The History of a Miracle
(Summary written between May and August 2015)
For
me and my family this is the story of a miracle as important to us as the
raising of Lazarus from the dead. My
husband, Kenneth Lynn Babcock is in the computer room with me. Yesterday his doctor gave him a healthy
A-. He still has to occasionally deal
with chronic asthma that has been a part of his life for 53 years, since his
first mission in Mexico, but there are virtually no lingering side effects from
the pneumococcal meningitis that could have taken his life while we were
serving in the Chile Concepcion Sur mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.
The
first five months of our mission, from October 29 to March 26, 2012 were spent
in the city of Victoria, two hours south of Concepcion, Chile, as member leader
support missionaries. Then my companion became seriously ill and I was told
that he would die.
This
history of Elder Babcock’s illness and recovery can be divided into four parts:
1. Forty two days in Clinica Alemana, a hospital
in Temuco;
2. Thirteen days in Pewman Ruka, a hostel near
the hospital, and five and a half weeks (May 18 to June 25) back in our home in
Victoria;
3. A second hospitalization in Clinica Alemana ending
in a flight home to Salt Lake;
4. A long recovery period of almost two years.
We felt
that it was a miracle we were able to return to our home in Victoria after the
first hospitalization. We hoped to be able to complete an eighteen month
mission. At the request of President Osvaldo Martinez, we had been working on a
history of the miracles that occurred during the first hospitalization. We finished the first draft of a day-to-day
history of part 1 just before Elder Babcock had to again be admitted to the
hospital.
Part 1 - On June 23 Elder Babcock gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting in the
Victoria Branch, the first since his illness. We didn’t know then that it
would be his last talk given as a missionary.
He had several weeks to ponder the assignment and had spent
all day Saturday preparing. He didn't share his preparation with me, but
was confident that he had a well prepared talk that filled the
assignment. Instead of giving that talk, he spoke from the heart and
shared his testimony of how the Holy Ghost had helped the doctors know what
they should do to help him and bore testimony of the love of God for all of his
children.
At first I was confused by his account and had some
question about its accuracy. And then I realized that he was sharing what
he remembered, the third miraculous recovery that occurred during the fourth
week of his time in the hospital.
He didn't remember the pain and the confusion, the coma and
the semi-consciousness of the first weeks of his illness. I had kept
emails and notes and letters. He had read them and helped me combine them
into the 70 page history of his time in Clinica Alemana. But I realized it was
up to me to share the part of the part of the story that occurred when he was
dying.
At first I didn't realize how ill he was. Dr. Rodrigo
Rivas, the neurologist, let me know that his illness was very serious and that
his age was against him. The doctor was not optimistic. They were
able to stabilize his body for a short time, but the infection was very
aggressive, quickly spreading from the left ear to the brain lining, to the
right ear, to the sinuses, the mastoid bone and into the blood. His
kidneys and liver were failing. His blood pressure was very low, even
with medication. He was on a breathing machine. Modern science
could keep oxygen moving through his body, but his body was cold and swollen
and heavy, without response.
In this time of despair, President Osvaldo Martinez, the
mission president, was with us in Temuco. He had two dreams, on two consecutive
nights. In the dream of the first night, President Martinez was in Elder Babcock’s room
in the hospital with the doctors. The doctors removed the tubes from
Elder Babcock, and he sat up in bed.
Knowing how sick his body was, I interpreted the dream as a
witness that my husband would be allowed to die and that he would be able to
continue his work as a missionary in the spirit world. It was a comfort
to me to feel that the Lord would not allow him to remain on the earth in a
damaged body, unable to communicate.
The following morning, President Martinez shared his second
dream. In this dream, Elder Babcock got out of bed, stood on his feet,
and gave President Martinez an abrazo. His face was translucent, but the
President said he could feel his body and that it was a real physical body. President
Martinez was convinced that Elder Babcock would recover. He added that it was unusual for him to remember
his dreams.
Elder Babcock had already received two priesthood blessings from two different
sets of Elders. President Martinez had also given him two different
blessings, and a third, as the missionaries were asked to fast again, that
Elder Babcock would not just live but have a total recovery.
The first time the mission president asked the missionaries
to join in a mission-wide fast and to pray for Elder Babcock, our family and I
joined the missionaries in fasting. Dr. Leo Mikesell, the mission doctor who
had come from Santiago to talk with the doctors, assured me that everything was
being done medically that should have been done. He was getting the
correct treatment, but Dr. Mikesell was not optimistic. His wife was
prepared to fly back to Sat Lake City with me to take his body home.
