A Walking Miracle: Alive

By Jocyeline Brewer

A mother of four Jocyeline Brewer suddenly gets reused to the hospital after working long hours for weeks at a time after almost passing out at work earlier.

As she was transported by ambulance, her children were the only focus. Getting settled in at the hospital and waiting in anticipation of the test results was terrifying. The doctor subjects getting a blood transfusion and call in an oncologist.

Jocyeline and her longtime friend (Rashonda Martin) return to her follow-up a few weeks later to receive the tragic news. Jocyeline's life will never feel the same again. As she sat there and leasing to the worst of her life, her heart was pounding head spinning with fear.

Her doctor starts to explain that she has a life-threatening illness, and her doctors was right. Her life wasn't the same from that moment on.

Jocyeline lived a life of monthly doctor's visit, blood transfusion, and needing a bone marrow transplant.

All of what she has gone through has taken a toll on her. Jocyeline started becoming depressed. Being away from her children and family caused her to have a few setbacks. She did realize that she needed to change.

Jocyeline made a decision to give her life back to God. That was one of the best destinations she could have made. Just as she started adjusting to her new life in Christ, once again another crisis came. After being in the ER for two weeks again, she was transferred to ICU.

As Jocyeline began this journey, she began to understand that her walk with God wasn't just about a healing for her body. It was a spiritual healing.

God began to work on her mind, body, and soul. Her faith proved to her family and friends that her life is an example of what God can do in anyone's life. She has fought extremely hard for life. Jocyeline refuses to live in fear of death. She decided that she would teach her family how they were going to live with PNH and refuse to die from it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098081331

Book preview

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A Walking Miracle

Alive

Jocyeline Brewer

Copyright © 2021 by Jocyeline Brewer

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

The Air I Breathe

What Should I Do?

It’s Time

The Family

March O’ Madness

Who Are You?

The Bright Light

It’s Not Over Just Yet

Changes

The Big Move

The Question

The New Beginning

A Biopsy?

Church

Breakthrough: Resurrection Sunday

The Beginning of a New Thing

May 6—This Is My Season

Pray for Me

Live Your Life

Chapter 1

The Air I Breathe

It’s 6:00 a.m. and naturally, my eyes open. Why am I so tired? asked the voice in my head, while I went to get the kids up. I got Mildred up first; she’s the middle child and my right-hand man. She would help me get my baby boy, William, fed, dressed, and ready for the day.

Hurry up! We have to get to the school by seven. We’re going to be late!

I can’t be late for work and they can’t be late for school. Lunch time was around the corner, and the day had gone fairly well so far. It was a warm and beautiful day, but I was feeling extremely tired. I thought it was just the weather making me feel that way, but it could’ve been the long hours. It was just noon, and I felt like I could barely make it. Maybe I should go to the clinic and get some iron pills—that might work. I jumped in the truck and headed to the clinic. I was finally going to get something that would help me save energy. They took my blood, made me urinate in a cup, and wait in a room for quite a while. Why is this taking so long? I need to get back to work, wondered the voice in my head. Suddenly the nurse came in and told me that my levels were low.

What does that even mean? I asked.

Your levels are at 4.0, and legally, we aren’t allowed to let you go home. We’re taking you to the hospital right away.

I could only think of two things at that moment: getting back to work and who was going to take care of my kids. Before I could think about anything else, they were putting me in an ambulance, and I was being hauled off to the hospital. When I got settled there, I was still thinking about what I was going to do. A nurse came into the room, and I heard her say something but couldn’t retain it right away. WAIT! screamed the voice in my head, I’m confused, blood transfusion? What’s going on? I needed to call my best friend, Shanda, right away.

Hello.

Hey, Jay. What’s up?

I may not be coming back to work. I’m at the hospital, and it sounds like something is wrong. I’m worried. Who will take care of the kids? I can’t be in the hospital. I can’t afford to lose my job.

One whole day had passed, and I hadn’t received any answers. What’s going on? I thought aloud. They have admitted me, and it looks like I’m going to be here for a while. While I was lying there thinking about what all could go wrong and how long I may have to be there, the door opened. In walked a tall, hefty man with white hair and black glasses. He spoke to me with a deep fatherly voice, Good morning, Jocyeline.

