My Story
Get Up And Walk
My Story š In 1998, I became very ill. I had gone from a size 12 to a size 4 without trying. I had a doctor who really wasn't concerned enough to get the problem solved. So my sister then introduced me to her doctor, who was a Christian. Even though after some tests, he still wasn't sure of the problem, he sent me to the specialist that he thought I needed, and I believe, saved my life. In January of 1999, I was diagnosed with Crohns Disease.š My immune system fights itself, which means that I am more prone to getting sick in other ways.š This disease affects the entire digestive system, and also can cause other problems since my immune system doesn't work properly. My body had started to waste away. I couldn't keep any food in. I had constant fevers. My joints began to ache. Even my feet hurt. At one point one of my ankles had swollen to the size of a grapefruit. I also had sores in my mouth, and was very, very tired all the time. After almost a year of wasting away, and not knowing what was wrong, I was immediately started on the proper meds and I began to feel a difference. I began to feel like a different person.š I remember later people that I worked with telling me that they all thought I had cancer, or some other "deadly" disease. My coworkers all took very good care of me. I think back to that time with so much love for them. During the year that I became sick, and before I even realized anything was seriously wrong, our church got a new pastor. He was a single pastor. Through it all, he was a rock in my life, along with my parents and my family. He called me or my parents every day to check on my health situation. Soon after I began to get well, we both realized that God had put us in each other's lives for a very special reason. He is my best friend.š I found out when we started to date, that while I was so sick, he had gone to a special place at a park to pray for me. He told God that if He would only spare me, then he'd spend the rest of his life taking care of me. We fell in love, and in June of 1999, we were married. Six months after we were married, we accepted aš church in Michigan. Almost a year after we were married, we got a sad call, that Dave's mom had had a stroke, and was in a comatose state. We never got to have another conversation with her, as she died a week later. During a revival at our church one week, I was standing on the platform with the Praise Team.š The evangelist had spoken on "the annointing of the Holy Spirit."š As he was leading us all in prayer, and we were standing with our heads bowed and eyes closed, I felt someone walk behind me.š I was standing with my hands clasped behind my back, and I felt someones clothing š- possibly a dress - brush against my fingers.š I looked up to see who it was that went to the altar, so that I could go pray with them.š The thing is, no one had gone by me.š No one from the Praise Team had left their spots!š Over the years I have Heavily related to the story in the Bible about the woman with the "issue of blood."š She wanted to be healed, and she knew that if she just touched Jesus' garment (his Robe) that she might be healed!š She was.ššš It didn't really occur to me that night what had happened, other than I was filled with a sense of awe.š A feeling I can't even describe to you, because I've never felt it before.š I believe with my whole heart though, that Jesus Himself, had just passed by me.š For reasons I wasn't sure of at the time, šor could even imagine at the time, He was touching me.š He was annointing me.š He was calling me.š He was prepared to heal me.š Read on...... In December of 2000, in the midst of considering adoption of two little girls, I discovered that I was pregnant. Our doctor had told us that he was 99% sure we were only having one baby.š I was having a very difficult time.š Morning, noon and night sickness was hounding me, and I even passed out and had a siezure in January of 2001.š So, I was hoping for twins. The coolest thing I can tell you is that since I was so sick, and after the Dr. said he was sure we weren't having twins, I prayed and asked God for twins! I told Him, and believed with all my heart that "even if there's only ONE baby in there, I believe You could put another in!" The following March, we discovered we were having not one, not two, but 3 babies. No, I was not taking any fertility drugs. We laughed for at least 4days. I knew a little of how Sarah (in the Bible) must have felt!š This was considered a High Risk Pregnancy. We found out early on that our little girl had a two-vessel umbilical cord. All cords are to have 2 arteries and 2 veins. She had 2 arteries and 1 vein. We were told she would be getting less food and oxygen than the boys, and that at the very least would be born the smallest. But that we should know that she very well may not live. The doctor did not give us much hope.š He told us we would very well have to make a decision as to whether we "let her go" in order for the boys to be carried longer. Or risk the boy's lives by taking them all early in order to try to save her! What a choice!š The high risk doctor had a complete lack of compassion.š As we sat there just staring at each other, the floor, and off into space thinking about what he had just told us, he tried to lighten the mood by saying to me "why look so down?š are you trying to decide what color to paint the nursery?" The pregnancy was also hard due to the Crohns Disease on top of severe morning sickness. I put myself on bed rest before the Doctors ever had a chance to. Dave and I went home, and prayed our breaking hearts out!š Later that night, after calling family and letting them know to pray, I prayed on my own.