|
Ovarian Cyst Shrinks
by Rachel Revere
 The first year
Paul and I were married, I had a scare that caused me to make
life-saving changes to my diet. I was 20-years old and working as a
legal secretary. One day I stood up to put a file folder in the
drawer. Suddenly the floor started swirling and I blacked out.
Coworkers came to the rescue and dragged me outside. I momentarily
revived in the cold air, but I fainted again in their arms. Several
hours later I awakened in a hospital bed. A man with a mask peered
down at me.
"You're lucky to be alive," he was saying.
"We found a cyst the size of an orange pressing on your ovary. That is
why you fainted. We wanted to do emergency surgery, but you are just
too weak and we don't want to risk it. We are sending you home for
now. We want you to build up your strength so that you can undergo
surgery. You need to come back for a check-up in two months."
"Wait, wait," I said. "What are you
saying?"
"I'm sorry, young lady, but we're going to
have to remove at least one of your ovaries and possibly both of them.
That cyst is doing too much damage."
This was devastating news because it meant
Paul and I could not have any babies. But I was in such a fog, that I
was oblivious to the horrible news.
My coworkers tucked me into bed in our
little apartment above a dress shop. Paul came home from his college
classes to find me lying in bed, half dead. Poor Paul, I was too ill
to even tell him what had happened. Paul called the doctor and was
told, "Feed her nourishing meals to build up her strength for
surgery."
"Feed me nourishing meals?" Paul had never
even turned on the stove, let alone boiled water. I wasn't much more
of a cook. Our old standby of macaroni with catsup and a candy bar was
about the only food preparation I did. Lack of proper nutrition was
probably one reason I was ill.
The first week in bed I had no appetite. I
just slept and drank a little water. I fasted because I was too sick
to eat.
The second week I started getting hungry so
Paul called his Mom who brought a steaming pot of her chicken soup
with homemade noodles. I began to perk up as we sat eating at my
bedside. We laughed and laughed as she told stories about when she was
a newlywed.
"The first time I was sick as a young
wife," she said, "George brought me breakfast in bed. He brought in a
huge plate of leftover cold spaghetti right from the refrigerator with
no sauce or seasonings. It was just awful. But I appreciated his
thoughtfulness."
No Caffeine
Paul brought me books to read about women's
health problems. I learned that cysts were not particularly dangerous
unless they pushed against vital organs. That's what was happening to
me. One book said that cysts can be caused by caffeine in the diet. I
wasn't a coffee drinker, but I drank Pepsi and ate lots of chocolate
candy bars. "That does it," I resolved. "No more pop or chocolate
candy for me." The Pepsi was easy to give up, but the chocolate was
tougher. But I said, "No more."
Two months later I was back on my feet and
feeling perky. I still wasn't much of a cook but I had made one
nutritious addition to our diet. I started going to a Mom and Pop
grocery store that offered a free bunch of parsley with a five-dollar
purchase. "Great, I thought. "I don't have to buy vegetables. We'll
just eat parsley. It's green and raw and cheaper than lettuce because
it's free." I started serving parsley every night with dinner.
At my checkup, the doctor was amazed that
no surgery was necessary. God's marvelous healing power had restored
me. It took less than 60 days on a
caffeine-free diet to shrink up the cyst.
In the years that followed, God blessed
us with two beautiful daughters. They are especially precious because
we came so close to never being able to conceive. "Oh that men would
praise the LORD for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the
children of men." Psalm 107:8 |
