My Story

My Story

by Paul Umbaugh III

My name is Paul M Umbaugh III. I would like to start off by telling you a little about myself. I was born and raised as a Catholic. I was told that I was "baptized" into the gates of heaven as a baby.

I had always been told that if you were a good person and did the best that you could, that when you died, you would go to heaven.

However, this did not seem right to me. After continually attending a Baptist church, I began to hear our Lords word in a new light. I was encouraged to read the word and participate in discussions.

I began to truly understand life’s purpose and our Lords will. I personally accepted the Lord Jesus into my heart on Dec 1, 2002.

I immediately felt the desire to share our Lord with others. Acting as a mere "messenger" for our Lord, I was able to share our Lord (as personal Lord and Savior) with family members, co-workers, neighbors, friends and others.

At least 200 lost souls came to personally know the Lord at this time. Through the Lord, I started a couple of nursing home ministries where at least another 100 lost souls came to know our Lord (several were to die shortly thereafter).

Several friends were having me talk to other family members of theirs, what a blessing I received. I continued very strong in the faith. I helped to start a home church in 2004, which is still strong in the Lords will.

Then on June 3, 2005, my whole life was about to change and the miracles our Lord still performs today were about to be proven for many.

Most of all I am about to tell you came from family members, ex-family members, friends and hospital records and notes, as I can not remember any of it.

I was in need of a total knee replacement (TKR), which I was suppose to have done on my left (L) knee on June 15, 2005.

I overused my right (R) knee to protect my (L) knee, and I had been having a hard time walking around. I ended up with a cyst in the back portion of my (R) knee which began to hurt very seriously.

I went to the local E.R. and was admitted in the very early hours of June 3, 2005. I do not remember any of this. One of the doctors I worked with saw me in the a.m., then came back and aspirated my knee @ 1600 hrs.

The doctor planned on taking me to surgery the next morning (June 4) to do an incision and drainage of my knee.

It was thought that the cyst had burst, or I had a flare up of gout. The doctor who did the surgery cut my leg and knee area worse than a lot of other patients I had ever seen.

On June 5, 2005, the doctor who did the surgery saw me in the early morning, and said that I was doing great, but noted that my blood pressure was rising.

The doctor wanted me to stay for an extra day in the hospital as he knew that I would be right back to work, as I have had at least 12 other surgeries where I would go right back to work from the recovery room.

A couple of hours after the doctor left, everything went downhill. From what I have been told, I started having a seizure and then stopped breathing.

A "code blue" was called @ 1140 hrs. A doctor and nurses performed CPR at that time and brought me back to life. I was transferred to the E.R. to have a stat CT scan performed.

The CT scan revealed that I had brain edema, subarachnoid hemorrhage @ basilar cistern, transtentorial herniation, mucosal thickening at the (L) ethmoid sinus.

I coded again at 1325 hrs and was put on life support. My family was all contacted and advised that I was on life support and they should start saying their goodbyes.

They were advised that I was brain dead, and the only thing keeping me alive was the life support machines. My family knew that I did not want to be kept alive by machines and the hospital staff was getting them to sign to take me off of life support.

My one daughter refused to sign the paperwork and the good Lord said - hold on – it’s not time yet - and I began to breathe on my own.

At this time it was decided that I should be transferred to another hospital. The doctor who did my surgery talked to my then wife and advised that if they did not transfer me or do anything, that I would surely die, that I would possibly die anyway, but I at least had a chance if they transferred me.

I was flown via Bayflight to Morton Plant Hospital (MPH) on June 5, 2005. An angiogram confirmed the CT scan. The neurosurgeon advised that the only thing to do would be to take out the (R) PICA shunt, that it would be a 14 hour surgery, and I probably would not survive it. The aneurysm was centered on the brain stem, affecting both sides.

The doctor advised that this was an aneurysm (caused by the knee surgery infection) and they would have to try and let it calm down before attempting any surgery. 909

The doctor again advised that I probably would not make it, but if I did, I would most likely never be able to walk again, or be blind, or severely disabled.

On June 6, 2005, I went into respiratory failure at 0420 hrs. and was brought back by our Lord one more time. I also had an MI and went into renal failure at 1400 hrs, but, again, I'm still here.

The bypass did not work, but by the grace of God, the surrounding veins picked up the slack and I am here today able to share this testimony with you. During the course of my hospital stay I made a promise to our Lord that if he let me out of the hospital, I would share this testimony with as many people as I possibly could and show of the miracles that our Lord still performs today, and that He and He alone is still in charge on the throne.