The Lord sent a second witness to me that proper care had
been given, even though he was dying. Dr. Carla Concha, a bilingual Chilean doctor
of infectious diseases, assured me that Elder Babcock would have had no better care
in Salt Lake City, Utah or anywhere in the world. The other doctors had
asked her to make sure that I understood that Elder Babcock was dying. I
explained to her my testimony of eternal life and the continuation of
personality and family. I knew that Ken would be a missionary in the
spirit world and I would see him again.
Dr Concha helped explain to the doctors my desire that he not be kept
artificially alive. I felt she was a gift sent by the Lord to comfort
me. I was able to write a letter to my family assuring them of my faith
in the will of Heavenly Father and my acceptance of this change in mission
assignment.
I finished the letter and ended my fast. And at that
moment, Elder Babcock’s body started to respond. For no scientifically understandable
reason, his kidneys and liver started to improve. We looked for the
slightest movements. The doctor said that he saw him move his mouth
around the breathing tube. I began to hope that maybe he would wake up
and that I could tell him I loved him and say goodbye. I felt oddly
joyful, but still doubted the possibility of total recovery.
On Easter morning, he squeezed my hand. On Monday
morning, he opened his eyes and recognized me. He couldn't talk and he
was in pain, semi-conscious, with his eyes closed, but he was alive
again. The doctors were able to do more things to help him. They
didn't want me to get my hopes up, but they were excited.
That same night as I prayed and pondered our life together,
I felt impressed by the Lord to write down 12 goals. We would stay in
Chile and complete our mission. We would go to the temple in Santiago in
October. We would be an example and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with
the staff at the Clinic. Elder Babcock’s recovery would happen in a way
that would show the power of God. I would be blessed to be able to
understand and communicate with the doctors and not be dependent on the young
missionaries who were a constant support and strength to me and an example of
service to all of the medicos and workers in the Clinic. Not all of these goals
came to pass, but the recovery did come, and it showed the power of God in
marvelous ways.
On Wednesday, Elder Babcock was off the breathing
machine. He could smile. He could say words. He knew who I
was. He recognized our daughter who had come from the Pennsylvania.
He wanted to know what day it was. He wondered how he got to be so bad
off. He was able to eat applesauce. He was able to move his arms
and legs more. He still couldn't hear, but he could read our notes and
talk to us. A week after he first woke up he was moved from ICU. He
was smiling and cheerful. He was trying to teach the gospel to the doctors
and nurses.
But two days later something happened. I don’t think
Satan was very happy about all these miracles. Elder Babcock didn't wake
up. He didn't recognize me. He didn't want to eat. They tried
to take him for an MRI, but he got seizures and was almost comatose again. Two
young elders had just come and I asked them to give him a blessing. I
remembering the elder saying that God knew what was happening and that nothing
would happen that was not according to His will. I was comforted and
remembered again that Elder Babcock would recover in a way that would show the
power of God. I felt impressed to again play the music of the Tabernacle
Choir on the iPad next to his ear. It seemed to calm him.
The neurologist couldn't understand why Elder Babcock
wasn't better. The Elders and Hermanas continued to provide encouragement and
support. They sang to him, and they prayed with us.
President Martinez came again and gave him a fourth
blessing. While the President was with us, Elder Babcock recognized him
as someone important and felt that he was having a missionary interview.
But his great desire was that he be able to be baptized and receive the Holy
Ghost and be able to hold the Priesthood. He was re-living his youth, his
childhood and his introduction to the gospel as a 16 year old boy. As the
day progressed he relived many memories and seemed to be experiencing many
pressures and influences, both good and badOne of the visiting elders held his
hand for hours during that afternoon, and as night came on and the fears
increased, we found ourselves in a battle with hallucinations as Ken tried to
save me and our family from certain death.
Finally the one of the nurses recognized there was a
problem and called the Doctor. He brought back some medication that he
had withdrawn and helped Elder Babcock go to sleep.
The next morning we talked about the invisible
visitors. Elder Babcock felt his mother had been there. At
first I thought he had forgotten that she was dead. But then I realized
that perhaps she was on a mission from the spirit world to help her son.
Elder Babcock had asked one of the visitors who was dressed in white if he had
oil for a priesthood blessing. He talked about being in a war. And at one
point he asked me: “Don’t you think that Satan will attack the priesthood.”
“Yes,” I said.
After that things started to get better again. I put
a calendar on the wall and circled the day. I made a list of the names of
our children and their spouses and the names of our grandchildren. I made
a time line of our activities for the last five years. It included the
dates of our previous mission and the time at home between missions and
information about our time in Chile.
