A MIRACLE

While I was in the hospital recovering from the first round of chemo I believe I was the recipient of a miracle, sent through an angel. Some background: By the time I was diagnosed with cancer at age 52 and having gone through a divorce ten years earlier I had drifted away from my Church. I always missed it. There was a piece of me that was missing. I had always maintained my relationship with God but as I found myself getting closer to death I had a strong desire to get back to my Church. It was more than a strong desire. It was more like a craving to fill a very big void. But this would not be easy. I was very weak and barely able to stand up for more than a minute at a time. I had difficulty even speaking due to mouth sores from chemotherapy. On one of the days I was in the hospital, my ex-wife, whom I have no regular contact with but who knew of my situation through our children, ran into Sister Sylvia Berzinski from my parish. She told Sr. Sylvia that I had cancer and was hospitalized. That very same day Sister came to the hospital to see me. It is difficult to express how elated I was to see her. I literally felt at that moment that a tremendous problem had been lifted from me. At the time I thought it was the problem of finding a way back to my Church. It was that and that made me feel great but unknown to me at the time there was more to it. Something was happening that I didn’t notice at the time. My mother was in the hospital that day and she saw it. Here is her account of what happened. Do you believe in miracles? Or better still, do "I" believe in miracles? I don't think I actually ever did believe in them.....too factual a person I guess.......but I have changed my mind. My son Jerry, as you know, has cancer and my heart was broken to hear this news about him. But one day recently, my daughter Anne and I went to the hospital to visit him. His wife, Terry had taken him there the day before because she thought that he was in bad shape and needed him to be there for them to help him. When we walked into the room...........my heart sank. He was sitting in a lounge chair.....he could not walk or even stand up, He had multiple sores in his mouth (a side effect of the chemo treatments) and a sort of "slime" was oozing from his mouth. He had to keep spitting in a basin. As soon as he would spit, it would accumulate again and he would have to go through the same thing.........over and over again. He could not talk, He did try real hard but could only manage to point at things and try to get his point across to us. Right then and there, I thought......"This is it. I am going to lose my son and the time is now." I was fighting to hold back the tears because I did not want him to know how I felt inside. I had to leave to go to the ladie's room to "get my act together." Anne agreed with me that he looked and acted really bad. My heart was being ripped out of my body. But then ,,,,,,all of a sudden..............Sister Sylvia from St. Peter's Church, who has been a friend of Jerry and his family, walked through the door. Jerry stood up, threw his arms around her and said, "Oh, Sister, I am so glad to see you. Thank you so much for coming. I appreciate it so much. I am sooo glad to see you." as he hugged her. He just miraculously looked, felt and acted like he was better. Anne and I could not believe our eyes.....he went from practically being at death';s door to almost being better! I could not believe the change. We witnessed a miracle right there before our eyes! I felt almost like God had sent her to tell him to "hang in there," everything will be alright. Now the tears were streaming down my face again, but this time they were tears of joy. He could now talk and stand and walk and I felt the presence of God at that moment. He is still a sick young man but is now able to walk, talk, drive the car, take part in everyday activities and although he still gets side effects from the Chemo treatments, he has had so many "good days" since that day that Sister Sylvia came, like a messenger from God. So now ask me.....................Do I believe in Miracles? Oh yes And I thank you, God. As I look back on it my mother was right. There was a physical change in me as well as a spiritual one. I have felt better every day since the visit from Sr. Sylvia. I have tolerated the treatments since then. There has been significant improvement in my condition as measured medically. The day after I was released from the hospital Sr. Sylvia brought Monsignor Herb Tillyer, our pastor, to our home. They welcomed me back to my Church and made me feel as if I had never left. If I end up surviving this disease it will be a miracle and that miracle occurred when Sr. Sylvia came to visit. Even if I don’t survive, my remaining life has been miraculously improved both physically and spiritually since her visit. She is my angel.