Testimonial - by Bill Cuartero - given on June 27, 2004
My Story - Prayer is Real
Good morning! For those of you who do not know me, my name is Bill Cuartero. I have been a member of St Paul’s since December of 1999.
It all began on the day of November 9, 2003. After a busy weekend having new carpeting installed; After Scott Pendergrass had painted the entire inside of our home; I was sitting in my family room as the pain began to increase during the evening. I thought it was just indigestion, but as the night wore on, the pain was not going away.
After contacting my physician, I was rushed by Rescue to Memorial Hospital that Sunday evening at 11 PM. After an initial examination and CT scan, my emergency room Doctor informed me that I had appendicitis. He said the scan showed my appendix lighting up like a 1000-watt light bulb! In layman’s terms, it was ‘hot’ and had to come out quickly. 7 hours later I was on the operating table undergoing surgery.
It was only supposed to be a 2-day stay in the hospital, but on Tuesday morning I awoke with pneumonia. My oxygen levels were very very low, and I underwent round the clock respiratory therapy.
By day 5 things were starting to look-up. Annette, Scott, my family members, and friends all came by for a visit. Flowers filled the room along with balloons and get-well cards. Then on the morning of day 6, just as I was starting to feel a little better, in walks my critical care Doctor. She greeted me with a warm but cautious smile … I responded in kind with a hardy, good morning Doc. “Mr. Cuartero”, she said, “I need to advise you about an issue with your kidney.” Ok … Well, the good Doctor began, “the radiologist has spotted a small growth on your right kidney. There is nothing to be alarmed about” … she continued, “but I just want to make sure you follow up on this once you are well enough.” I told her Ok … and she left the room. Well … needless to say, I was quite taken back by the entire situation and it all sounded so surreal.
After being discharged on that Sunday, I began the process of looking into my kidney situation and visited my family doctor. He reviewed the CT scan and told me that things didn’t look too good. He ordered an MRI and a follow-up visit with an Urologist to discuss further treatment.
I met with my Urologist for the first time a week after Thanksgiving. He reviewed the CT and MRI and again confirmed the diagnosis … and for the first time used the ‘C’ word … Cancer! He ordered one additional test procedure to confirm without a doubt that I had a malignant tumor growing on my kidney. So on December 10, 2003, I reported again to Memorial Hospital to have an angiogram performed. Dr. Mori of the Mori, Bean and Brooks fame, performed the procedure on me. As I looked on, Dr. Mori pointed out the tumor on the television screen … “see there” he said … “those little lines” … that is blood being supplied to the tumor. “Yep” he said, … “we have a live tumor going here.” “97% chance its cancer. It’s got to come out!”
Well .. I thought they would just cut this tumor out and let me go on with my life. But then came the recommendation by my Urologist. “Bill” he said, … “I must remove the entire kidney to make sure all the cancer is gone. If I leave one microscopic cell behind, we will be back here again in 18 to 24 months going through this all over again.” What about chemo or radiation I asked … No such treatment exist for renal carcinoma. Surgery is the only remedy.
My good Doctor told me … “you have time” … “this can be done after the Holidays.” I said, Ok .. I need to pray about this … and talk it over with my family.
Claudia and I continued to usher during the month of December here at St. Paul as we have done for the past couple of years. But on Sunday, December 21st while sitting in the back of the church during Joys and Concerns … God spoke to my heart. You see … I had been trying to decide and asking God to provide me the sign on whether to have a partial removal of the kidney, or a radical Nephrectomy, complete removal. I had already lined up a second opinion doctor to see whether this was the correct procedure. I had spoken to friends, family members, and other doctors. Now the decision was made. Not by me, but by a higher authority.
The next morning, I called my Urologist and told him to schedule the surgery and we were going with the full procedure … remove the entire kidney. I cancelled my second opinion Doctor and began the process of preparing myself for the surgery. The date was set for January 21, 2004, the day after my 54th birthday.
What I have told you up to this point is the nuts and bolts of what happened. Now I am going to tell you the story of what was going on deep inside my spirit.
As I proceeded down the path to surgery, I kept asking myself some questions. What was going on and how did I get here? My faith was strong … but as the days past, it was getting stronger. People kept asking me, “Bill, how can you be so positive about your situation?” Look at what you are facing. Oh, I could have gotten mad. Mad at God … Mad at Jesus … Mad with the whole world. Why me? What did I do to deserve this? That’s sometimes the normal reaction for most of us. I would just smile back at them and tell them the good news … that I was not alone … that I was not afraid … that I had peace within myself … and that I was in a win win situation. People would ask me, “Bill, what can I do for you?” I got asked that question over and over and over again. And I would always answer them with 3 simple but powerful statements: Pray for my family, pray for Doctors, and pray for me.” I was so covered by prayer that I knew God was listening.
On the Sunday before my surgery, God brought Claudia and me together with our newfound friends, Doug and Jennifer Sneed. Now, some of you maybe familiar with the name, Doug Sneed. He is a well-respected and successful architect that has been practicing in the City of Jacksonville for many many years. This is not Doug Sneed Sr., but rather Doug Sneed, Jr. his son. I was introduced to Doug and Jennifer by my sister Lydia who is a minister at a local Jacksonville church. We met at my sister’s house that Sunday afternoon and began a dialogue about my situation and my impending surgery. Now Doug is no ordinary person. Doug acts as God’s vessel. You see … God has given him the gift of healing. Well … after about 3 hours of conversation on just about every topic under the sun, we stood in the middle of my sister’s family room and Doug, Jennifer, O.B., Lydia and Claudia all laid hands on me and Doug began to pray. Within minutes I felt a peace, calm and warmth about me that I had never experienced before in my life. I knew something was happening. I was in a win win situation.
