(Snippets from the frontline)
Beyond the realm of modern medicine
She was 90 years old and admitted with a stroke. Two weeks before, her rent increased, so she cut her blood pressure medicine in half.
A former writer and editor of a prominent national magazine, she was articulate and intelligent. On the second day, while I was with her and the family, she suddenly stopped breathing and became unresponsive. A Code Blue was called and CPR initiated.
The hospital team was magnificent and organized, establishing an airway, giving medication, and attempting cardioversion (electric shock). Everything was done according to modern evidence-based medicine.
For thirty minutes, she did not respond to treatment. The doctors, nurses, and relatives standing outside the room saw the inevitable.
As I stood at bedside, the family circled and clasped hands in the doorway, bowing their heads in prayer. It would be our last attempt at cardioversion. Voila…a normal heart rhythm was established with blood pressure.
Sometimes, with family help, doctors and nurses can go beyond the realm of modern medicine. Whether you believe or not, the mind, soul, and spirit sustains us in life.
The patient eventually went home.
Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D.
What an inspirational story! This, coming from a doctor who
is the quintessential representative of modern medicine. In fact there is a book , “Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice
of Medicine” , Larry Dossie, M.D, where he documents the effectiveness of prayers that go beyond the prescription pad with similar stories. In my own situation, I am struggling with heart issues and maybe something that is
contributing to my surviving the odds against me is that a friend of mine who is a devout atheist…he used to have a radio program on KPFK dedicated to the subject, and who now teaches at a Hebrew School … tells me that he submits my name, unsolicited by me, to the congregation at the time in their service when they ritually offer prayers to help heal and
recover from serious illnesses. Who’s to say.
Thanks for telling us this story.
Beautiful!