---------- From: jennifer warsen <[email protected]> Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 23:57:29 -0500 To: <[email protected]>, <[email protected]> Cc: <[email protected]> Subject: Prayer helps, and I'm praying for you. Dear Nan, I am 35 and still alive, not to mentionable to be typing to you now, after having been surprised by diagnosis of a brain tumor six years ago. Actually, I was saved by my genealogical search as a very mysterious manuscript, a century old and never published, arrived unannounced in the mail. It was written by my greatgrandfather, Denis Cronin whose wife, my namesake, was Jane Wallace. Feeling a strange compulsion...a message from my angels (ancestors)...I walked into work (an L.A. film company) the following day and gave my notice. The only rational thing I did was to give two months notice and take advantage of my health insurance package while I had it. Just for the yearly checkup thing... Anyway, one minute I was sitting on the examining table telling the doctor of my upcoming trip to uncover my roots. He was more interested, thank God, in hearing my medical history (in light of certain symptoms he was seeing). (I'd been living in NYC previously and working for American HEALTH magazine and so was a new patient). Anyway, next thing you know I'm being rolled into a giant doughnut-shaped device which reveals the unthinkable. I had a brain tumor. That was a Friday. They operated on Monday morning. No time to wait. I didn't even realize I was going blind. They told my mom I would most likely be blind in one I, perhaps both. Mom did just as you did. She reached out for help and, though not particularly religious she prayed. And her/our friends/family prayed too...All over the country. And it worked. I don't write as well as I used to, and I'd be soon dead if not for my medication, but I am alive. And I'm sure that prayer helped...and again, so did my ancestor angels. That to introduce another way the family tree figured in; My surgery was scheduled to be performed at a very prestigious hospital--Cedars Sinai--by what they consider the surgeons to the stars. Me, I was just a screenwriter wannabe (acting as a secretary to the stars) and one collecting material on the bus, unable to afford a car. Which is the only reason I chose that hospital onmy insurance plan. It wasn't near my apt. in West Hollywood, but rather on the way to work, in a neighborhood I could never afford. The name escapes me, a result of my brain surgery actually, but suffice it to say it was not far from Rodeo Drive. And why do I bring all this up. Because just before the surgery, the surgeon assisting his partner for my surgery (they take turns) noticed my Surname right away. And he decided it such a strange coincidence, it was meant to be. He switched with his partner to do the surgery himself, to take care of me as he must have been meant to be there for me to do...or vice versa. He had gone to highschool with my father in Malverne, NY. My father had died the previous year. But I believe he was right there for me, among the other ancestor souls, to help him and me. So perhaps coincidence, perhaps not. For the more scientific types, I'll point out why I namedropped having worked for American Health magazine, which was owned by Reader's Digest. Researching whatever article I was working on at the time, I happened upon a study done by one of the most prestigious medical research hospitals in the world. Can't remember which...in Boston I think?? Anyway, they did a study where people diagnosed with cancer were treated with...PRAYER! And they've done this with and without the patient's knowledge but this particular study was without and so the power of suggestion would not apply. (ANd even when it did, Faith would be a better term and it worked) Where was I? Oh yeah, well in the blind study--half treated with prayer, half with placebo (no prayer at all). Churchgoers around the country were asked to pray for the individuals in the Prayer Tratment Group, and to pray for them specifically, by name and for help with their illness. Those praying around the country had never met those ill before...and weren't meeting them then, just praying. The results of the study were..."miraculous." The patients prayed for had a significantly higher rate of recovery/and or remission than tose not prayed for. And that the point of my long and drawn out story. A point for evryone out there actually. Every one of you CAN make a difference, CAN help...just with the moment it takes to send out a simple prayer...and no matter where. In the shower, in the car, in bed, as you do the dishes, just speak to "God" and your own angels to help NANCY SEAGRAVES STOCKERT through her illness and ensuing ordeal. And while you're at it, pray for your self and your endeavors as well, and just add a heartfelt thankyou. That's what I do...and it works. OK that's it. Write it down so you don't forget, NACY SEAGRAVES STOCKERT, and post her someplace you won't forget...and forgive me for beating around the bush to tell you just that which is important...Jenny Wallace Warsen