My birthday followed 2 days later and I came by St Paul to do one last thing to the computer system before I had my surgery. After walking in the door, Annette approached me and said … “Don’t you leave here before we have a chance to pray with you.” After completing my work, the entire staff of St. Paul’s walked over with me to the prayer room … I knelt at the kneeling rail … everyone laid hands on me … and Annette began leading the group in prayer. When the prayer session concluded, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Again … I had that internal peace and warmth that is hard to describe. But .. I knew I was ready to proceed. You see, I was in that win win situation.
Wednesday morning, at 6:00 AM on January 21st, as Claudia and I walked to the outpatient center at Memorial we were greeted by a familiar and smiling face … Brother James Jennings was waiting on me to arrive. A few minutes later, my mother-in-law Geri St. Denis also arrived. As we sat in the waiting area, we talked about casual topics, trying to pass the time away … but James could sense the anxiety. He looked me straight in the eye, took out his Bible, and began to read some scripture. We then prayed together. Then they called my name. It was time to begin the procedure. Again, the peace and warmth of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, came upon me. I knew I was in good hands and was in win win situation.
After 6 days in the hospital, the pain was incredible. I was primarily confined to the bed. On that Monday morning, I was feeling pretty sorry for myself. My Doctors told me that it would be another 5 to possibly 6 days before I would go home. Again, my oxygen levels were not where they needed to be. That after noon, Doug and Jennifer dropped by to visit me. They were not planning on staying long. But Doug could see that I was struggling. So again, he took my hands and placed them in his, and we began to pray and give thanks for all that had happened. On that night, it was the first night I slept all the way through without waking up in pain.
On Tuesday morning, I awoke and had turned the corner. Late that morning, Brother James came by to visit me. As he was walking in, I was getting ready to walk out into the hallway for a little stroll. James couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Just a day or two earlier, I looked like death warmed over. You see … prayer works … and it was working for me. Instead of leaving the hospital 5 to 6 days later as planned, I was discharged from the hospital the next day.
Normally you receive the pathology report providing you with the final conclusion about your procedure. But something had happened. 5 days after my procedure, the initial report was … inconclusive … the Doctors needed more time and more study. On the day of my discharge, the doctors still had no idea what was going on with my kidney and what had happened. But I knew!
At 10:00 AM, on Monday, February 2, 2004, as I was sitting in the exam room of my Urologist, the door swung opened. In walked my Doctor … he looked like a Cheshire cat! He said … “Bill, I have good news!” The tumor was not cancer! …”I don’t understand this, he said … but I am so very happy for you.” I said to him, well, “Doc, when you have a couple of hours one day, I will explain it all to you!”
Now the skeptic or non-believer would say … well, you’re just lucky Bill. You fell into that 3% categorical statistic that the tumor would be benign. I would say to them … your wrong! Let’s look at all the things that could have gone a different way.
You call it what you like … I know … I know what happened to me.
God is real! Jesus is real! and Prayer is real!
At this point something needs to be said about this win win situation I have been talking about. You see, in my case, prayer was so powerful and God was so willing to take me under his wing, that I knew that even if things did not work out for the good, that it really didn’t matter … and the reason is simple. God had already spoken to my heart and told me that he was ready for me to be with him. That is the power and comfort of prayer. It is not just for getting … sometimes that doesn’t happen. But, even if it doesn’t happen, prayer puts your heart and soul in that place that is special to God. Now, there maybe someone here today that is traveling a road similar to mine. Continue to pray and pray often. So you see … that is what I mean by being in that win win situation.
During this 2-½ month period in my life when I had 2 major surgeries, I endured a lot of pain. My bride Claudia sacrificed a lot to be with me during those times. But when I think about how my Lord and Savior was nailed to that cross and died for ‘Me’ … my suffering is so insignificant … it can’t be measured on any scale.
I went through all of this because God is not done with me yet. He has a plan for me to do more things on this great planet earth. After much and careful prayer, God has been leading me to go into some type of ministry. Now … I am not going to become a full time preacher! But this fall, when Al Hicks leads another group of trainees, I will become a Stephen’s Minister.
Finally … I have a lot of people to thank. First, I would like to thank you, the congregation of St Paul’s church, for praying for me during this time. I would also like to thank Annette and all the St. Paul staff for their warm and loving thoughts through this whole ordeal … A special thank you to James Jennings who came in the wee hours of the morning … and all the other times he visited me in the hospital and prayed for me … and with me. I would like to also thank all who sent cards and letters, flowers, gifts and emails, to help me get through this difficult time in my life.
However … the one person I can’t give enough thanks is to my loving wife of 30 years, Claudia. Although all the visitations by all the folks that came to see me were wonderful and appreciated, my day in the hospital didn’t begin until Claudia arrived each morning. She stayed by my bedside for 12 hours each day, keeping me company, reading to me, praying for me and helping get through each day … one day at a time. I will always love you.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to share my story with you. And remember, God is real, prayer is real ... and all wondrous things happen through his son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.