The linear memory he has now begins with the fourteenth of
April. They were able to do surgery on his ears and remove a quantity of
liquid, relieving a lot of the pressure on his brain. His hearing was
improving. He was able to use the computer. He only needed two
people to help him to the bathroom instead of four or five. The therapist
convinced him he could walk with a walker. We tried to convince him that
he wasn’t sick anymore. He was just weak and in need of time to recover.
Thing seemed to be going well, but, the medications were
complicated. The doctors needed inspiration to know what to do. The
new MRI showed a problem. The Doctors were confused. They feared
that he still had the infection after all. They were considering major
brain surgery.
This is the time that Elder Babcock remembers, when he felt
that the doctors had been making mistakes and needed help from the Lord. Dr.
Rivas talked to us about counsels, saying that one doctor cannot make decisions
alone and that there were three doctors who would be counseling together and
deciding what was best. He told Elder Babcock that he was a Christian and
that he didn't know why the Lord wanted Don Kenneth to spend more time in the
Clinic. And when he left he told Elder Babcock to have faith.
The neurosurgeon had seen him on a good day and recommended
continued antibiotics instead of surgery. The neurologist, Dr. Rivas and
the infectious diseases doctor, , Dr. Concha agreed: no surgery. Dr. Concha
said an interesting thing, “If it were anyone else, as a doctor I would feel
compelled to consider the worst case scenario and act accordingly. But
because of your faith and your prayers and the miracles, I think we can wait
and trust that somehow the problem can be taken care of by extending the
current course of antibiotics and hoping that restarting the cortisone will
help.”
And so we had two more weeks of walking and talking and
interacting with the workers at the hospital. We left some of them with
invitations to church, pass-along cards and copies of the Book of Mormon.
On May 6, six weeks after his arrival, Elder Babcock left
the clinic, without a walker, without a wheelchair. He had me to hold on
to, and we stayed in Temuco almost two weeks for follow up appointments and to
get readjusted to life without nursing help.
I wrote this summary of our experiences in Clinica Alemana when
we had been living back in Victoria for a little over a month.
The five and a half weeks back in Victoria between hospitalizations was
very important to us, but frustrating for Elder Babcock. At first he made major strides in mobility,
gaining strength in body and mind. By early June we were taking long walks. Even though he was not able to attend night
meetings or continue his responsibilities as the district clerk, we felt that
we were where we needed to be. He
did not remember the computer systems and found that the branch clerks he had
already trained were able to take over his responsibilities in the district.
Fortunately, his personality was intact. Many
faces seemed familiar to him, but he could not remember the experiences he had
had with people. He did not remember people or
places, but when we visited a place, he responded the same way he had
initially. Sometime a memory would
return with details. We attended Sunday
meetings and restarted English classes in our home, with many non-members
attending. The missionaries, members,
and neighbors were very aware of the miracles that had occurred in our lives.
After a few weeks he seemed to be getting weaker instead of
stronger. We did not understand at the
time that he was suffering from adrenal insufficiency and low sodium in the
blood. Also, there were no outward
symptoms of a major sinus infection that was developing. I communicated with
Dr. Rivas by E-mail and discussed the possibility of low blood sodium.
Three days after his sacrament meeting talk, Elder Babcock
was back in the hospital in Temuco.
Part 2 -
During
the recovery period in Victoria which was now coming to an end, we made many
trips to Temuco for appointments with doctors who continued to be amazed at Elder
Babcock’s marvelous recovery. For the
details of our struggles and joy during this time,
Part
3 –
The second hospitalization was hard for us to understand, but the missionary experiences we had in the hospital during those
last 34 days helped us feel that we had indeed completed our mission.
The
Wednesday after his talk in sacrament meeting Elder Babcock fell during the
night after getting up to go to the bathroom.
I was not strong enough to help him back up. His mind was clear, but he couldn’t walk or
dress. One leg and arm seemed paralyzed. I called the wife of the mission president,
Hermana Martinez, and again the zone leaders drove us to Temuco.
Dr.
Rivas, the neurologist met us in the emergency room. He said it was not a stroke. There was no brain hemorrhage, no vasculitis
or thrombosis. Elder Babcock did have a
bad sinus infection and his sometimes his right arm and leg didn’t work. The
doctors took a sinus biopsy and restarted the antibiotics. They had no
explanation for the low sodium in the blood.
