In 1956 I was working as a hairdresser on Catalina Island. Returning home from work, I always tried to go for a dip in the ocean to refresh myself. This time, as I entered the water, I felt a terrible pain at the back of my neck. I decided to go home immediately.
The next day I went with my husband to see Dr. Rebukhin. My neck had become stone hard. For the next three days the doctor tried everything but nothing helped. Then he analyzed the fluid from the swelling. Three days later we received the results: it was a very malignant carbuncle abscess, seventy-five heads right at the cerebellum. The doctor finally found one medicine to heal the abscess. I went to him daily to have the dressings changed, morning and evening.
My head was all swollen. When the pus began draining, the swelling in the center of the head began to decrease but the sides remained swollen and high. A peacock's egg could fit into the center of my head. The pain was excruciating. I took tranquilizers to relax. My condition did not improve.
Meanwhile, the doctor told my husband, "I have to drop the case. I've done everything I can to cure your wife. There's nothing more I can do. Take her to another doctor." I begged him not to abandon me, and in spite of everything did not lose hope.
I asked the current chairman of the Vladika John Fund to submit my name for commemoration. She was shocked at my condition and immediately sent a telegram to France, to Vladika John. Soon we received a telegram in reply from Vladika himself: "I'm praying." This convinced me that I would be cured.
Four days later we were at the doctor's. After examining me the doctor informed my husband, "I must tell you that there was no hope for your wife; the pus was on the verge of entering the cerebellum, and death was imminent. Now your wife is saved! Someone was praying very, very hard."
Nina Makovaya