Our Story
“Will I live or die?” Jackie said in a distorted
voice.” The doctors think this is it but I’d like to pray for you if that’s okay
with you my darling?” I replied “Do what you think is best” were Jackie’s last
coherent words.
Jackie was 49 we had been married since 1972 but
in April 1999 we took what was to become known as the cruise of death. A flu
virus swept the ship and over 500 people got sick they actually ran out of
ordinary OTC medication. Jackie was one of the flu victims but was to become the
unluckiest passenger on board. She sneezed and coughed simultaneously and the
violent whip lash action dissected her carotid artery but no one knew it had
happened. She was taken off the ship in a wheel chair and rushed to the
emergency room the next morning because she couldn’t breath. The injury tried to
heal and caused a clot totally occluding the artery causing her to have a
massive stroke loosing 85% of the left hemisphere of her brain which paralyzed
her right side, made her 95% blind and completely mute.
This is an actual MRI the white area is the
damage to Jackie’s brain.
The doctors gave her little to no chance of
surviving the night but when she did they predicted pneumonia would cause a code
blue with 48 hours since she couldn’t control her saliva from running down into
her lungs. Her lungs were already infected from the flu with bronchitis,
pleurisy and bronchial asthma so pneumonia was a given. Some how she survived
only to have the damaged portion of her brain swell half an inch and crush the
other side into the inner wall of her scull. The neurologist and brain surgeon
gave her 2 hours to live because the swelling had begun to force it’s way down
her spine so they asked me to consent to cutting a hole in her scull and placing
the removed piece of bone into her stomach to keep it alive for the next 96
hours if she lived that long. I knew Jackie would not want to survive to live as
a vegetable totally dependant on others so after prayer and consulting with
family we refused. The surgeon was visibly angry and without my knowledge went
with a nurse to speak to Jackie our son Hayne who was 24 at the time accompanied
them. To every one’s amazement an inexplicable miracle happened Jackie spoke “My
husband will make the call” and she went mute again.
“I’m sorry Mr. & Mrs. Wolmarans your wife has
reach a plateau and we do not expect to see any further recovery so the
insurance can no longer pay for her therapy” This was five months after being
discharged from hospital and Jackie was confined to a wheel chair. Traditional
medical science had given up but our fight for her recovery had just lifted to a
new level.
We
began our search for a cure by doing acupuncture for six months three times a
week. We also researched natural health alternatives which were extremely
helpful.
Dr William Hammesfahr
We went to Tampa, Florida where doctor William
Hammesfahr (web site address for Dr Hammesfahr
www.hni-online.com) whose treatment
included vascular dilation. Once Jackie’s veins were enlarged he increased her
blood pressure using salt to force the blood to flow more strongly into her
brain. In 2000, this work
resulted in approval for the first patent in history granted for the treatment
of neurological diseases including coma, stroke, brain injury, cerebral palsy,
hypoxic injuries and other neurovascular disorders with medications that restore
blood flow to the brain. It was extended to treat successfully disabilities
including ADD, ADHD, Dyslexia, Tourette's and Autism as well as behaviorally and
emotionally disturbed children, seizures and severe migraines.
Unfortunately the treatment produced
minimal improvements but hazardous side effects of grand maul seizures. The
seizures started after the first week of treatment. We did not initially
recognize the relationship between the treatment and the seizures because Jackie
was placed on anti seizure medication. We were so committed to Dr Hammesfahr’s
procedure that we moved from San Diego, California to Tampa, Florida for three
months in the summer of 2000 so we could attend the Hammesfahr Neurological
Institute three times a week. We continued using his protocol for six months and
the seizure medication for five years.
Prophet Joshua Lagos,
Nigeria
In October 2000 we heard about an
African pastor in Lagos, Nigeria who was having phenomenal miracles. Prophet
Joshua had 20,000 people attending church on Sunday and many of his congregation
had been healed of every conceivable disease including aids. I viewed videos of
blind eyes being opened, paralyzed people walking and open weeping infections
being healed. I began to fast and pray believing that this was God’s direction
for us to follow.
We called and tried to make an
appointment explaining that we were flying from California for prayer. The
coordinator asked if we had been invited to come by the prophet. This didn’t
compute how could he invite us if he didn’t know of us? We said we would stay in
a hotel and come for prayer on Sunday but we were told that we had to stay on
campus if we expected prayer.
We booked our airfare and set off
with great expectancy. The accommodations at the church were very primitive. We
slept on a mattress on the floor in a room shared by five people divided by a
curtain for one week. We were given approximately 50 hours of videos to watch in
preparation for the big day. During this week I completed the 40 day fast
without food just drinking water and began to eat small amounts of food prepared
in the kitchen of the church.
After three days I was told that
because Prophet Joshua had not invited us he would not prayer for Jackie. We
were absolutely devastated and could not understand such a policy. Nevertheless
all hope was not lost because we were told that he was praying for God to tell
him if he should prayer for her.
