Testimony of Healing

We have attended B’rit for about 19 months now. During this time we experienced an event that greatly encouraged us to fully join as members of B’rit Hadashah.

One may not be able to tell but Devon has a life long condition called hydrocephalus. Essentially, she has a build up of cerebrospinal fluid in her head. This can cause many complications including headaches, double vision, poor balance, personality changes, memory loss, or mental impairment. To treat this condition, Devon has a medical device called a VP Shunt. This device relieves the recurring episodes of pressure (headaches) due to an excess of fluid (cerebrospinal fluid) build-up in her brain. Each time the device becomes infected or malfunctions, she has hours to seek immediate medical attention in order to have it repaired and avoid brain damage or even death.

She experienced such an event, for the third time in her life, in September of 2018. We went to the emergency room and prepared for emergency brain surgery. We would spend 5 days in the hospital. Devon underwent a new revision to the old shunt that included an upgraded type of filter. As a result of the surgery that saved her life and relieved her pain, she now had a 12 mm subdural hematoma. This is essentially a tear or lesion that caused bleeding near her brain. Should the hematoma fail to improve, or had it become worse, she would need surgery again which could also result in another subdural hematoma.

We recieved this information the day before Yom Kippur. It was very easy the next day to be in a state of introspection for the most solemn of the Holy Days. Our family was fasting according to the customs for Yom Kippur. We would close out Yom Kippur in Devon’s hospital room that evening using a Siddur for the occasion. Devon would go for several CT scans throughout the time we where in the hospital to track the progress of the hematoma. Eventually the Doctor decided she was absorbing the blood as fast as it was bleeding, and permitted Devon to go home. Discharge instructions stated She was not allowed to lift anything heavier than a fork, but Devon negotiated with her to nothing heavier than her ukulele.

After about 3 weeks, and several more scans, the hematoma had healed 1 millimeter, and was 11mm long. We would continue to go in for checkups every few weeks to track the progress. By the time December came around, The hematoma was 9 mm long, meaning that it had healed a total of 3mm since her surgery in September. The doctor told us it could take a year or longer for her to be fully healed.

It had been on our heart to approach the elders and ask for them to pray over Devon for healing. We were hesitant to do so. At the time we were not fully members of the congregation and did not know the appropriate approach to request prayer. In retrospect, this reason was ridiculous.

It was in December after the service one Shabbat, as we were getting ready for the Oneg, that Anna Boneh stopped and asked if we would like for the elders to pray for Devon. Without hesitation we answered yes. We are not sure if Anna realized it but she was an agent assisting in answering the concerns of our heart. The elders asked us exactly what was needing healing. We shared with them same information we just shared with you and said we where asking for the 9 mm Hematoma to be healed. They each prayed over Devon that afternoon.

The next week we had a checkup on the status of the hematoma. We went in for the scan and then over to the doctors office to review the results. We knew something had happened when we saw the Doctors face. The first thing she said was that it was gone. She said she had to show us, that she had never seen anything like it. By this time we are very familiar with what Devon’s brain looks like, and in the place the subdural hematoma, was normal brain tissue. Less than a month after the elders prayed over Devon in this very sanctuary she was fully healed. What would have taken years had been done in weeks. Some may choose to believe this was a coincidence. We choose to see this event as a miraculous healing. Our heavenly father had knit Devon together.