UPDATE: Woman has been reunited with family. Read more.
ORIGINAL STORY:
A woman who has remained unidentified since being found five months ago in Carlsbad has put her story and photo on Facebook, hoping someone might recognize who she is and where she is from.
Here is her story from her Facebook page:
It has been a bit over a 3 weeks that i have been out of the hospital and there have been no leads by the authorities on my finding my family. My friends that I have made believe it is time to use the internet ourselves to see if we can find my family or friends.
You see since I’ve been in the hospital I have been here alone. Well, let me clarify. I have had no family or friends here. However, clergy and doctors and nurses and other patients whom I met have all become friends. Some of whom were there before, during, and after the surgery I had to have and my subsequent cancer diagnosis. They continue to bring prayers, books, gifts, food and flowers. “I can’t stop thinking about you,” is what I hear over and over again. God has done a miracle in providing a “family and friends when they could not find my own. You see, I can’t remember how I got to the hospital (was by firefighters) or where I was before I came to be at the hospital. I was in dire condition when I arrived and was put in intensive care immediately. The amnesia I have is called retro amnesia and doctors have seen this before with the kind of antibodies that were found on the volleyball sized tumor that was on my ovary. The doctors said it could have been growing for 5 years causing me to be forgetful of things. Before the surgery, my nurses truly thought my tumor would be benign because the tox screen when I rushed into the hospital was clear, no diabetes medicine, drugs, alcohol or heart medications. They removed my tumor as well as the tumor on my other ovary. During the 7 hour surgery they found that the large tumor was cancerous and therefore they had to remove my cervix, my uterus, my fallopian tubes, all my female organs. There was a diagnosis of ovarian cancer. I have been getting chemotherapy treatments and have lost all of my hair. My prognosis is not good and I pray my family will be found soon. From the moment I woke up in the hospital I first thought I was on a hospice floor because I heard a nurse talking about hospice. I was speaking with an accent, a British or Australian they thought. All of my initial dreams had to do with a lap pool swimming in a salt water pool in Perth, then Icebergs in New South Wales and in Cairns in Queensland and Byron Bay. I also had many dreams of Hawaii living in a contemporary home there. Both Australia and Hawaii are extremely familiar to me. I remember having breakky almost every morning at the organic restaurant across from the ocean in Cottelsoe Beach outside Perth, and dining for months at the restaurants in Byron Bay.
The American authorities have been searching here, the British and Australian authorities have been looking there. The only thing I know for certain is I have a faith in God. I woke up initially feeling as if someone had their arms wrapped around me, I felt him. I felt I was not alone, but instead enveloped by the Lord with his warmth, with his sacred heart and with his warmth and grace. The lead chaplain at the hospital gave me many spiritual books to read and they were so enormously helpful to me. Two scriptures which have sustained me throughout these months have been these:
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
And from the Book of Proverbs “ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, but in all ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your path.”
I also found myself meditating naturally for extended periods and have had dreams of having experienced Samsara many times with a bloke (man) by my side in an ayurvedic spa with massage table and shower at the end of the room. Very lovely room. I also remember being on a boat for a long time. Not a cruise ship but smaller boat with a crew.
I literally love the friendsI have gotten close to through these months and will always be enormously grateful for their caring. I continue to trust in God for everything and that God is seeing me through this cancer diagnosis and the pain that comes with that.
Sincerely,
Chaplain’s observation:
She has had an amazing positive influence upon many she has encountered during her lengthy stay in the hospital as a cancer patient. Her active and growing faith in Christ has been at the heart capacity to not focus on the “thorns” of her cancer experience but to focus on being a “rose” to others who have needs. She has had a wonderful impact upon nurses, doctors, employees, roommates and their families on the Oncology unit. She exemplifies how someone can embrace a great trial with all its hurts and yet have a sense of real purpose. This perspective gives a sense of hope and meaning.
Description:
- White female
- Approximately 50 years old
- 5’7” and 200 lbs
- Blonde highlighted hair
- Brown eyes
- Chipped front tooth
- Right-handed
- Near-sighted
- small pox scar on right arm
The last thing I was wearing was a navy blue T-shirt with Annapolis Harbor with anchors on it, navy blue shorts and Sperry boat shoes, and Burberry tie made in England.
