Dave Walker - God in the ICU

The Inspirational biography of a praying doctor

Copyright 2011 by Dave Walker

All rights reserved.

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All Scripture quotations in this book aretaken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

No part of this publication may bereproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in anyform or by any means without the prior permission of thepublisher.

ISBN 978-0-620-51363-0

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This book is the result of my experiencesduring an anaesthetic and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) career thatspanned more than forty years. It by no means represents the sumtotal of my experiences of God at work in my practice. Throughoutmy profession I have seen Him at work almost daily; bringingcourage to a patient facing a major procedure, replacing their fearwith peace on entering the operating room; smoothing the way duringdifcult surgery; encouraging His children with a sense of Hispresence or providing comfort for anxious parents. In fact, therehave been very few occasions when I have offered to pray for mypatients, where they have not been blessed, even if it was just byknowing that there would be a doctor in the theatre who would bepraying for them.

Most times, however, my relationship withthe patient has been a relatively transitory one. I would see thepatients before their surgery, examine them medically and, if led,tell them of Gods faithfulness and offer to pray with them. Iwould see them again in the operating room and then usually for apostoperative visit. After that they would be lost to me, unless Ihappened to bump into them during my rounds or they sent me a cardor contacted me in some way. The stories told here relate frominstances where I could build longer-term relationships with thepatient. These have lived with me over the years almost as memorialaltars reminding me constantly of Gods goodness and involvementwith us. All are factually correct, although sometimes, for thesake of the story, I have had to guess at the circumstances thatplaced the patients in the ICU.

The names of my colleagues and those of thepatients have been changed to preserve anonymity, since I have notreceived permission from them to identify them and in manyinstances they are not contactable. Those of my colleagues orpatients who read the stories and who were involved will no doubtrecognize themselves or the people involved.

The Intensive Care Unit is a special placein a hospital where the care is more complicated and demanding thanalmost any other part of the hospital. The ratio of staff topatient is high and most patients recover well but the risks arehigher. The challenge to the doctors and the nurses is to monitorthe patients well and make sure they recover quickly. With suchcritically ill patients and such a lot of genuine care, God isthere in a special way.

I worked with Dave Walker for 15 yearsduring which time he looked after my patients in the Intensive CareUnit, after having given the anaesthetic. Sometimes the operationlasted 6 to 12 hours and Dave was there for the full time and thenstill took over in the Intensive Care Unit for a full recovery.

Dave often said a prayer with the patient,if he could, and that created an atmosphere of faith and belief inthe love of God. That was special. The patients appreciated it andI loved it. In that way the operation and the recovery were blessedby God. It was as if He was there with us as part of our team.

God in theICU is the story ofDaves search for God and nding Him. Dave found God and found Himabundantly. He lived his faith to the full and shared it withpatients and their families in the ICU.

Dave takes us on a Doctors journey in hisapproach to the most ill patients. He shares with us hiscompassion. That is so moving. The Art of Medicine is tocure.

Here we read stories of how that happens. Weshare the concerns, the challenges of sickness and we experience,with Dave, the joys of healing.

From the beginning of the book the storiesare moving and a box of tissues is a help!

Dr Wolfgang Losken

Clinical Afliated Professor, Plastic Surgery.University of NorthCarolina.

This book would not have been possiblewithout the loving support of so many people who have encouragedand helped me.

Firstly, Margie, my wife, endured endlessconversations about just one subject - my book - and read numerousdrafts always with constructive comments.

My three daughters Mandy, Dee and Traceywere always very enthusiastic about the chapters that I sent themto read, and kept me going when doubts assailed me about mycapabilities to nish the job.

Then my friends, particularly Dave Ball (anenthusiast and great encourager), Garth Lee, Dave Shepherd, RichardAnderson and Sonya Hunt all patiently read portions of the book andcontributed to its nal form with their comments and interest.

Anne Erikson, my editor, is a gem. She wentbeyond a mere professional interest in the way she helped.Throughout the process I felt as if I had a friend helping me tohone and rene and clarify. Thank you, Anne.

Lastly I wish to express my gratitude toGod, who led me to start this book in the rst place and, throughHis constant involvement in my life, has given me something towrite about - in fact, something to sing about for the rest of mydays.

Contents

Hey God, can You hear me?

The shrill, triumphant voice of asix-year-old boy pierced the morning air from a treetop.

I had climbed to the summit of the Jacarandatree in our garden and was savouring the victory. The ground wasdizzyingly far below me and I felt sure that the top of the worldcould not be far off. And of course, I was close to heaven andtherefore close to God.

I do not think that there was ever a time inmy life when I doubted the existence of God. I remember at thequestioning age of adolescence, when one thinks about things moreintently, and questions everything, I was at a camp in theZimbabwean bush. I had looked around at the at-topped thorn treesproviding shade for our tents and the tall Bauhinias, whose leavesuttered in the wind like butteries; I had listened to theku-kurrrrrrrr of the doves overhead and seen a timid bushbuck dartthrough our camp; I had observed the sensitive, complex ecosystem -everything designed to harmonise and sustain life in a slow,purposeful rhythm of seasons and I had settled the question onceand for all. This could not have happened by accident: God wasthere.

This is the tale of how He took my hand andled me down the path appointed for me, to show me the way in whichHe responds to our prayers and demonstrates His love in all mannerof situations.

The story starts in 1940 in a simplyfurnished pre-fabricated house, nestled, with four others like it,amongst Msasa trees and tawny grass in a remote part of Zimbabweoverlooking the Umniati River. It was home to the engineer whosupervised the power station. His young wife was looking anxiouslyat their newborn baby. He had not been well for two days, but todayhe looked worse. Instead of crying fretfully he was drowsy andlistless and could not take the breast.

She glanced at her husband beside her.We need to get him to the hospital, Jack. Im worried. Itwas a three-hour bumpy ride in their old truck along a bush trackto Kwe Kwe, the nearest town, and to the anxious parents eachminute crawled by as their child lay still and pale beside them.They rushed into the Casualty Department, anxiously presenting thelittle bundle to the staff. After his examination the doctor wasabrupt.

Why did you leave it so late? Your babyhas malaria. There is no chance to save him now. He is going todie!