On February 6, 2002 our world stopped. My husband became ill with what appeared to be the flu. We went to the doctor the day before and the doctor confirmed he had the flu and sent him home. However, on the morning of the 6th when my husband got up, we knew it was not the flu, he was weak and could not stand up. A blister had appeared in the middle of his forehead and on other parts of his body. We called the doctor and went into his office immediately, the doctor quickly realized that he had missed diagnosed my husbands condition.

My husband was suffering from endocarditis; an infection that starts in the mitral valve of the heart and can travel to other parts of the body through the blood stream. My husband suffered from rheumatic fever as a child which caused him to have mitral valve prolapse; a condition where the mitral valve of the heart is more susceptible to infection.

We quickly drove to the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento CA. On the way to the hospital my husband started having chest pains. After we checked in to the hospital the doctors initiated antibiotics to start fighting the infection. I left the hospital and went home to get my children ready to go to my sister’s house and when I returned to the hospital my husband’s condition was deteriorating fast. He was moved into a unit where his heart could be monitored more closely. He began to become very confused about where he was and what was going on around him. I remember he said, “I’m on the battle field, love is a battlefield”. As he began to slip further and further into a state of confusion, the doctors quickly did more testing and rushed him in for a cat scan. At 2:00 am the doctors informed me that the infection had traveled to his brain and he had suffered seven strokes. The infection had traveled to other parts of his body damaging his kidneys and liver. My husbands middle finger on his right hand had began to turn dark purple from the infection and the doctors suspected they would have to amputate that part of the finger.

As I sat there in a state of shock, watching our lives begin to fall apart, I realized I needed to pray so I went to the hospital chapel. As I sat there in prayer, I thought about my husband, he is still a young man at 44 years old with two young children, 2 and 9. As I prayed, I felt an overwhelming of strength and peace within me. I knew that I just had to keep my faith in God and he would be ok. Later that day the doctors decided that my husband required life support because he was becoming weaker and he required assistance in breathing. The doctors sedated him with medication to keep him still and prevent the infection on the mitral valve from breaking off and doing more damage, possibly ending his life.

At this point the doctors could not tell me if my husband would live. As our family began to keep vigil at the hospital we all began to pray for a miracle. The doctors had more bad news for us, the infection had settled in my husband’s right arm and the antibiotics did not appear to be working anymore. Emergency surgery was required to drain the infection in his arm and this was very dangerous considering his condition. My husband made it through the surgery but his overall condition did not improve. The doctor told me that he required open heart surgery to replace his bad infected mitral valve but it could not occur until he became stronger and stabilized.

My husband’s cousin and his wife Michele came to visit and were devastated to learn of my husband’s condition. Michele brought with her healing oil (rose scented) hat she had obtained from a friend. We took the oil, rubbed in on my husband’s chest, forehead, infected finger and we all began to pray over him. As the fragrant rose smelling oil lingered in the air, somehow it gave us a very peaceful feeling.

The very next day Michele went to visit a friend’s house where religious statues are weeping oil (rose scented). Michele took my husbands picture with her, they prayed over the picture and placed the picture at the couples alter (in the home). The next day (approx. 1:00 am) my husband’s condition began to improve dramatically. It was February 14 Valentines Day, I walked into the intensive care unit and my husband was sitting up in a chair, I was in disbelief. My husband’s mental state was still very confused but he was alive and that was all that mattered to me. My husband was moved out of ICU but he remained weak and confused. The doctors still questioned his mental status because he could not remember what day/year it was or where he was. A nurse handed me a book on recovering from brain injuries and I thought what do I need this for he is going to be fine.

After weeks of praying and our oil rituals, my husband’s doctor felt that he was strong enough to endure his long awaited heart surgery. My husband was moved to Mercy General Hospital in Sacrament. Mercy General is one of the most renowned hospitals in the country when it comes to heart surgery. Before surgery we anointed my husband one more time with the rose scented oil as they took him away into surgery. A few hours after his surgery when I came in to see him, he was sitting up in his bed and talking to me, unbelievable I thought.

My husband returned to work in August, 4 months earlier than the doctors anticipated. My husband middle finger (the one they thought they would amputate) is completely healed and he has even returned to playing his guitar. The seven strokes my husband had did not affect his brain as predicted by the doctors, he has his memory back and is functioning fine today, it’s like nothing ever happened.

We feel so blessed and grateful that we have received our miracle that we prayed for and we know that our faith in God and Mary has given us a second chance. God used the doctors as his instruments but we know through prayer and the rose scented healing oil we received a miracle.

Praise the Lord!