Hi guys, I promised some months ago to share the story of my healing testimony, I hope this is interesting and all. I'll keep this brief.

Basically, in 1994, I was taken into hospital with serious stomach pain.

The doctors did a check-up and several tests over the years revealed a bit of a problem -- I had a case of IBS, which I had had from childhood. 'IBS' means Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and was pretty serious. People have degrees of it. Mine was medium, but if left it was gonna' get a whole lot worse.

To cut a long story short, it got worse. It got to the point where I was going into hospital every few months, and some times weeks. It would be pretty bad. I won't go into the full story because it's pretty gross, but I had a lot of humiliating experiences, a LOT of pain and a lot of a loss of dignity.

In the end we decided, because what was happening with the IBS would be I would end up in hospital repeatedly anyway, and because the medicines they were giving me would only have short-term effects until I had to go into hospital again, we decided they would have to operate on me -- a fairly well known operation called a Colostomy.

I got to the day of the operation and the doctors and I talked about it. I was told that having the colostomy would mean losing a section of my bowel, and although they could do surgery to put the bowel back together, it would still mean a section of it being lost forever. I'd probably need the bag anyway, for good, according to them, but *if* they wanted to reverse it...

I got my church - Crossroads - to pray and, surprise surprise, I got another operation done -- called an Ace Procedure instead. The effect was the same -- a tube into the side of my belly that I could wash medicines through and wash my bowels out to prevent constipation that was coming on because of the IBS.

The Ace would require at least half an hour of taking the medicine, and time to let it flush through my system. It could be uncomfortable, it would leak, and it would downright smell and hurt. I was miserable with it. What made it all worse was as I talked more with doctors, we came to the conclusion that even *if* the bowel 'got better' (which was unlikely as most of the doctors I ever saw believed it had never 'been better' in the *first* place), I'd be on laxatives / medicine for the rest of my life. That much was pretty much certain. And that is even *if* we could ever reverse the operation.

What happened next was the cool bit. ;) I went to a prayer meeting one night, I just decided I'd had *enough*. As best I saw it, God could heal me at ANY time. It was just my unbelief that stopped me. So I went down to the front one night with Paul, my friend, who was also being prayed for, for an illness of his. I got prayed for. Now, honestly, I did NOT feel anything. And I did NOT 'get better' there and then, but I vehemently believe it was this prayer session that began to change things.

Shortly before, I had been having problems with my housing and I had been forced to stop taking my medicine. Also, the Ace tube (it's also known as a Secostomy Tube) was damaged, and couldn't be used, due to neglect from the hospital (another story altogether. :( ).

I first noticed a change in the March, about three months after I was prayed for.

For you, this might be nothing. For me, it was *everything*. I couldn't tell you when it had started as I had never noticed. I was just now going to the toilet, like a normal person, and I have *never* been constipated since that month! Nor have I EVER taken any more of that medicine!

I went to the doctors, and to cut a long story short, they found I was healed! Yep, they verified it. The fact that my bowels were now working, just like yours (for me, who *couldn't* go to the toilet without laxatives or without extreme agony, that is a big thing) was fantastic! The tube (it was useless any way by now) fell out by itself and the actual operation and tract within by body was reversed. All that is left of my life-long illness now is a scar on the bottom of my belly. :) I can go to the toilet like any body else! I can do sports like any body else (I was once banned from football, hockey and rugby and couldn't do certain trampolining moves). I feel fantastic and not tired any more -- one of the symptoms of IBS is when you're stressed, you get ill easier, and when you have a bad case of constipation, you're VERY tired. You need more rest than normal if you have IBS. Now, I can even last my days without needing a mid-day nap which I used to need to have after school or church.

I believe, firmly, God healed me of this. Sorry if I went on a little. If you guys have any honest questions, please email me, okay? ;)

MrMattK@Hotmail.com

God Bless,
-Matt K

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