The Ex Vivo Miracle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Last night's finale of the ABC reality series "NY Med" involved a miracle. No, not a call-the-Vatican-and-start-the-investigations type of miracle. It was\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/2012\/08\/the-ex-vivo-miracle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Ex Vivo Miracle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last night's finale of the ABC reality series "NY Med" involved a miracle. No, not a call-the-Vatican-and-start-the-investigations type of miracle. It was\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/2012\/08\/the-ex-vivo-miracle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Christopher Closeup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-08-23T15:28:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-07-01T14:20:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/christophers\/files\/2012\/08\/NYMed-5-300x168.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tony Rossi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tony Rossi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/2012\/08\/the-ex-vivo-miracle\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/2012\/08\/the-ex-vivo-miracle\/\",\"name\":\"The Ex Vivo Miracle\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-08-23T15:28:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-07-01T14:20:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/#\/schema\/person\/9215d33862959dfe2334a97a802ebf1d\"},\"description\":\"Last night's finale of the ABC reality series \\\"NY Med\\\" involved a miracle. 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{"id":1513,"date":"2012-08-23T10:28:44","date_gmt":"2012-08-23T15:28:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/?p=1513"},"modified":"2014-07-01T09:20:17","modified_gmt":"2014-07-01T14:20:17","slug":"the-ex-vivo-miracle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/2012\/08\/the-ex-vivo-miracle\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ex Vivo Miracle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a>Rita Saverino, a wife and mother of two, had been diagnosed with a grapefruit sized cancerous tumor behind her liver. The only way to get it out and make sure the cancer is removed from the surrounding areas is to perform an \u201cex vivo\u201d surgery. That means Saverino\u2019s abdominal organs \u2013 her liver, stomach, kidney, and intestines \u2013 would be surgically removed, operated on outside her body, then replaced into her body once the tumor was removed.<\/p>\n

Seven surgeons told Saverino this procedure couldn\u2019t be done, until she found Dr. Tomoaki Kato<\/a> at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He is one of the only surgeons in the world willing to perform this cutting edge procedure. He offers no guarantees it will work because he could find something unexpected that tests didn\u2019t reveal once he cuts her open. But Dr. Kato is willing to try. Otherwise, Saverino has a death sentence anyway.<\/p>\n

In the end, the surgery lasted 18 hours, but was successful, giving Saverino a new lease on life \u2013 and a greater appreciation for how precious every day with her husband and two sons really is. She says, \u201cLife is fragile. Life is precious. I believe in miracles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes people only think of miracles as occasions where God spontaneously and mysteriously heals someone of a terminal illness. And while there are certainly enough cases of that happening, there are even more occasions in which we human beings can be conduits of miracles \u2013 in which we can give the miracle a hand, as the lyric above suggests.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>Dr. Kato worked and studied for many years so he could develop his talents to the point where he could do something that many consider impossible. He deserves enormous credit for the work he put into his career. But I believe those natural talents that he developed were planted inside him by God who knew that this man could be a healer in the future if he followed his calling.<\/p>\n

Father James Keller, the founder of The Christophers, once wrote, \u201cIt\u2019s up to you to discover and fulfill the particular mission in life which Christ assigned to you and no one else. The more you realize how much you are needed, the more initiative, imagination and courage you will show in bringing out the great power God has hidden within you. It should thrill you to realize that God wishes you to be His instrument in renewing the face of the earth \u2013 and that your efforts will bear fruit from now into eternity.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, each of us has it in us to be a conduit of miracles for others in some way. Most of those ways will not be as dramatic as Dr. Kato\u2019s way, but every piece of the puzzle is important to the finished product. Or maybe the better metaphor to use in this case is St. Paul\u2019s statement, \u201cIf we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow completely into Christ, who is the head by whom the whole Body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each individual part to work according to its function. So the body grows until it has built itself up in love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miracles can happen every day if we choose to play our part. The next time you have the opportunity, consider giving the miracle a hand.<\/p>\n

To watch the full epsiode of \u201cNY Med,\u201d go here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

To read my previous article about the show\u2019s heroic nurses, entitled \u201cWhat Their Treatment of a Homeless Woman Reveals About the ER Nurses of \u201cNY Med,\u201d go here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"