Last night Mam’s mother noticed his abdomen was tight and swelling, and this morning his doctors called to say they would have to perform an emergency surgery in his ICU room to remove a life-threatening necrotic section of his colon.
By the time our team reached the hospital, doctors were explaining to his weeping mother that this was a high-risk procedure but they had no other option, and they needed her consent. “God sometimes reminds me that I’m not God,” the worried surgeon told her.
Our team waited outside praying, and Michiel felt at a certain point that “The Lord said he was taking over…and then, a short while later, I heard relaxed laughter from the improvised ‘operation room.'”
The surgeon eventually emerged to share with a smile that upon opening the abdomen he found the situation better than expected, and he had to only remove a small portion of the colon. Doctors are hopeful for Mam’s recovery, and that they’ll be able to reconnect his colon after 6-12 weeks of healing.