On Sunday we were escorted to a
designated seating area for foreigners for the longest church service I’ve every
attended it started at 8 am and finished at 4 pm. At one point pastor Joshua
went into a designated area where over 700 people awaited prayer. It seemed as
the sick had every disease known to man. Jackie & I witnessed blind eyes
beginning to see again, crippled and paralyzed people walking it was like bible
days. The prophet prayed for over four hours for these people and for all the
foreign visitors but ignored Jackie. In desperation I called out to him but his
assistants told me to be quiet. We were then ushered back to our seats.
At the conclusion of this marathon
service we were told that prophet Joshua would speak to us in the morning. We
were given an official written invitation to return for prayer but were told to
wait for the call.
So we traveled to South Africa and
waited for the call which never came. I called the church in Nigeria
approximately 100 times a day for the next 30 days. Most of the calls did not go
through, and many times I received busy signals. On a few rare occasions I got
to speak with someone and left a message but my calls were never returned. I was
never able to speak to the prophet directly and was constantly told to be
patient. We spent Christmas and New Year waiting and after 30 days decided to
return to Lagos.
This time we booked ourselves into a
hotel and caught a taxi to the church on Sunday morning. But we were turned away
because we were Westerners and sick. We were not permitted to sit amongst the
regular African attendees and there were no seats available in the guest
section. We asked if we could sit with the sick people who had come for prayer
but we were told that these people had lined up since 5 am that morning to get a
number and that section was also full. At this point the feeling of rejection
was more than either of us could bear and we asked the taxi driver to take us to
a church that was more Christian and compassionate.
Finally the chief organizer came
outside into the parking lot and said that Prophet Joshua had made an exception
and permitted us to sit with the guests provided we promised not to call out for
prayer. After another grueling 8 hour service we were told that the prophet
wanted to speak to us so we waited in a café attached to the kitchen for five
hours. At 9 pm all the foreign visitors began boarding a courtesy bus for the
airport this was our last call and suddenly we were summoned to his office and
given $1,500 to help offset our expenses. Then we were told to wait for an
official invitation to return for prayer that was six years ago we are still
waiting.
During 2001 we implemented a number of protocols
such as placing four magnets each 2 foot wide by 6 foot long under our regular
mattress to improve Jackie’s electrical and blood flow. This has been supported
with Neurological Development Therapy (NDT) two hours a day five days a week
($70 per hour). But as sometimes as is the case things ago from bad to worse.
Her NDT therapist noticed that Jackie’s vision had worsened the ophthalmologist
found that a cataract had grown over her right eye as result of the steroids
given to Jackie in intensive care to reduce the swelling of her brain. To give
you an idea of just how poor her eye sight was, if your vision is 20/40 the DMV
will require that you wear glasses to drive, if your vision is 20/200 you are
certified as medically blind, well Jackie’s was 20/400 in that eye. Modern
medicine came to our rescue and lens replacement surgery was done which brought
her vision back to 20/20 but because of the stroke damage only half of her
vision in each was functioning. To use an illustration it’s as if you sliced an
orange in half, half her eye was completely blind and the other half had 20/20
vision.
There were times when we felt we couldn’t go on
exhausted from the day to struggles of just surviving while all the time
searching for a solution. We reflected at these times on the day I walked into
Jackie’s recovery room with her ballroom dancing shoes and nailed them to the
wall with this note “If you have the courage I have the faith”.
In September of that year we moved to Mission
Viejo, California to undergo treatment at the
Brain Therapeutics Medical Clinic.
Dr Steenblock’s has a hyperbaric chamber where Jackie did 82 dives at $100 per
dive. She also did acupuncture and hypoxia treatment. The idea behind oxygen
deprivation is that it forces the heart to grow stronger in order to maintain
the oxygen level which is depleted. Russian Olympic athletes are often trained
for months on end at high altitudes to accomplish the same thing. We did not
notice any improvement from the hyperbaric oxygen treatments.
Dr Oral Roberts
Jackie and I have always admired and respected
Dr Oral Roberts as a wonderful sincere minister of the gospel. His mission to
bringing God’s healing power to the world raised tremendous opposition. It was a
controversial ministry yet many testimonies have been given from people who
claim they were healed. We were extremely fortunate to know Dr Roberts
personally and on one of our visits to his modest home in California I asked
him, his late wife Evelyn and Dr Richard Roberts their son to pray for Jackie.
Over the years since Jackie’s stroke many of the
well known evangelists of our generation have prayed for Jackie along with
thousands of Christians around the world. We believe if it was not for these
dear ones praying that Jackie would have died.
Auctioneer for Cruise Line
Jackie’s medical expenses had used all our
savings and the last of our investments had to be pulled the week after 9/11 so
we lost 40% of its value. Until March 1999 I had served as a Pastor in San Diego
but since Jackie’s traumatic brain injury I had taken care of her on a full time
basis. Now I had to find a job where I could take Jackie to work with me or work
from home fortunately I got job as an art auctioneer on one of the major cruise
lines. You can no doubt imaging the mental torment of going back to place where
everything went so wrong but on the other hand it was a perfect solution. They
did all the domestic chores, Jackie was safe and I could earn while we traveled
the world. My contracts were short usually 6 to 8 weeks at a time while on board
I did Jackie’s therapy but when at home we hired a professional therapist.