We were back with our hospital friends, but they were not
so glad to see us. Dr. Concha came to see us again. I was finally able to take
her picture, and one of my first thoughts was that Elder Babcock would be able
to give her the Book of Mormon. Ken told
me that he thinks Dr. Concha and her family are one of the reasons the Lord
withdrew his hand of protection. He needed us to come back to the clinic. We
had unfinished business. Ken asked me to go back to Victoria to get the Book of
Mormon he had prepared to give her earlier. This was when we and Ken wasn't
well enough to give her the Book himself.
We did not know how long we would be in the hospital this
time. A loveseat in the room folded out into a bed, so I was able to stay overnight. I cut up his food and helped him eat, as his
right arm continued to be weak. He
started hallucinating about movement in a picture in the room, which he was
convinced was some kind of electronic screen.
They had forgotten to continue one of his medications in the hospital,
and he was having severe withdrawal symptoms. It was a comfort to have doctors
and nurses and aids that were familiar and knew his history.
After three days in this familiar environment, Elder
Babcock was transferred to the third floor pediatric unit. We figured that it was a “mission transfer”
and the Lord wanted us to be able to interact with and influence a different
set of nurses, aids, and therapists.
His mind was finally clear again, but he was confined to
bed and very weak. It was as if his body
was remembering all of the problems it had had with meningitis. They identified his sinus infection as pseudomona aeruginosa and had all of
the health care workers wear masks and gowns when they interacted with
him. Because the infection required
intravenous antibiotics, he would be required to stay in the hospital for at
least two weeks.
Some days were
difficult again. Ken would wake up slow
and foggy. After a week, things were still not going well.
After the first hospitalization, President Martinez had
supported our desire to complete our mission in Chile. At that time, we felt it
was the only possible decision and the right one. But about two weeks into the
second hospitalization, the President told us that the mission department wanted
us to return to the United States immediately.
We were sent a travel itinerary for July 19, but it was another ten days
before the doctors would release Elder Babcock from the hospital.
Some of the missionary experiences we had may help explain
the sense of closure we felt.
On Thursday, July 11 we were
saying goodbye to a neurologist who had taken over while Dr. Rivas was out of
town. He was an evangelical Baptist and
was very interested in talking with Ken about religious differences and the
Book of Mormon. I had asked the zone
leaders for a Book of Mormon to give to him, but they were unable to bring us
one until Friday. .As the neurologist
was leaving, two sister missionaries arrived and I was able to give him the
Book of Mormon before he left the clinic.
We didn’t see him again.
A few minutes later, Dr. Suazo, the ear doctor came to say hello. Elder
Babcock introduced him to the sisters. They shared their testimony and asked if
they could have the telephone number and address it to teach him more. He gave
it to them.
Then a nurse came in, one of the special who prays for Elder Babcock.
We had a good visit and ended up giving her a Book of Mormon and got her
telephone number and address for the Hermanas.
Then as the sisters were leaving, Claudio O’Ryan, the physical therapist came in. The sisters asked if we could have prayer
before they left and asked Elder Babcock to ask who should say the prayer. He
thought for a minute and then asked the therapist to offer the prayer. He gave
a beautiful and powerful prayer using his own words and in the name of
Jesus. Then the sisters got his
telephone number and address to teach him.
All this happened in an hour. We were very happy remembering that the
Lord does things His way and answers prayers in ways we do not expect.
I
found out later that after they left our hospital room the sister missionaries
went around the floor singing. One couple came out of their room and asked if
they could pray with them for their grandchild. They ended up in the Oratorio
with 24 family members teaching them a lesson about prayer.
We were eager to make contact
with Dr. Concha. On July 8, Ken was
finally well enough that I felt I could go to Victoria and get the Book of
Mormon for her. We didn’t see her again until July 15, when she came to say
goodbye. She would be gone for two
weeks. Evidently she had been sick and had a doctor
in Santiago. She had a class to attend there also, so it would be a
working vacation.
I asked if she would have time
to read and told her that Ken had prepared a Book for her before we left the
clinic the first time but hadn't had opportunity to give it to her. She
accepted it, read the dedication, and promised she would read the book. We
could tell she was touched. And we both felt a tremendous weight lifted and a
great sense of peace.
We didn’t know that we would not
see her again, but asked the Sister Missionaries to contact her and offer to
answer any questions she has about the Book of Mormon. I feel such great love
for Dr. Concha.
Wednesday,
July 17 I went with three sister
missionaries to Pewman Ruka, the hostel to make reservations for our last night
in Chile. While we were there, they made
arrangements to come back and answer questions about the church. These are fantastic
missionaries, the same ones who had sung to the children and gotten contact
information from the staff the week before.
