A TESTIMONY FROM LUSI WHO PASSED TWO TIMES COMA AND 60 DAYS IN ICU

How amazingly wonderful these past 3.5 months have been for me, now that I’m allowed to review what I had gone through, especially referring to my 2 times coma and 60 days in the ICU.

It was indeed hard for my family, & I myself, yet through it all Jesus allows me to experience His Amazing Grace, poured upon me.

Allow me, also, to take this opportunity to express my gratitude towards every one of you here in ICA; your continuous prayers, supports, loving attention, and generosity, have given my family and I remarkable powers of endurance.

I heard I have set a record in RS. Mitra Keluarga, being a long-stay guest of their ICU, the longest, they said. During my 60 days there, I was given the privilege to try & occupy most of the available rooms in the ICU. Yet, I cannot say that I have finally set a favorite room, and would make a reservation for future.

On July 3^rd, 2007 after almost a week my stomach refused any food, and finally even fluid, I had become very weak, & decided to check in, in an international hospital here in Surabaya.

However, the unsatisfactory medical treatment & analysis during my 6 days there, had encouraged a doctor friend of ours, to transfer me to RS. Mitra Keluarga, where the facility & expert for CT Scan 64 slices is available, and recommended for better analysis & treatment.

That Monday morning of July the ninth, I was admitted to Mitra Keluarga, but was unconscious only after a couple hours of my arrival in the Emergency Room (ER).

In the afternoon, still in coma, I was four-wheeled driven, up to the ICU.

Not long after I was in, my husband, Paul, was summoned by the doctor, explained that an infection in the large intestine has caused some bacteria E.Coli to spread, & pushed into my lungs; this condition has also caused my heart to swell, that left my husband no choice but to give his consent to set a respirator on me.

Phone calls & text messages were exchanged; but worries & grieves that especially, my husband & children must bear, were calmed by the continuous prayers & support from relatives & friends, who had phoned, or even joined in the waiting room.

After about 7 hours since my coma in the ER, I was miraculously conscious! That the doctors were finally able to CT-Scanned me, and made a decision to operate on me, to locate the exact wound, and for the proper treatment.

10 days after the operation, during which I had remained conscious, and cherished every visit I was aware of, other bacteria called Pseudomonas attacked me that had caused my blood pressure dropped to 47/30, and sent me to my second coma.

Praise The Lord! My second coma seemed to contain some bonus from God.

The very first bonus was TIME.

At that time I did not pass out for just seven HOURS anymore, but seven DAYS!  

Were it only for several hours, I might not have had enough time to experience, and testify the following.

During those seven days away from my ordinary life, I was living a condition where I was taken care of by my own sister-in-law who is a doctor, but then 4 people dressed up like doctors & nurses convincingly talked her into letting them take me away for better care.

They moved me to a different room, but instead of giving me some medical treatment, they forced me to deny my Christian faith, or they would kill me!

And if I may say this with pride, I was not so bad then, because I refused to sacrifice my faith. Consequently I was dragged to a field, and was buried alive, standing, in a septic tank!

Suddenly, I felt myself falling into a big hole, but I managed to hold on to the hole rim, and at that very time, Kezia, my daughter came to the rescue!   

She held my hands, trying to pull me out, but in frustration I told her I was going to die anyway.

She answered me with some comfort, saying to me, “Mom, you’ve got to be strong. You must keep on striving. So many people are incessantly praying, and even fasting for your recovery. You must also fight to get well. Do not give up!”

Hallelujah!! Another bonus! My baby has turned into a big girl now, so wise, and so mature!!!   

Suddenly her cell phone rang!  Without hesitation she let go of my hands, sending me plunging into the very bottom of the hole.

I cried, and shouted, “Am I this unworthy to you, God?! Didn’t you care at all for the ministry I’ve dedicated to you for the last 27 years?!”

(Isn’t it obvious how conditional my love and commitment to God is?!)

Meanwhile, my family who’d been praying for my recovery, were then started to also pray for more humble heart to accept the worst, to let me go, released from the suffering, because on the second day of my coma, I was way beyond any positive chance, due to my multiple organ failure.

Having cried out to God, I then heard a voice, “Return to The First (Godly) Love.”

On hearing that, I broke down; the voice was gentle, yet it’s so powerful. I came back to my senses; I suddenly realized how dull and barren my ministry has turned out during these past 27 years, triggered by the bitterness growing horribly firm inside me, which I believe was nurtured by problems in life that seem unsolved. Yet I was too arrogant to admit it even to myself.

I bowed down before God, cried to Him again, but this time, I confessed my weaknesses; and as I humbly asked for forgiveness, I felt God’s Love returning to me, covering me, so soothing, and comforting.

And at that very moment, I felt two strong loving hands lifting me up, out from the ditch.

Overwhelmed by His Peaceful Love, I said to God, “God, I’m now ready to die, please take me home to Heaven with you.”

It was actually not the first death wish coming out from my mouth, but the earlier one was out of hopelessness, in the ICU, when I told my husband I just wanted to die.

Today I am grateful God did not let me die yet. I feel so blessed that He has given me another chance to change for the better, to fix the way I love Him, and the way I love others; and soon enough, to re-direct my ministry back to the First (Godly) Love.

When I reviewed the recent phenomenal episode of my life, I learnt that surrender from the very beginning, and always surrender to God, is the key for every single episode of our lives, no matter how simple & easy the life seems to be, or how complex & hard it is for us.

Surrender,  may indeed Easier said than Done. We tend to surrender to Him, to seek the Divine power, only when there seems to be no more earthly efforts affordable, while in fact, we must, surrender to God from the very beginning, not only after we feel helpless, & frustrated.

And another point maybe noted in my miraculous life, that a COMA is not a FULL STOP; therefore, even though I had fallen into such extended period of unconsciousness, two times, they were all COMA-s, never yet a FULL STOP!

I pray that God bless this testimony, that it becomes abundant blessings for you in return.

Glory to God in the highest.

Lusi Paul Setiadi
October 31, 2007