Saint Stanislaus Papczynski — The Life and Writings

S AINT S TANISLAUS P APCZYNSKI 170 On March 22, the fourth day of their novena, Dr. Szypulski noticed a slight improvement in Barbara’s clinical status, in- cluding in the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in her blood. He modified the mechanical ventilation settings and reduced her medications. He stated that “after those days of desperation and lack of hope,” they were “blown away” by her improve- ment. The chest X-ray taken on March 25 (the seventh day of the novena), shocked the doctors even more as it showed a complete healing of her irreversibly damaged lungs. On March 27, the final day of the novena, Barbara’s breath- ing tube was removed and she began to spontaneously breathe on her own. Seeing her lungs restored — lungs that had been damaged beyond modern medicine’s treatment capabilities — and see- ing the overall positive turn in her condition, both Dr. Szypulski and Dr. Minarowska were dumbfounded. They admitted that their medical intervention was not responsible for this reversal and healing, and that no scientific reason would explain it. Al- though her lungs were healed, serious questions remained. Dr. Minarowska stated: “We were certain that she would survive, but unable to answer the question ‘how’ she would function after her eventual recovery.” The doctors wondered, would her brain function normally after such high levels of carbon dioxide in her blood for over four weeks that had caused cerebral hypoxia (severe lack of oxygen to the brain)? Would her vital organs, damaged by septic shock and total organ failure, recover? Would resultant quadriplegia be reversed? The physicians had no answers on that day, as they feared permanent brain injury, organ dysfunc- tion, and total body paralysis. The answers came during her stay at the hospital’s Rehabil- itation Department. Despite her cerebral hypoxia, she had no cognitive impairment. Her Rehabilitation Discharge Summary stated: “Twenty-year-old patient was admitted for rehabilita- tion after quadriplegia and cerebral hypoxic respiratory failure.