Now, there is absolutely no doubt
after hearing the story of my godmother, Aunt Sylvia LeBlanc.
In November 2016, she gave her
husband, Roy, who I call “Saint,” some caregiving relief by asking to be
admitted to Pontchartrain Health Center in Mandeville, where she had resided
once before. She didn’t have a serious health issue, just was thinking of her
husband getting older at 82 and weaker in helping lift her for getting around.
On Thanksgiving Eve, she
developed a terrible cold and coughed continually. Her family was scared to get
too close in fear of it being contagious, but they never isolated themselves
from her. The staff got more worried. It did not ease up with any prescription
given. They wanted to order a dysphagia
(swallowing test), but Sylvia refused.
“At 81, I wasn’t swallowing wrong
now,” she told them.
For two and a half months, her
husband and children, Judy Achary, Roy LeBlanc Jr. and Eric LeBlanc, begged her
to have the test.
One day the cough was so bad,
Pontchartrain staffers called an ambulance and Sylvia was taken to Lakeview
Regional Medical Center. Mucous was removed and steroids given, with a
diagnosis of bronchitis. But Sylvia continued to cough days later.
After taking a shower, she
slipped onto the floor, not a hard fall, but shortly very concerning. “I was
out of it. I knew no one. I couldn’t talk,” Sylvia later recalled. Ten staffers
worked promptly to revive her.
She was again transported to
Lakeview, suffering a diabetic coma. She was admitted for one night and they brought her around.
After examination and returning
to Pontchartrain, she recalled exactly what had occurred and thanked all of the
nurses and aides.
As time passed, the cough
subsided. But again, staff called her husband and an ambulance another day when
she fell ill again. This time she requested St. Tammany Parish Hospital.
Sylvia said she did not feel too
bad, but received a pneumonia diagnosis. Immediate family visited as she was
put on oxygen and received numerous injections. She became septic.
Later that evening, she was
rushed to ICU. It was difficult to find a vein to draw blood for more testing
and she was listed in serious condition, but her family kept it from her. She
asked them about heart problems or a stroke and they denied both. Her heart was
operating at 20 percent capacity even after receiving a bypass in 2013.
She could not eat anything except
red Jell-O due to nausea. Her room stayed dark and family went home each
evening, but she could tell something was really wrong as they visited one by
one. They often had tears. “I did not close my eyes because of worry and all
the medical attention,” she said.
Sylvia began to put two and two
together and prayed harder than ever, cried constantly and called out to Jesus,
her children, her relatives and cousin Tillie Maillho, who had recently had
surgery and exchanged prayers with each another. Sylvia explained she wanted
them to come see her. Tillie and Sheila Ladner and Velma Ruth Ladner, in her
wheelchair, came from Mississippi.
“I was in my right mind,” Sylvia
said, however, “automatic tears” streamed because she didn’t want her chest
opened again.
“I could see and hear and knew
either way I would have won. I’m a born-again, spirit-filled Christian and it
was fine to be in His arms or live,” she said.
She hollered for her husband, children
and grandchildren and their spouses and one of their fiancees, Dana, who had
brought cookies. Eric and his wife, Norma, had adopted their grandchild, Gavin,
7, as their own. All prayed as did Father Dean Robins of Most Holy Trinity Catholic
Church. He performed last rites. That
helped Sylvia expect healing and forgiveness if she headed to the heavenly home
upstairs.
She said she felt good and she
felt different.
Three or four hours later, Father
Robins checked back and the family went to get something to eat.
A doctor made rounds and said
something may be seriously wrong with Sylvia's heart. “That roused me up,” she
said. Her hands were swollen where she could not open a finger. Her feet were
heavy. Her body felt like a “ton of bricks.” It hurt to move her neck to talk
to a visitor.
“I’ve got my own rock head,” she
said. Getting down to the nitty gritty, she said she did not want to have a
heart attack nor surgery, so she hollered for Jesus to hear her. Enough that
she almost lost her voice. Staff did make sure she did not disturb other
patients.
“My stomach was rolling and
jumping with nerves,” she added.
Her husband and her children
tried to talk her into the suggested heart catheterization that she kept dodging.
Father performed last rites again on March 7. All held hands and he left.
The tears rolled again and Sylvia
said she never prayed so hard. “Where are you, Jesus? I’m your child. I need
your attention. I need healing.” She said she did not shut up.
Then right through the wall at
the foot of her bed came Jesus. The former beautician describes him with dark
black hair like her mother’s with an upward curl over each ear. He was a solid
figure with an olive complexion and a serious look.