š I said this "Lord, if you can make the lame to walk, the blind to see, raise people from the dead, turn water into wine, you can surely take care of my babies, and save my baby girl!š You are the one that put them there!š Please Lord.š Don't take my baby girl!"š Right after that prayer, I opened my Bible to the reading that I was to be on that night in my Bible reading program. I turned to John chapter 2, and the title was simply "Jesus Turns Water Into Wine!"š I started to laugh again!š I knew the Lord was giving me a peace about it.š The next day as I drove to work, I was listening to a tape of Katy Tracoli and a song came on that I hadn't heard before.š Suddenly I heard the words: "Lord I need a Miracle, Lord I need you......You turned the water into wine....."š My eyes were so filled of tears, I could hardly see the road before me!š I KNEW beyond a shadow of a doubt that my little girl......that ALL THREE of my babies would be FINE. On July 8 2001, I gave birth to 3 beautiful babies.š We had two boys and a girl. Trevor, Abigail and Dylan. Abbey was my biggest baby, not my smallest. Nor did she have any major health problems! The boys were also healthy. God is good. The babies had to be in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) for 23 days, which isn't bad for triplets. (They all went home on Sleep Apnea Monitors for about 5 months, but mostly just as a precaution.)š However, 5 days after they were born, and only one day after I was released from the hospital, andšstaying with my husband at the Ronald McDonald Housešclose by. We got word that some samples that we had sent in from the parsonage basement to be tested months before the babies were born, by a state approved Environmentalist, contained several types of Black Mold. We were advised not to take the babies into that environment. This was devastating to me. I had many emotions that I was dealing with already just being a new mommy! Unfortunately, we had a church family that was not very understanding. Oh, they loved us, and were excited about the babies to an extent. But they thought that we were making too much of the dangers of the Black Mold, and that it was ridiculous not to move back into the house. But, our babies lives could have been at stake, and we weren't about to take that chance. All along my pregnancy, we were told the babies would come home in stages. However, on a Monday night, the Doctor told us they would all be ready to go home on Tuesday. AAHH!! We had no place to take them first of all, and secondly, we were nervous! We were a brand new mommy and daddy. I cried a river of tears with all the worry. I cried out to my Father: "God, we're homeless, where are we supposed to go?" and "How could you bring us through this tremendous preganancy to leave us homeless!" I was angry hurt, lonely and frustrated. I felt abandoned by those who were supposed to be excited along with us. Since we were 45min. from our church and 3 1/2 hours from family, hardly anyone but my mom and dad and one friend from church came to visit us and comfort us. It hurt! We spoke with the director at the Ronald McDonald House, who knew about the problems with the mold, and she invited us to stay for a couple of extra days. Babies and all. Usually, you can only stay if your child(children) are in the hospital, but they weren't that busy at the time, so made an exception in our case. Although we didn't have a lot of help from our church, other people came out of the woodwork.š During this time, while I was going to the hospital to be with the babies every morning, and staying all day.š And while Dave was going back and forth (45 mins. each way) to home to look for a place for us to live, our brakes on the van started to go out.š Dave took it in, and was told it would cost us 339.00 to fix!š We had exactly $42.00 in the bank and to our name!š On top of everything else, we were about at our wits end!š Then a couple of days later, (no one really even knew about the brakes) a letter came for me in the mail from a church I had never heard of in Canton, Ohio.š I opened it, and inside was a loving note, and a check for $300.00!!!!š These people heard literally, "through the grapevine" of the birth of our babies, and the black mold situation, so took up a collection and sent us that check!š Our brakes were taken off of our worry list.š God is SO good. We had people ALL over the place praying for us.š People we didn't even know!š My sister lived in Colorado at the time, and knew someone that worked at Focus on the Family.š I was told that every day, the staff would pray for us. I finally got to the point, after bouncing around to hotels, family (3 1/2hrs away remember) friends that took us in after only knowing us a few months etc, that I just couldn't handle it any more. I'm not too proud, so I'll admit that. My heart was so hurt by those around us that I thought would care more and didn't, that I just broke. This was supposed to be the happiest time of our lives, and though it was, it was laced with a heavy cloud of sorrow. I fought the idea for a while, but when Dave one day said to me once again "you take the babies and go to with your mom and dad to their house, and I'll follow in a couple of weeks," I simply, defeatedly, just said "Ok." We soon left to go wait for daddy to finish his "notice" to the church, and look for a home with No Job, No Income, No Home...........Only Faith that God had a plan in all of this. During this time, the attacks on September 11th happened. I remember as I was feeding the babies that morning in the quiet of my mom and dads home thinking: "all we've been through, and now this. Will it be a full blown war? Will I see Dave again? Will something happen to