The original travel plans were to have us return to Salt
Lake City on July 19. However, Elder
Babcock was still on intravenous antibiotics and was just beginning to walk
again, with help. On July 15 it had been
an achievement to be sitting on the side of the bed. He was awake more. His memory was recovering. He could now say the months of the year and days of the week backwards.
By July 19 he could stand alone and walk with the help of two women. He walked
out into the hall and became the talk of the clinic. On July 20, while I was organizing things in
Victoria, he walked twice around the
atrium. July 24 he went up and down
steps for the first time, only ten steps, but preparation for getting on the
airplane.
Sunday, July 28 Elder Babcock
was released from the hospital. We spent
the night at the hostal,. It was good
for the staff there to see us again and be reminded of the missionaries and the
miracles that had occurred in our lives.
We met the Mission President,
his wife, the new mission nurse and her husband and Dr. Mikesell at the
airport. Dr. Mikesell accompanied us on the first class flight home, from the
airport in Temuco all the way to the emergency room of the University of Utah
hospital. There, the Stake President
released us as missionaries and told us to keep on our missionary badges until
that night at home. He assured us that
we had completed our eighteen month mission in nine months and that we would
have the opportunity to share our experiences with members of the stake.
The doctors did a few procedures and gave instructions,
but they did not admit him to the hospital. Ken was still weak and unsteady,
but able to maneuver. We stayed with our
daughter’s family for three days. It was
a blessing that I was able to care for him at home after that.
We began the slow process of making appointments with
specialists. Continuing sessions with a
physical therapist helped him progress in strength and mobility. In a major sinus surgery in mid-October, the
doctors were able to totally eliminate the infection, improve drainage, and
close a connection between the brain and the sinus that had contributed to the
problems. For the first time we felt
that Elder Babcock was receiving care that he could not have received in Chile.
We reported on our mission in our home ward and in
several wards in the stake, always bearing testimony of the goodness of God and
his miraculous power. We had been able
to share the gospel in a very real way with doctors and nurses and hospital
workers in Chile and to strengthen the testimonies of many young elders and
sister missionaries throughout our mission.
At the beginning of the new year, 2014, we returned to
serving in the Salt Lake temple one day a week, and we were both called to
teach Primary. Ken began spending his days doing family history work.
I was often reminded that many of Elder Babcock’s
memories were still hidden from him, especially of places and events that
occurred in the last five to ten years. And yet he seemed to have very clear
access to old memories, coming up with specific names and details connected
with long ago events.
To help important memories come back, we returned to the
U. S. Virgin Islands in May 2014 to visit St. Croix and St. Thomas islands
where we served our first mission together.
We were able to stay in one of our former missionary apartments and
attend church meetings on each island.
When he saw people and places, Elder Babcock was able to retrieve
memories that he had lost. He said it
was like seeing a movie.
2014 continued to be an eventful year. We gathered with all of our family except two
for a reunion at Bear Lake in Utah, for an early celebration of our 50th
wedding. We experienced the tragic early death of a troubled grandson. Our youngest daughter was married. We
explored Bryce Canyon on mules. Our
first missionary granddaughter returned from her mission to Panama. We attended the Salt Lake Temple to remember
our official 50th wedding anniversary. A granddaughter was born and blessed. We travelled, visiting and assisting several
of our children.
During November and December of 2014 we were blessed to
discover and correct a secondary effect of the many cortisone treatments he had
received during the treatment of his meningitis. During our temple service on
November 8, he fainted twice. He received a blessing from his co-workers after
the first episode. We were miraculously blessed with replacements for our
assignments and impressed to go to the University of Utah hospital emergency
room. Ken ended up spending Sunday in
intensive care when the doctors had systematically eliminated the possible
causes for dangerously low blood pressure.
The standard emergency room treatments hadn’t worked. The head doctor in intensive care’s
suggestion of adrenal insufficiency as a cause was inspired.
Because Ken had received so much
cortisone during his illness, his body was not naturally producing the hormones
he needed when he was under stress. This
diagnosis was eventually confirmed and the problem is being taken care of by
taking a small cortisone pill every day and wearing a medical alert bracelet to
advise doctors to increase the dosage in case of an accident or illness.
As Ken’s energy has increased so has his
ability to exercise and make his body stronger.
He has become an active and energetic 74 year old.
Miracles and blessings in our lives continue, but the chapters
relating to the miracle in Chile are coming to a close. We look forward to a
missionary reunion on October 2, 2015 with President and Sister Martinez and
their family and many of the elders and sisters who served us. In answer to their fasting and prayers, we can
testify that Kenneth Lynn Babcock has been blessed with a full and complete recovery.