Dr Barth Green of
the University
of Miami Medical Research Center
Fortune
smiled on us in the midst of this great ordeal because Dr Barth Green of the
University of Miami Medical Research Center happened to be a VIP on one of our
cruises. Dr Green has pioneered research for over 25 years with spinal cord
injury which results in paralyses. The late Christopher Reeves was one of his
patients and also contributed to the research. Dr Green spent an hour with us in
our cabin after which he invited us to visit his center. We were offered an
opportunity to have vision restoration therapy in the Neurological department.
The Wall Street Journal did an article on Nova Vision.
The
Wall Street Journal Health story, Reversing Partial Blindness reports on
VRT™ as "A Revolution in Neuroscience," and describes how VRT can restore the
vision of patients who have suffered partial blindness as a result of a stroke
or traumatic brain injury.
Jackie’s vision at the commencement of this
program was tested at 52% of a normal visual field. After nine months of two 30
minute sessions per day her vision was 81% of a normal vision field. Here is a
press release given by Jackie.
VRT Press release June 12, 2006 Jackie Wolmarans
“I lost 50% of my vision on the right side after
suffering a severe stroke in 1999 which affected 85% of the left hemisphere of
my brain. I began VRT in 2004 and the results were so good that I continued
therapy twice daily for nine months. My husband worked for a cruise line so we
traveled extensively although it was difficult at times I was committed to the
treatment & took the equipment with us on our travels. The loss of sight in the
lower right quadrant meant I could not read and always had difficulty finding
stuff on my right side.
My vision improved to 81 % so I can now read
menus at restaurants and directional signs inside airport terminals when
traveling. I seldom loose my lipstick on the dresser even if it is on the right
side. I enjoy watching TV I don’t miss any of the action and our art collection
is as lovely as it was pre-stroke. One of the things us ladies indulge ourselves
in is our make up and now I can do this for myself. Thank you Nora Vision for
restoring my vision and for coloring my world again.
I highly recommend VRT as a safe and effective
treatment. I’m convinced that any patient who diligently sticks to the
instructions will have improvement in their vision. I’m eternally grateful for
this scientific breakthrough in vision technology.”
Here is the actual VRT final report.
Dear Dr. and Mrs. Wolmarans:
As you can see, the improvement is significant
and we thank you for your effort and commitment.
I’m looking forward to see you soon at the
Clinic.
Best regards,
Iszet Campo-Bustillo.
University of Miami
Department of Neurology
Conducted by Nova Vision their web site is
www.novavision.com.
Stem Cell Therapy in Tijuana
Mexico
During my research seeking a medical protocol to
reverse the damage caused by the stroke I heard about the potential of stem cell
therapy. The possibilities ignited our faith and hope but alas no one in America
was treating patients with stem cells. I found a reputable clinic in Tijuana
Mexico that linked to American scientists. Their research was cutting edge but
the application was based on speculation and theory. Nevertheless we were
pioneers at heart and were convinced that stem cells held the key to the
restoration and rejuvenation of Jackie neurons. So in January 2003 Jackie
submitted herself to experimental research receiving 2 million umbilical cord
blood stem cells via IV at a cost of $10,000 for one injection. This clinic has
now treated hundreds of patients with amazing results. Their contact information
is provided in the links of International Stem Cell Clinics.
Jackie’s NDT therapists immediately noted an
improvement in her abilities.
Stem Cell Therapy in China
In November 2005 Jackie had a spiritual
experience that would alter the course of our lives “I had a vision while I was
doing therapy this morning in the cabin” Jackie said as I entered after an
auction. “I saw myself in a hospital in China receiving stem cells please go on
the internet and check that out for me?” she said. I tried to reason with her
that if people were receiving stem cell therapy any where in the world then
surely the whole world know about it since it is such a controversial subject.
But she was emphatic saying I know what I saw is true.
Over the Christmas holidays I was able to do the
research and to my amazement I discovered a hospital in China had just started
administrating umbilical cord stem cells to Westerners in that November. They
invited us to come for treatment naturally my mind flooded with questions and
concerns about the quality of medical treatment, diseases, contamination,
screening standards and the general living conditions in China. Once again our
pioneering spirit and dedication to Jackie’s recovery empowered me to resign my
job of four years and take Jackie to China for sixty days. The results have been
nothing short of miraculous in fact we were so excited about what happened that
I felt compelled to produce a DVD called “The Gift of Hope” of our experience.
Her first improvement was the return of the
sensation of hunger and the feeling of being satisfied after eating. Most women
would love not having the feeling of being hungry. Then the droop of Jackie’s
right side of her face disappeared and a general sense of well being flooded her
body. Her right foot started to move on command about 3 inches which is huge
since it was totally paralyzed for seven years. The strength of her hamstring
went from a 1/5 to a 2/5 giving us enough movement to do physical therapy on it
for the first time. Her right arm that had been very weak suddenly gained
strength and control. During the sixty days Jackie had seven spinal cord
injections and five IV’s of umbilical cord stem cells totaling between 120
million and 150 million cells. She current holds the record for the receiving
the most stem cells in the world.
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