sent to the Baltimore VA hospital for a biopsy, and it confirmed the diagnosis. A week later I was summoned back to the hospital to have the finger amputated above the knuckle. Then, you were kind enough to take me back to the facilities in Maryland and pamper me for a couple days while I recovered.

I was fine for about a year, then one day I discovered a lump in my arm pit. I consulted my local GP and he sent me to a surgeon for a biopsy. It came back positive and the surgeon concluded that the first melanoma was not diagnosed in time, and the cancer travelled up my arm to my lymph gland.

Mike provided a report from the oncologist. It states: "Without additional surgical procedures, I think we can make a definitive statement reagarding the significance of these abnormalities. If there is metastatic melanoma in the areas described on CT scan, I think the patient would be incurable regardless of theraputic intervention." He followed with, "As I discussed with the patient, axillary lymph node metastasis unfortunately results in a situation with relatively high probability of additional relapse and death from melanoma."

Mike continues: I underwent chemotherapy twice a week for a year, lost 100 pounds, and was in pretty bad shape. I finally got rid of the cancer. I know you prayed for me during that period..... thanks for your interest.....Mike

Ani Sangye

One of our nuns is currently dealing with a serious health obstacle, one that will require 6 months of steriods and a year of chemo. She has been in our prayers a lot recently, and this past weekend we did a retreat with several people on each prayer shift, day and night, dedicating the merit to her. She asked me to share a part of her story and the miracle she has experienced through prayer.

Two weeks ago, a CT scan showed "something disasterous" in her lungs. A bronchoscopy was scheduled for the next morning. This procedure is not something to be taken lightly on a good day. The doctor takes out fluid and chunks of lung, and there is a danger of lung collapse and hemmorhage. In Ani Sangye's case, the risks were even higher. The decision was made to wait a few days for a followup CT scan. She called the prayer room and her name was put in the prayer book. The followup scan showed a huge improvement in her lungs, so the bronchoscopy was scrapped.

She was sent home with oxygen and told to rest. They were still waiting for the bloodwork. Several days later, she was having trouble breathing at the doctor's. He took her straight to the ER where they scheduled a bronchoscopy for that night - or the next morning, without fail. She was given a blood transfusion and massive steroids to stop the bleeding in the lungs, then admitted to the ICU.

Back in Sedona, we received word of this development and gathered together at 7PM for a Shower of Blessings tsog. Shortly thereafter, Ani Sangye's doctor informed her that she would not be having a bronchoscopy that night or the next morning.

A few days later, the possibility of a bronchoscopy rose once again. They really needed to look at what was happening in a lab setting. The only other possibility was to biopsy some recurring lesions that Ani Sangye had been having the past few months that were related to this illness. However, the lesions had not appeared for several days, and she began to gear up for the possibility of this dangerous but necessary procedure. This was Thursday night, and the bronchoscopy was scheduled for Saturday morning.

Friday evening was the beginning of the retreat. That morning, she awoke to find one lesion on her foot. The fact that only one appeared, after several days of no lesions, was quite amazing. The biopsy was performed that afternoon, and combined with the results of the most recent CT scan which were much improved, the bronchoscopy was once again cancelled.

Ani Sangye feels without a doubt that it has been the power of prayer that has allowed her condition to be diagnosed and treated without having this serious procedure.

Sometimes

There are many different ways to pray. Yesterday, I noticed this on Ani Aileen's refrigerator and thought I'd share it with you:

Sometimes,
when it is all, finally,
too much,
I climb into my car,
roll the windows up,
and somewhere between
backing out the driveway
and rounding the first corner,
I let out a yell
that would topple Manhattan.
How do you pray?

-Margaret L. Mitchell