My heart started pounding, and my head began to hurt, but I also felt a sense of calmness. I knew that voice, and I hadn’t even seen his face yet. He slowly entered the room with a smile. I was happy to see him, but I wasn’t sure why he was there. I didn’t think I’d ever see him again.

Well, hello, Dr. Osman, I said while thinking to myself, I’m not pregnant. Why would he be here?

When I was pregnant with William, I had the honor of meeting Dr. Osman; he was the oncologist that took care of my son and me throughout my pregnancy. I was told that I had aplastic anemia because of my last pregnancy. The doctor began to explain the procedures that he had ordered, and it all sounded so terrifying to me. No one seemed to be able to answer any of the questions that plagued my mind like, What’s really wrong with me? and How long will I have to be here?

A few hours had passed, and I was starting to worry more. I called the nurse into the room and demanded to know what was going on. She could only tell me what she had in her notes—that I was going to receive a few pints of blood and some other medications. That wasn’t enough information for me, and I still didn’t know how long all of this would take. I knew that they were doing all they could to save my life, but still I could only think about the kids, my job, and the many other responsibilities that I have. This changed so many things that I was planning to do with my family like moving back to Seattle where my mother and other children were. I decided to keep this situation between myself and Shanda until I could figure out exactly what I was dealing with. I had no idea what I was going to do.

I spent a week in the hospital, and they still couldn’t tell me what was wrong. But after receiving a blood transfusion, I was free to go. I felt like a new person, and I had enough energy to make it through the day. My life stayed the same aside from needing to visit the doctor’s office regularly. In the beginning, I didn’t know what to expect when I went back to work or how things would change in my life. I would go to the doctor, get a fill-up, receive a transfusion, and I would start to feel better almost immediately. I could work all day and every weekend without getting exhausted.

One early morning, I had a doctor’s appointment, and I thought it’d be like the rest of them. I had my blood taken, then I sat in the cold seat and waited for the doctor to enter the room.

Good morning.

Good morning, Doctor. How are you?

As we began to talk about my paperwork, he dropped a bomb into our conversation.

I want you to take a bone marrow biopsy.

Excuse me?

Yes, a bone marrow biopsy.

Wait one minute, that may hurt. When and where does this have to happen?

To my surprise, it was going to happen that day. I took off my clothes and sat back on the table.

Jocyeline, can you turn over so we can get started?

Although they gave me some pain medication, I can’t put into words how bad it hurt. The meds weren’t enough to stop the feeling of marrow being suctioned out of my bones. The procedure didn’t take as long as I had thought. They had me cleaned up in no time. When I started to stand up, I put my left foot to the floor, and all I could do was cry. The pain was so bad that first day, but the others weren’t as bad. I spent weeks trying to walk normally again and even lay on my side. That wasn’t anything compared to the news I received when I went back to the doctor. Nothing. They still didn’t know what was wrong with me, but they said I had to stop working regularly and that I needed a bone marrow transplant. Things had changed so much recently, and I didn’t know how this was going to work in my life. I couldn’t see anything being the same anymore.

Eventually I had to move out of my apartment so Shanda and her mother asked if I wanted to move in with them. I was so accustomed to living on my own that I almost said no, but I had to stop and think about what would happen if something happened to me. I ended up moving in with them, and it wasn’t too long before I had gotten sick and ended up in the hospital for a week. I stayed sick so I decided I had to stop working on the weekends as well. I continued to go see the doctor and get the fill-ups, while my body became more and more tired.

I walked in from work to see the kids playing on the floor, and I wanted to join them, but I barely had enough energy left to think. I went to lay down for a while. Suddenly I got up from the bed and walked into Shanda’s room.

Shanda, what would you think if I stopped working completely?

She looked at me with a smile on her face. Jay, you must do what’s best for you.

That was my biggest issue; I didn’t know what was best for me. I had so many things that I needed to deal with that if I just quit my job, I could lose them. Some people may say that being friends doesn’t make you family, but Shanda has always been a sister to me, and we definitely became closer once I stopped working. Ms. Mary allowed me to