My name is Cynthia Flynn and I live in Palo Alto, California.
It all started in 1992 when I had a heart attack. I was fifty-years-old and working
at the time.
My husband said, you know, "Let's go to Stanford."
Immediately, they knew I needed a heart transplant. Dr. Michael Fowler was assigned to me and
he was very careful in taking care of me all those years. And finally, after seventeen
years, it got so that it was hard for me to even walk up a small hill. So, he said, you
know, "It's really time to probably quit working." And then he put me on the list, and six months
later, was when I got the call for a new heart.
The phone rang, and I'm sitting in one chair and Cindy's sitting in the other, and she
looks at me. The phone conversation goes on for about a minute-and-a-half, two minutes,
and she puts the phone down and says, "They have a heart for me."
My husband is a Spiritual Care volunteer at the hospital working with Father Hester. Father
Hester is a priest in our parish here.
So, when I was in the hospital, of course Mike and Father Hester were talking to each
other, and Father Hester came to visit me several times, and brought communion for me,
and he would visit with me for a little while.
When we knew that Cindy had arrived, we wanted to welcome her whatever way we could. We had
a pleasant talk, we did prayer, and we did a blessing, and then she went off to surgery.
When you're in the hospital, it's kind of nice when somebody takes a little time just
to talk to you as a person, and not just a patient.
Every day I'd go up, and we'd just take a little bit of time, depending on whatever
came up. And, she was emotional a lot at the beginning. And so, she would just say, "Thanks,
God." And she said she couldn't go on from there. And everything was contained in that.
So, it was a very special journey with her.
It was very peaceful, and very helpful to me. It gives you peace of mind, and it's just
easier to relax and heal.
The Spiritual Care team at Stanford comprises all religions from Judaism, Taoism, Hinduism,
Islam, Muslim, all the way to two or three different Christian variations.
We train our people that crossing the threshold of a room, ¬you are entering the intimate
circle of that individual. Be respectful, be reverent, be gentle in every way.
Listening is the greatest empowerment we can give a human being. They're free to tell us
whatever they want, how they want, as they want. They can bite and bark and bitch and
yell and scream, or they can go silent and do the inner language of tears. Or they can
tell us the greatest joy they've ever been through. And, we're there for them for that
moment.
Supporting somebody and nourishing them is an incredibly important thing. It generates
this peaceful feeling, this sense of being cared for, being loved, that can only help
with healing. But, how it does it, no one knows that. It's mysterious. And so, to bring
that directly to somebody, that's enriching.
We can't do everything on our own. We need others. We need God to help us. And, I think,
that makes a huge difference.