His white gown was "silky
chiffon" with a gold round neck and gold belt. It had no collar. The
bottom and the sleeves were flowing. “I observed him greatly and was so glad I
got to see Him,” she said. "I will never forget it as long as I
live."
He had nice shoes, not sandals,
she added. She noticed green grass and that He walked on his tiptoes as if
floating and He had a small waist. People gathered and Jesus parted the crowd
to pray for the family, Sylvia said.
She told Jesus she was glad to
see Him. He did not talk. He took his thumb and anointed her forehead “one time, two times, three times.”
He turned eastwardly and left to
go back to heaven like the way He came in. He asked no questions and is exactly
who He is, she said, kind, gentle, loving, faithful, understanding, thoughtful,
powerful and almighty.
Her family saw the exchange on
her face. “It was not a dream or hallucination,” she insists.
Jesus had been asked by Sylvia to
generally anoint her family as well, looking around the room at Roy Sr., Judy, Roy
Jr. and wife Karen and daughter Isabella, Eric and Norma and Catherine and
Joshua Murillo. “He looked to each of them and put a cross on their forehead
with an anointing,” Sylvia said.
Sylvia saw her late father sitting
in a green chair in the corner with a shirt and gray pair of pants. His face
was red as it usually was when he was alive. “He was old, but became new and
vibrant and his complexion changed after Jesus anointed him,” Sylvia said.
He was a Baptist deacon and her
mother was Catholic. She added that her father appeared relieved during the
incident.
She did not see her mother. She
saw her late brother smiling and her late infant brother, too.
Judy felt the anointing in her
chest. Gavin, in his head. He cried because he was overjoyed to see Jesus.
“Judy was grinning ear to ear,
the biggest smile I’d seen in her whole life,” Sylvia said.
Jesus touched others as well. Sylvia
said her pregnant granddaughter, Katherine Fish, felt it in Iowa.
Jesus grinned at Eric like he
knew him, Sylvia said, explaining a story about how Eric was healed from
epilepsy when he was 6 after receiving an anointing from evangelist Kathryn
Kuhlman. Eric began to pray for others and the New Orleans newspaper deemed him
“Little Preacher Boy.”
Eric now makes furniture and still
knows his real father is also a carpenter.
The visit from Jesus either meant
He was taking Sylvia home or a miracle was on the way. The family claimed the
miracle and was very grateful.
Sylvia asked Jesus to bless her dog
Pepe. She loved the golden terrier so much when he was alive. She then saw him
run, jump, play with other dogs and act free as a bird.
“Jesus was so gentle,” she said. “He
wasn’t in a hurry. He wasn’t angry.” In fact, Roy said the incident lasted
about an hour.
Father Robins returned again and the
LeBlancs told him what happened.
In her own way, Jesus revealed
himself, Father said. In that moment she did have an experience “whether
interior or through divine revelation, and to me, that’s good.
“In our suffering, that’s when
God can come most readily. I do experience people being healed through the
sacrament of the sick,” he said. Last rites are for one’s healing both
spiritually and physically, he explained. Those receiving the sacrament may
receive encouragement to continue to believe, heal and trust Him.
After the anointing, Sylvia
finally ate--a big plate of red beans and rice, a New Orleans staple, mashed
potatoes, tea and Coca-Cola. She asked for some of Judy’s Cheetos.
The children were happy and saw
that their mother was changed immediately. Sylvia felt radiant, but the staff
needed to prove it with tests.
Sylvia had an echocardiogram and
recalls Amazing Grace playing in the
room.
She was discharged in a week when
all medical numbers proved normal. She underwent no heart procedure. A pre-dialysis test was never completed and
she planned to refuse dialysis anyway. It ended up not being necessary.
The news spread around the
hospital and a patient named "Mrs. S" came by to ask for prayer. “She
was touched by the story,” Sylvia said. “Jesus healed me.”
Sylvia has not walked in five
months. “That’s coming,” she said. “I’m keeping my eyes on Jesus. It was the
most beautiful experience in my life. Believe me. For this is the truth."
Author's note: My aunt has been a major religious influence on me,
sending me spiritual books throughout my life, teaching me words like rebuke
and suggesting evangelists to watch or read. "He who endureth until the
end is victorious" is her favorite quote.
Sylvia's Top Ten
1. Think positive. Put Jesus first in your life.
2. Believe and receive.
3. Give Jesus the glory.
4. Go to church all the time.
5. Expect the unexpected.
6. Keep your faith.
7. Keep your trust.
8. Read your bible.
9. Remember to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior, confess with your
mouth the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved, and unless a man enter the kingdom
of God, he cannot see heaven.
10. Love one another. Daily pray for one another. Prayer is a direct
communication to God.
