There are angels in our midst

One year ago Jacob called me from work on a Friday afternoon.

He had experienced a feeling of faintness followed by numbness in his right hand that was very unsettling to him and he wanted me to come and get him from work. 

I got the girls from school, and then we headed downtown to pick him up. He explained what he was feeling and continued to experience the strangeness of it for the next few hours. He knew he needed to seek medical help so he drove to the urgent care across the street. 

They feared that he was having a stroke and advised us to go to the emergency department of a hospital with a neurology department. The Mayo Clinic was the closest to our house so I met him at urgent care and we drove over there. 

They dismissed his symptoms for a stroke, but admitted him to the emergency room to do further testing. During the next few hours his symptoms abated and we watched the Mitt Romney documentary and prepared to be discharged. 

But the emergency room doctor wanted to run an MRI on Jacob's head, just in case. 

And that MRI revealed an abnormality in his brain. 

I don't want to relive the hell we experienced that night, but to say that it was the darkest day of our lives.

The next few weeks we lived in fear and dread as we waited for a biopsy that would confirm his diagnosis of Gliablastoma multiforme, or GBM, a grade 4 brain cancer. 

These events are still raw in my heart and although the edges of remembrance have dulled, calling back these memories still wracks my soul.

Instead, today I wanted to write about and remember the people who were at the forefront of coming to our rescue. The individuals who, without question or hesitation came to us in our hour of need. 

Our dear next door neighbor Teresa was the first one to come over and stay with our girls and our 10 week old baby as we made our way to the emergency room. She came at a moments notice and stayed for hours taking care of our children. 

I called one of my best friends Jenn while we were in the hospital and she immediately volunteered to relieve our neighbor and stay into the late hours of the night with our children. She was here when I came back to nurse Tommy and was the first person I cried to as I grappled with the news of a growth in Jacob's brain. 

We called our parents in the wee hours of the night to inform them of our situation, and then later, around 2 am, when we knew Jacob would be admitted and undergoing further testing we called again asking them to come down. My mom and Jacob's parents bought tickets immediately and were on the plane at 7:30 am to come to us. Just knowing that they were en route and having them sit with us and care for our children through those terrible hours brought peace and comfort that sustained us. We could not have gone through it without our parents by our side.

Near 5:00 am I called three of the members of our ward who have become like family to us. Art and our bishop came within the hour to visit with me, hear of my concerns, and give me a blessing. Then they went to the hospital to sit with Jake, who had been alone and in despair for several hours after I left him at the hospital to attend to our children. They sat with him, talked with him, blessed him, and brought a measure of comfort to him that he desperately needed.

Sharon, my mentor and dear friend, came immediately to our home and held our baby as I got things ready to go back and spend the day at the hospital. Then she stayed through the morning with our girls, caring for them and comforting them as they were concerned with our sudden departure and the fact that their daddy was still in the hospital.

I sit here weeping as I write about these individuals who were there for me, Jacob, and our children. I will love each one of them until the day I die. They are angels on earth who came to our rescue.

I testify of angels, whether seen or unseen, whose purpose is to minister, help, and comfort us in our time of need. Last year on January 24 and 25 we were sustained by the help of these angelic individuals who acted as emissaries of our Father in Heaven.

I know that there are angels in our midst.