make it impossible for him to come be with us?" I didn't think I could take much more, but God thought I could I guess. Dave eventually did come, and found some 'temp jobs' in the area. I found us a home owned by a Christian landlord that was willing to work with a poor, Christian, homeless couple........no room at the inn? There was at this one. Odd part was, he had had a hard time renting it, because a year or so before we came along, a woman killed her husband in the house after a night of abuse! Yes, we were pretty desperate for our own home. Friends of ours called right after Christmas that first year, and told us they needed our landlords name and number. When I asked why, they grudginly told me "because we are going to pay your rent." I thanked them up and down and said how much that would help out this month. "They said no, we're paying it until you don't need us to anymore!" I believe I fell to my knees after that conversation. At the end of January, Daves Gramma died. And then in April, his dad died. Since his dad lived in Arizona with his second wife, I never got to meet him, and he never got to see the babies. A day or so before Daves newphew and brother came,to take care of some things after the deaths of their mom and gramma, I became very ill. I had actually had a couple more episodes of passing out and having a seizure, but this time - no pregnancy to blame it on! I had gone to the Dr. that day, and they made plans to have me in for a CAT scan, gave me some meds, and sent me home! While Dave was picking them up at the airport, I was miserable. All three babies were in their swings sleeping, and I was going to do dishes before they men came home. But I just couldn't move. I layed down on the couch and when I awoke to a baby crying, I tried to get up to get him. Trevor was having a fit that I wasn't getting him fast enough, but I couldn't move! My back hurt SO bad I literally crawled to the swing. I got up on my knees and tried to life him out. It wouldn't work. By this time we were both crying, and the other two were starting in. I finally from a sitting position grabbed Trevor, said a prayer, and then just dragged him out straigh to the floor to my lap. Then I crawled to the phone with him in tow like a football, and called my parents. I begged them to stop whatever they were doing and pray for me, and told them what was happening. Of course, they started to insist that they come down, but with mom just having knee surgery, I refused. "Just please pray, please!!" They agreed of course, but made me also promise that if the guys didn't come soon, I'd call them back. The prayers worked, and I got through feeding my babies and dressing them in their "Harley Davidson" clothes just for their uncle! I put on a smile and went to the door when they came home. As soon as they left for the hotel that night, I crashed. But then in the middle of the night when I went to the restroom, I noticed a funny looking rash developing on my arms chest and legs. By the next day, I had a second "thing" going on, on my legs; Big purple splotches!! What in the world? I was so sick on top of that. So sick. While Dave and his brother were out and about that next day taking care of things, my poor nephew whom I had just met the night before, and who had never taken care of a baby in his life, got put in charge of THREE babies that day. The men asked him to watch them so I could go back to bed. That's when the scariest part happened. I was so sick I could barely move just in the bed. I hurt so bad, I couldn't even get out of the bed, so I would pull myself around until I could lean over somewhere, find a bag or something, get sick in it and scoot myself back to a sleeping position. The night before it was literally taking me 10 minutes using a dining chair to lean on it's arms, to get out of bed. My back felt like it was broken. So, with only my 15yr old nephew and 3 nine month olds at the house, I just made do! The scariest part was that I kept thinking Dave was talking in my ear, only to turn and not see him there. Or I would think I'd hear him and his brother Don come back, only to find out later that they hadn't. At one point, I felt so weak and "out of it" that I had the fleeting thought pass through my mind that I just knew if I fell asleep, I very well may not wake up again this side of Heaven. I knew it with all my being. So I struggled to stay awake. I fought it with everything in me. I prayed. I cried. And then I prayed some more. I swear that the Lord was speaking to my heart telling me "don't fall asleep." Yes, He could have rescued me had I fallen asleep anyway, but I think He was keeping me from further harm. And most importantly, He was letting me know that He was the one keeping me alive and keeping His promises to me to let me be a mother to my three babies. I ended up in the hospital late that night. My dad came and got me and took me to the ER. I had a tempurature of 105.5! I had never been so sick, not even back in 1998 had I ever FELT this sick. It was more gradual back then. This just came full force all at once! I was admitted, and put under quaranteen. Wow, is that a scary thing. People not coming into your room unless they have gowns and masks and gloves. I was taken out of that after the first 24 hours, but then I went for an MRI. Later that night, I got a call from' the hospital Dr. that they found a tumor on my brain, and they would be transferring me NOW to another hospital, even though it was the middle of the night.................................. Wanna know the "rest of the story? Have me come to your church or ladies group, write to me at julie_staiger@yahoo.com and I will be More than happy to tell you! Julie Staiger
