Asking in Faith | Donnie’s Story
Donato Delim
I am Donato Delim, but my friends and family call me “Donnie.” I am a 46-year-old Filipino born in Malolos Bulacan, Philippines. I have a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from the Adventist University of the Philippines. I worked as a nurse at Manila Medical Center Hospital as a nurse and then became a clinical instructor at the Adventist University of the Philippines. I moved to Tyler, Texas in 2004 with my wife Lea and two sons, and have worked as a nurse at Trinity Mother Frances Hospital for 14 years. We now have three sons who are 19, 15, and 12 years old.
I had a stroke a year ago, and I’ve been a patient for a year now. This is the story of how God performed a tremendous miracle of healing in my life.
September 9, 2018, Sunday, three days before I was admitted to the hospital, the pain started in my right kidney. I thought it was just a kidney problem, so I started drinking lots of water, but the pain was still there. The next day I went to work even though I was in pain. I didn’t realize these were symptoms of having a stroke. I prayed to the Lord and did some self-treatment — drank a lot of water and juice and applied hot compresses repeatedly — but it didn’t help, so I decided on September 12, 2018 at 12:30 a.m. to go to the ER. After an hour of waiting, I sent my wife home because she had to work that day. They gave me some pain medication and a prescription and sent me home around 4:00 a.m. In the hours after that, the pain got worse and worse, and I had vomiting and a headache. Although I was in a lot of pain, I was still able to drive and pick up my youngest son from elementary school and my two older sons from high school.
At about 5:30 p.m., I called my wife and decided to go to the hospital. With my wife, I was able to drive my car to the hospital, and I walked into the ER, where they asked me a couple of questions and had me wait for my turn. With all the pain, I was cramping badly and vomited a lot. My wife came in from parking the car, and I still remember sitting by her in the lobby. Then they rushed me for a CT scan. Coming back from the scan, I remember sitting by my wife, and I told her I love her. Those are the only things I remember. The next thing I knew, we were already at the rehabilitation hospital.
I only remember a few things at rehab. As I was recovering, I realized that things were different when I woke up. People were acting strangely. They were amazed that I was alive. I realized it was a miracle for me to be there. My thoughts traveled back but I couldn’t remember anything.
I can only thank God and all the people who are taking care of me. I can’t remember when I was in ICU, the tests or procedures, and I don’t remember the conversations that happened there. One thing is for sure, God wants me to do something else, and I thank Him for that, for the many blessings He has done for me and the new strength I was given back. I also want to show my gratitude to everyone who helped and are still helping me; you’ve made it so much easier for me to be back.
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The Last Update from Donnie
As of December 2018, from the last CT scan, I still have blood scattered out on the right side of my brain. As we all know about the stroke (moyamoya disease/subarachoid bleed/intracerebral hemorrhage), which was on the left side of my brain, that stroke was a fact that I had an aneurysm. But based on the last MRI from my new neurologist, Dr. Johnson from the Southwestern Hospital in Dallas, Texas, I have moyamoya as of the moment and am still in the process of treatment. I am still waiting on more therapy, but right now I praise God that I am well, still on disability, and I can do normal things like driving, cooking and playing basketball. I teach Guide Class for Pathfinders, as well as a Sabbath School class.
As of now, in spite of disability and financial problems, the Lord sees to our needs; we are still blessed. I thank the Lord that my oldest son, Jasper, was accepted to Southwestern Adventist University in Keene, Texas, and was approved for a grant; and someone paid the tuition fee for my youngest son who is in seventh grade at Tyler Adventist Christian School in Tyler, Texas. Everything that happened to me and my family was filled with such blessings and miracles, and we thank the Lord for them. I pray I will continue to get better and be able to go back to my work.
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Jessica Anderson is the church clerk for the Tyler Seventh-day Adventist Church in Tyler, Texas.
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Donnie and Lea Delim’s story first appeared in THE FLAME Special Miracles Issue 2019, a Texas Conference quarterly magazine. Find the entire issue at issuu.com/texasadventist.