Seven Times a Winner April 2012
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Seven Times a Winner April 2012 It is May 30th, 2012 and as I am sitting here at my desk, looking out my window, I reflect back to my 2010 trip to Guyana. That was a marathon. I was in country from August 25th through September 14th. I was wide open the whole time. I had the flu for the first half of the trip and a severe chest and head cold for the second half. I was by myself, so I didn't have any restriction on what I did or where I went. I visited people in Georgetown. North Sophia, Kuru Kururu, Charity, Berbice and several remote villages in the interior of Guyana. The experiences that I had and the people that I met will always be a warm spot in my heart. I got to spend several days at the Bright Horizons Family Home in Kuru Kururu, visiting my "adopted" children. That is always the high light to my South American visits. I was taken on a ten day boat trip into the beautiful interior section of the country by Pastor Orpah Singh of Charity. The adventures were real and the trip was a blessing to me. I met so many different people and it was an eye opener to how the river people lived. My sixth story tells all about that wonderful trip. As soon as I got back into the U.S., I started to plan my return trip for the following April. I had big plans for what I would be doing and who I would see. But, the planned trip for April, 2011 wasn't to be. Sometimes I fail to remember that it's not the plans I make, but it's the plans that God has for me. His plans were different than mine. I will tell of that in a short while but to keep the story in a time order, I would like to tell about a fascinating lady from North Sophia in Georgetown Guyana. That lady is Pastor/Sister Marjorie Doobay. She has been the pastor since the church was built in 2005 by Pastor Randal Aldred and his helpers. This Pentecostal Holiness church was built under very adverse conditions in a very poor part of Georgetown. Sister Doobay was the pastor from the beginning until her death in December 2010. This lady was well organized in all she did and she put everything she had into her work with the church. She was a disciplined, but well loved lady. I visited her for the last time in August 2010 while she was conducting a vacation bible school. She had over two hundred children attending. Under her guidance and the help of her congregation a very successful bible school was held. I was very impressed by her love and compassion that she held for everyone. She was a devoted child of God who took her commitment very seriously. I was saddened to hear of her passing. Her church is moving on, but it's not seeing her smiling face that makes it different. She was a wonderful lady and she is missed by all who knew her. The church is under new leadership. Our prayers go out for the success of North Sophia Pentecostal Holiness Church. LaVerne, my wife, scheduled a physical for me for January 6th 2011 with Dr. Phillip Shou. It had been awhile since my last physical and Verne wanted me to be checked out by a doctor before I went to Guyana in April of that year. She is a very wonderful protective wife. I had a complete physical and everything so far looked good. The doctor had given me a small kit to take a feces sample. I wasn't going to do the test, but something told me to go ahead and take the sample in to the doctor. I did this and the doctor called me in a couple of days and said that he wanted to see me in his office. I went to see him and he told me that a trace of blood was in the feces sample. He said that he had no idea from where the blood was coming and he would recommend me to Dr. Jarath. He would take over from there. Dr. Jarath scheduled me for and upper and lower G.I. on January 26th. Dr. Jarath called me on February 1st and told me that the blood trace showed up on the upper G.I. and that I would be sent to Johnson Willis Hospital on February 8th for an ultra sound and some other test to see where the blood was coming from. I was then scheduled for a CT scan and some other scan on February 14th. I was then sent to see Dr. Michael Rose, a cancer specialist, at the Johnson Willis complex on February 16th. My brother, Dickie, and my wife and I went together to see Dr. Rose. We knew something severe was up and we wanted to be together to hear what news Dr. Rose would have concerning me. Dr. Rose told us that I had a small spot where my esophagus and stomach joined. He said that it was malignant and my entire esophagus had to be removed. He explained that an incision had to be made from just under my chin to about four or five inches down and I would have to be opened up from my rib cage to my abdomen in order to get in and remove the esophagus. He said that this was a very major operation. Surprisingly I was not shook up by the news. On December 23rd 2001, I gave my heart, soul and body to Jesus Christ to use as He saw fit. I knew that this entire part of my life was in His hands and I had no worries at all. Before December 23rd 2001, I would have been petrified at the word cancer. But now, I had the total peace that only Christ can give. [1] In order for the operation to take place, Dr. Rose had to send me to a heart specialist and a couple other doctors to see if my body was strong enough to cope with the operation I needed that would allow me to continue to live. On February 18th, I had the heart specialist check me out thoroughly. He put me on a treadmill to see if I could walk at a fast pace for five minutes. Then he would see if I could run for one minute. I asked him to skip the walk test and go directly to the run test. I told him that I lived in the outdoors and felt that I was in pretty good shape. He said he would put me on the run test and to let him know when to stop the machine. He stopped the machine fifteen minutes later and told me that my heart would take the upcoming operation and that I had his stamp of approval. I was then sent on February 21st for a PET scan and a pulmonary exam. I was then sent back to Dr. Rose and he explained how the esophagus would be removed and how the stomach would be realigned and hooked back up to the very short piece of esophagus that would remain. He told of all the hardships that I would go through and how my voice and eating habits would be affected by this operation. I thanked him for being so straight with me and I knew that he was put in my path by God to perform this operation and we set up an operation date of February 28th. I had one week to get things in order. On Wednesday February 23rd, I went to Richmond International Airport to pick up my friend Peter Kanhai. Peter was coming in at 7:10 pm from Georgetown, Guyana, South America and I was to meet him at the exit of the terminal area. I was there thirty minutes early. I watched as the plane unloaded its passengers, but I didn't see Peter in the group. I tried to find out if he had been on the flight. I couldn't get an answer. At 8:15 Peter called me on the cell phone and asked me if I was going to pick him up, that he was on the ground floor at the airport and had been there for an hour and half. Somehow Peter had got by me undetected. I told him that I would be right there. I found him sitting in a chair with his head hanging down like he was napping. When I spoke to him, he raised his head and looked at me and said it was good to see me. Something was wrong. I asked Peter what was happening and he said he was sick and his chest was hurting him. I didn't delay a second, I told an airport employee that a man was having serious heart problems and I wanted an EMT there now. Their response was instantaneous and medical help was there in less than three minutes. They diagnosed Peter as having a heart attack. An ambulance was called and Peter was rushed to Regency Memorial Hospital. I stayed at the hospital until 4 am. The doctor came out and told me to go home and rest and come by after six hours. Peter had been heavily sedated and would sleep for a long time. They said that Peter was doing well and that the critical period had passed and he was getting some much needed rest.