Keeping In Touch

By Pat Pluister - Anne Vliegenthart

Wearing this radiant smile is Anne Vliegenthart of Emmanuel Reformed Church in Whitby, Ontario. Anne shared her extraordinary experience in the September issue of News and Views and is permitting me to share them with you. Thank you, Anne. May God continue to bless you in the years to come. We rejoice and praise Him with you.

Dear Friends at Emmanuel:

By the time you read this, it has been nine months since I had the double-lung transplant. It has been a time of celebration and healing reflection. Jeremiah 28:11 "For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future of hope." That has really come to fruition at this time.

On November 15, 1997, at 7:30 a.m., the call came from the Multiple Organ Retrieval Exchange (MORE). The call I had been waiting for because my time was running out. I was relieved but also afraid. Before the surgery, Pastor Ron had shared this verse with me from Revelation 3:8: "I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut." That morning, Pieter and Fenna (a brother and sister), my two support people took me to the Toronto General Hospital. As I was wheeled through the swinging doors of the operating room, I though of the door in the verse and whispered, "Lord, stay close."

The next moment I can remember was at least 24 hours later in intensive care where as like through a veil I could faintly see the faces of family and friends and hear their soothing words. It continued like that for almost a week. I was unable to speak to them because the ventilator, which kept me breathing, got in the way.

It is truly a miracle that after years of debilitating sickness, I have been given a full life back. For years I felt like a bird that had its wings clipped and couldn’t fly. Now I can sing again, walk again, breathe, filling my new lungs with air. In Psalm 139, David writes: "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it." Like David, I cannot comprehend what God has done for me.

Four weeks later, when I was released, the hard work started. I lived with Fenna, and three times a week, we had to go to the Toronto General Hospital (leaving while it was dark and getting home just before it was getting dark again). My life left room for little else except recovery, a lot of exercise, and constant changes in medication as they experimented to find the right combinations and doses, keeping up both my physical strength and my mental determination. Every step has been worth it.

I will always be grateful to all of you at Emmanuel, friends and family, for the support and prayers I have received while going through this critical but wonderful time. I am incredibly grateful to the donor who gave his or her lungs that I might have a second chance. Also to the skilled team of surgeons, nurses and physiotherapists, not only for their technical skills but for their friendship and support too.

I want to encourage all of you to seriously consider signing the organ card in your wallet. You and your family can be a part of a miracle for someone else. God has given me this wonderful knowledge and ability through modern medicine; you can give the gift of life to someone whose life and hope are failing.

Sincerely,

Anne Vliegenthart (nee Rienstra)