作者:Clem Boyd，通讯内容经理
事实是 Dr. 迈克尔·麦凯, assistant professor of biblical theology, is teaching at Cedarville this fall is a miracle. 按照他自己的说法，他根本不应该在这里.
开学前两个月, 迈克尔下了床，发现自己不太舒服. 他把这件事当作晨间疼痛的严重病例算了. 走一走就好，他对自己说. 或者吃点早餐. “你需要吃东西，”他说.
But when his left leg went completely numb, he knew something seriously wrong was going on.
On June 19, 2021, Michael suffered an aortic dissection, which is just as bad as it sounds. 主动脉的内壁, 人体南北流动的高速公路, 已经被打破了，在外墙上形成了一条裂缝.
According to the International Registry of Acute Aortic Dissection, 33%的患者在最初的24小时内无法存活, 一半的人活不过48小时.
那是一个周六的上午11点.m. when Michael noticed the initial symptom of a unique pain in his throat and his back.
麦凯的状态很好, working out on his rowing machine and lifting weights three to four times a week. 他在2020年接受了膝关节置换术, which had emboldened him to exercise more consistently and vigorously. 他感觉很好，这是他婚姻生活中最美好的时光.
“Once I got my knee replaced, a whole new world opened up to me,” he said. “我一直在努力定期锻炼. 现在，我们要改变一些东西.”
After his left leg went numb, the alarm bells sounded for his wife, Lee-Ann, and him. 首先想到的是中风, and even the emergency room doctors at Greene Memorial Hospital in Xenia thought the same. 但在麦凯做了第二次胸部CT扫描之后, 很明显，一场更令人担忧的健康危机正在发生.
“对于中风，他们有点乐观，”迈克尔说. “当他们看到第二次扫描时，积极性下降了. They realized this was a dissected aorta, and people usually don’t make it to the hospital.”
Michael was sped off to Kettering Medical Center and scheduled for emergency surgery that afternoon.
“说实话，我没想过我会死, 但看起来我的状态很糟糕,他还在格林纪念医院时回忆道.
"It wasn’t till I got to Kettering that the doctor told me the chances of survival are low. That’s when I thought intellectually, ‘I’ll be with the Lord today.从情感上讲，我没有时间去消化.”
在接下来的10个半小时里，他的心胸外科医生. Peter Pavlina, and the operating room team worked diligently to save Michael. They started with his left leg where the main artery had collapsed, 导致他麻木的原因是什么. 如果没有及时的照顾，他就会失去一条腿.
Pavlina and his team created a bypass to restart blood flow to the left leg, 然后修复了与心脏交界处的主动脉瘤. 动脉瘤是血管壁的膨胀, 医生认为这就是解剖的原因.
最后的, 所有的, 手术小组把注意力转向了主动脉瓣, which had collapsed inside the heart and would have to be replaced or repaired.
“They asked me before the surgery if I wanted a pig valve or an artificial valve,迈克尔说. “但他们使用了现有的身体部位来重建瓣膜.”
在漫长的时间里, Lee-Ann was comforted by friends from Patterson Park Church in Beavercreek where the McKays attend. 他们的孩子——亚历克西斯, 安德鲁, 和凯瑟琳——都出城了, 但手术结束时，亚历克西斯就在她身边, 不久，安德鲁也加入了. 凯瑟琳在埃及. 李安和她在手术期间进行了交谈.
She was also visited by a paramedic who shared Michael’s words as he was wheeled into surgery, “告诉我妻子我爱她,” and by the anesthesiologist who wanted to share with Lee-Ann what Michael had said in the operating room before he fell asleep – “She’ll be the beautiful one in the waiting room talking to everyone.”
“上帝这么做真是太仁慈了，”李安说.
Much to the shock of medical personnel, Michael was able to get out of bed and walk the next day. He continues monitored rehabilitation at Greene Memorial with low weights and walking on a treadmill.
在这场创伤性的、改变人生的磨难中, the McKays have been bolstered by the support of their immediate family and by their church family around the world. They heard about people praying for Michael in south Asia, in Papua New Guinea, and Italy.
“It’s so humbling and so encouraging to our hearts,” Lee-Ann said. “我们有时会为基督身体的美丽而哭泣.”
As he returned to the classroom on August 19, Michael was reflective. “我进入了奖金轮，”他分享道. “根据所有的统计数据，我应该死了. 这就是为什么医生说这是个奇迹. Every medical professional in my family or who is a friend of mine, when they heard what happened before they heard about the success of the surgery, many of them told me they did not think they would have seen me again until the presence of the Lord.”
Michael意识到他现在有了身体上的限制. He keeps tabs on his blood pressure (BP) regularly to make sure it stays at or below 130. During a recent class, he checked his BP before and after to see if it was elevated. 有些任务他会毫不犹豫地去做, 比如拿起一袋45磅重的水软化剂盐, 现在他需要向李安或孩子们寻求帮助.
“I’ll never be able to do intense exercise in the future,” he said. “随着我身体的好转，我将能够徒步和步行. 但现在我得控制心率和血压.”
When his mind begins to drift toward what has been lost, God reminds him of what he still has. “当我感到消极或绝望时, 耶和华很快地与我对质，提醒我所能做的一切,迈克尔说. “我没有失去我的腿，我还活着. 我很感激他提醒我我所拥有的一切, and it gives me a sense of optimism and hope for what the Lord has for me to do, 而他让我具备了这样的能力, 我有机会为此表扬他.”
对于李安来说，她指出，对过去的事情感到悲伤是很自然的. “这是一个自然的过程，”她说. “他以前的状态很好，现在他在挣扎. 他很难绕着街区走两圈. 他的余生都将依靠药物度过.
“但让我感到安慰的是，上帝是不变的，”她补充说. “这就是我度过难关的原因. He is always good, he is always faithful and he is loving, regardless of the outcome 所有的 this. 这对我来说是一种安慰, and it’s gotten me through everything — all the moments of crying or when I was overwhelmed with fear. I learned to focus on Jesus and to stay grounded in who Jesus was regardless how crazy things were.”
Michael is teaching two in-person classes and two online courses this fall. But one suspects this semester’s Bible classes will have a greater weight and depth because of the profound experiences of the teacher.
“这在很多方面都是基督教的基本原则，”迈克尔说. “当我们相信福音, 我们相信我们的罪因耶稣的死而得赦免, 因为他的复活，我们要与他同在. Over the last two months, I’ve been meditating on that more and more. It’s very comforting to know that Jesus has gone before me into death; he’s walked that trail, 他在前面领路.”
位于俄亥俄州西南部, 沙巴体育是一所认证的大学, 将其人化的, 一所浸信会学院，入学人数4人,550年本科, 研究生, 以及150多个学习领域的在线学生. 成立于1887年, 沙巴体育是俄亥俄州最大的私立大学之一, 因其真正的基督教社区而被全国认可, 严谨的学术课程, 包括 神学硕士 程序, 强大的毕业, 保留率, 认可的专业和健康科学产品, 学生参与度排名也很高. 有关大学的更多信息，请访问 斯德维尔.edu.