The Hometown Advantage Let the Holidays Begin! | Page 18

PAGE 18
Testimony from page 11
my loved ones, still gripped my heart.
The doctor told me that morning, if I
had waited 10 more minutes, I prob-
ably would have died.”
A nurse called Betty at 1 pm and a
friend from work brought her over to
Smyrna Hospital. The doctor told her
that they were going to send Ted to a
hospital in Atlanta. Thankfully, he was
stable when she arrived, but by 7am
the next morning, he was changed to
critical status and transferred promptly
to Emory Crawford Long Hospital in
Atlanta.
“I was taken straight into surgery at
Crawford Long, where I had open heart
surgery. They cropped a vein out of my
right leg and did a double bypass,
diagnosing me with congestive heart
failure. The doctors were surprised to
see so much scar tissue on my heart
and asked me when I had my first heart
attack. I was dumbfounded in the
knowledge that many years ago, I had
been misdiagnosed. God had sus-
tained and protected me all those
years. It was amazing.”
Ted eventually went back to work
and before long, he was diagnosed
with diabetes and sleep apnea. Ted still
pressed on and lived a normal life for
about 5 years, when he and several
co-workers were laid off from their jobs.
Ted’s determination to provide for his
family perservered and for the next 15
years, he worked many different jobs
for low pay – but he knew God had
more for him.
“I told my wife one day, I wanted to
get my CDL license, so I could drive a
truck. I went to the doctor and by the
grace of God, passed all the medical
physicals. So in 2014, I went to truck
driving school and was able to get my
license. Betty and I have been
married for 32 wonderful years. She
has been there for me in sickness and
HOMETOWN ADVANTAGE
in health ...and I can tell you, that has
not been an easy task. Again, I am so
thankful to my wife who led me to the
Lord after we were married. That is
something that I will always
cherish....the Lord’s salvation and my
wife’s steadfast love and support.”
In May of 2018, Ted slipped and fell
while making a delivery. Pain started
radiating in his chest just like before.
But the next week, he took a stress test
and a sonogram for the DOT in order
to drive. Thankfully, they found a block-
age below where the old by-pass sur-
gery had been and put in his first stent.
“My fourth episode happened about
three weeks later. I had jury duty and
started having chest pains once again.
Since I just had a heart catheter, I
assumed I was good, but unfortunately,
found myself back at the hospital. This
time, the doctor found blood clots and
told me I was having severe vessel
spasms. Thankfully, I was treated with
medication and released.”
Then in July of this year, Ted’s jaw
started hurting and he started sweat-
ing profusely. Once more he was taken
to the hospital. He was released, but
only two weeks later, during a DOT
physical, he started having chest pains
while on the treadmill and promptly two
more stents were needed in his heart.
”It’s unfathomable why I was going
through this testing period in my life,
but God knows why and this certainly
drew me closer to Him. There is a
quote by Josh Shipp that I’ve always
liked, ‘You either get bitter or you get
better.’ You have to have strength dur-
ing hard times and every one of us has
had to deal with hard times. In Psalms
45 it says, ‘God is our refuge and
strength, an ever present help in
trouble. Therefore we will not fear.’
What I have learned through all of this
is that God IS Good! You always have
something to be thankful for!”
OCTOBER 26, 2019