Stroke victim happy to be 7 again

The Rosalie Willis signing books at Wal-Mart in Post Falls last week looked much older than 7, the age she often pins on herself.

She wasn’t trying to fool anyone. Willis’ driver’s license says she’s 62, but she believes life began anew for her seven years ago after doctors jolted her back to life three times on the operating table.

“After the second stroke, they told my family I probably wouldn’t make it,” Willis said. “Four days later, I had another stroke.”

She had nine strokes in all. As Willis lay blind, deaf and paralyzed in surgery, doctors most likely couldn’t envision her smiling, signing books and organizing women’s social-spiritual meetings in Paris seven years later. But she had faith she’d survive.

“I knew I would be OK,” said Willis, an active Christian who has published several inspirational books and set all the Bible’s psalms to music. Her newest book, “When God Speaks To My Heart,” was published last month and is available in most bookstores.

“God had told me I’d be singing, so I knew my life wasn’t ending in the hospital,” she said.

Willis is an example of the strong role faith plays in recovery, said Jennifer James, one of Kootenai Medical Center’s two chaplains.

“If someone has hope based on their faith, that’s something they can draw on,” James said. “There are studies that show when people call on their faith resources, they’re able to recover faster.”

Recent clinical studies show that the strength of a patient’s religious commitment predicts the chances for survival after heart surgery, according to Dr. David Larsen, president of the National Institute for Healthcare Research in Rockville, Md. The institute’s studies also show that the greater a patient’s religious experience, the faster he or she recovers from depression and that patients receiving religious-oriented psychotherapy for anxiety symptoms improve significantly faster than patients in traditional therapy.

Faith’s relation to health has taken such hold in the medical community that the American College of Physicians and the American Society of Internal Medicine now recommend doctors review the beliefs of patients with serious illnesses.

In Willis’ case, “She has a belief system and it’s easy to point her in the direction of trusting God and having hope,” James said. “It’s people without resources and no hope that are more challenging to us.”

Most patients she sees at KMC have spiritual beliefs, James said, but many don’t belong to a church. Her job isn’t to convert patients but help them identify their beliefs. Sometimes, beliefs block recovery and sometimes they help, she said.

Willis was 54 when her carotid artery disintegrated. The artery carries oxygen-rich blood to the brain and face. Willis, a Post Falls resident, was a writer of inspirational books, organizer of Christian women and a musician. Her health was fine, she said, until her vision began to play tricks on her in January 1998.

She saw a paisley pattern first. A few days later, she heard gurgling in her neck. Then, she saw bright lights with her eyes open, then closed. Two convulsions during the night finally motivated her to check into Kootenai Medical Center. Willis said she called a friend first and asked her to pray.

Tests showed a possible blockage in Willis’ carotid artery. When blood can’t reach the brain, strokes occur. Her vision problems and convulsions were six minor strokes, she was told. Surgery was scheduled for the following day. Before surgery, though, Willis suffered a major stroke. Afterward, she couldn’t see, hear or talk. She struggled to breathe. Willis’ daughter told her she made animal sounds in her effort to talk.

Surgery was moved up, but Willis had another major stroke. Doctors revived her again, then warned her family she probably wouldn’t survive, she said. Her artery wasn’t clogged. It was disintegrating. Surgeons cut out the worst section and pieced together the ends. The surgery took 10 hours. If she made it through the night, she might live, Willis said doctors told her family.

“I woke up at 11 p.m. and saw tubes everywhere,” Willis said. “But I knew I’d be fine. God told me.”

Four days later, she had another stroke that required doctors to revive her. Blood thinners and bed rest for a month in the hospital ended the strokes. Willis’ vision and voice returned, but she had to teach herself how to speak and act.

“I didn’t know how to be me anymore,” she said. “I felt like I was on a foreign planet.”

While she retrained herself, an international prayer network sent out word to pray for Willis. By April, she was driving again. Two years later, she was invited to Nashville to record some of the psalms for which she’d written music.

“My surgeon told me I’m a miracle,” she said.

And she probably is – a miracle of medicine and faith, said James.

“I have a hard time believing there’s no connection between prayer and healing,” James said. “Some people go through incredible injury or illness and believe they will be OK. That’s the power of faith.”