In January 2010 I discovered that I was expecting my third child. At 22 weeks I went for a routine check at the feotal assessment centre, where an examination of the baby was done. It was at this point doctors discovered that our baby had a very rare heart disorder. The following week the baby was tested for a syndrome know as Di-George Syndrome (a syndrome where the body’s 22nd chromesome is not functioning, leaving the baby with no immune system and very little chance of surviving once it is born.
The doctors’ left us with the decision of abortion. It was at that moment, as a mother, that I needed to look to God …………. who is the giver of life, who stood on the promises of his word in which he says in James: every good and perfect gift comes from above! A child is such a precious gift! I decided that no matter what the results of the tests might be, abortion certainly would not be an option.
Two weeks later we received the results of the tests ………it came back negative! This confused medical team, but I knew that this was God. I carried the full pregnancy period – the 6th September 2010 Daniel Joshua Kemp was born with a congenital heart defect known as Interrupted Aortic Arch and Arterial & Venterical Septial Defect and Hirschsprungs Disease.
I continued to believe God’s word. God gave me the account of Daniel in the lions den (Daniel 6). God confirmed his promises to me once again that it was no coincident that Daniel was born on the 6th of September. He protected Daniel from the lions ………. when he came from the lions’ den the bible says that there was no wounds found on him! Once again I had to put FAITH in action. Our son had his first 7 hour open heart surgery when he was just 7 days old. Ten days later he had a Plication of his diaphragm which shifted due to the heart surgery. Ten days later he had Hirschsprung’s repaired. An unplanned, ten days later he needed his first surgery repeated which was the repair of the aortic arch collapsed. He stayed in hospital from birth to 3 1/2 months old.
At four months old, after being home with us for just on 3 weeks I rushed him back to hospital as he came down with bloody stool and bloody vomits. I will not forget the 13th January 2011 when doctors worked on Daniel around the clock, not knowing what to do with this tiny little body bleeding profusely. Once again, I looked to the Lord, we as parents, as grandparents, spiritual parents, family and friend could not understand what was happening.
We questioned God, Lord but your word says and your promises are yes and amen – all we ever did was believed in you to bring Daniel through all this ….. what happened to the positive outcome Lord? And for a while this was the conversation I was having with God ……….. standing in God’s way of completing the good work that he started in my son’s life.
And then the doctor came out of ICU telling me to come and say good-bye to my boy, as they don’t know whether he will make it through this time. Daniel laid lifeless and I had to say good-bye to my son. They wheeled him into emergency surgery at 04:30 am to remove a duodenal ulcer. Drs at that point told me that they not sure what the outcome will be because he had so much surgery in the first 4 months of his life. But they will do everything that is needed to save his life.
At this point I had no more FAITH left in me. At that moment my Pastor confirmed that God is telling us that we should let Daniel go into the hands of a living God and that we should allow God’s permissible Will in Daniel’s life and let God is the decision maker at that point. That was the night I allowed the Lord to do what he needed to do. We as parents and everybody around us had to sit back and allow God to work. Praying was done, asking of God was done, it was time to let go and let God perform his healing power. And it was at that point in time when God decided live or die for Daniel, which he did twice. And FAITH was the only thing I had to hold onto, it was the only thing that had a positive outcome.
Daniel at 4years old was diagnosed with a divided pancreas after months of vomiting, Daniel suffered from pancreatitis continuously which he manages to live with. However, he has bouts of this vomiting and aching abdomen due to the pancreatic divisum.
At 12 years, Daniel was also diagnosed with a rare condition known as EOE(this is a build up of white blood cells eosinophils build up in the esophagus, and also it was discovered that Daniel has 13 pairs of ribs and 11 pairs of vertebrae.
Daniel just turned 13 on the 6th September 2023, is now 4months post operation and home from hospital for 1 month. Now comes physical recovery of his rib cage and the rest of his body to adjust holistically to the surgery he had.
Daniel has a real life story to tell and heart health is the biggest part of it.
He has the scars to show what challenges he has been through. As a mother, I can only but thank God for what he has allowed me to experience with him.
Now I understand what the word of God means when it promises THAT THE BLESSING OF THE LORD MAKETH RICH AND ADD NO SORROW, we have Daniel Joshua Kemp a testimony to that.
From the Heart of a mom
MONIQUE KEMP
