- [Reporter] Lifelongfriends, Joyce Partenheimer

and Shari McRae, were ona scrapbooking retreat,

celebrating Joyce's recentvictory over breast cancer,

and Shari's recovery fromknee replacement surgery.

But it hadn't been thecelebration they hoped for.

All week, Joyce struggledwith stomach pain.

Then that Friday.

- Joyce woke me up at aboutthree o'clock in the morning.

She was in agony, I mean, shewas just crying out in pain,

writhing in pain.

- [Reporter] Shari rushed her to the ER,

at Grand Strand MedicalCenter, 10 minutes away.

- [Shari] I was prayingaloud the whole ride,

and just asking Jesus to help us.

- [Reporter] Joyce wastaken in for a CT scan,

given pain meds, and keptin the ER for observation.

- When six o'clock in the morning came,

and we still were not any further,

in terms of getting her relief,I called her husband, Kim.

- She said, "Kim, Joyce is not doing well.

She's got intense stomach pain.

And I think you really needto come up here quick."

So I packed a bag for the weekend,

not knowing what was wrong.

- [Reporter] Kim arrivedlater that morning,

and Joyce was admitted that afternoon.

By then, trauma surgeon, Dr. Jason Farrah,

had been assigned to her case.

After taking one look at her scans,

he rushed Joyce in for emergency surgery.

- She ended up having aperforated gastric ulcer,

and spilling, you know,

intestinal contents into herabdomen, and having sepsis.

I didn't know if itwas too late, honestly.

- [Reporter] Making things worse,

Joyce's body was still recovering

from a double mastectomyjust two months earlier.

- I remember just continually praying,

"God, please don't takeher, please don't take her."

- [Reporter] After three hours in surgery.

- Dr. Farrah came up to the hall,

and he looked like he'dlost his best friend.

He said, "I have never seenthe extent of the damage

as I have tonight."

He said, "It goes from her sternum,

down below her belly button."

- You can't survive withoutyour small intestines.

For instance, in thiscase, we were talking about

the entire length of intestine.

She was wildly unstablein the operating room.

She could only tolerate so much.

So she needed all theinfection washed out,

the hole sealed,

and an assessment of what wasin the abdomen, and no more.

This was a really tough spot she was in,

she was fighting for her life.

- He said, I think youneed to call the family in.

I'm not sure she's gonna make it.

- [Reporter] Dr. Farrahsent Joyce to the ICU,

on antibiotics, and a wound vac,

and scheduled another surgery Sunday,

to remove the dead bowel.

Meanwhile, Joyce's familycontinued to gather.

As her two sons and daughters worked

to get everyone they knew praying.

- I said, "Lord, if you're gonna take,

if you're gonna take Joyce home,please let me say goodbye."

- [Reporter] Sunday, gettingready for the second surgery,

Dr. Farrah wasn't optimistic.

- I thought we were gonna seean unsurvivable situation.

I really did.

I worried that there would besome recovery of the bowel,

but I thought it would be to a point

that would not sustainher life moving forward.

- [Reporter] The family askedhim for a best case scenario.

- He said it would be theinsides would look beautiful.

And that's specificallywhat the boys prayed,

that when he went backin Sunday afternoon,

he would find her intestineswould look beautiful.

- [Reporter] When Dr. Farrah went back in.

- Is it a home run?- Home run, yes.

- Is it a home run?(screaming)

- There was no dead bowelthat we had to remove.

It's almost (laughing) a complete reversal

of the physiologic processthat was going on there.

And I was pretty ecstatic about that.

- He said, "I didn't do this.

I couldn't have done this.

There's no way I coulddo anything like this.

God touched your wife, and healed her."

- It's a fact that theyprayed for a specific outcome.

And when I came out andgave them the report,

it was literally, and specificallywhat they had prayed for.

- [Reporter] But Joyce'sfight wasn't over.

Chemo and the ulcer hadleft her body even weaker.

Twice, she coded

when doctors tried totake her off the vent.

- That was a big, big problem for her.

It was a very difficult road,

because she's so far behindthe eight ball physiologically.

- [Reporter] For the next eight days,

her family and friends continue to pray.

Then on November 4th, Joyce woke up,

and was safely taken off the ventilator.

Shari remembers talking to her friend

via FaceTime that day.

- That was one of the mostjoyous moments for me,

of the whole thing,

just actually being able to see her face,

and hear her voice, and talk to her.

She looked at me and she said,

"Our lives are so intertwined,"

and that was when I reallyknew she's gonna be okay.

- But we were justthankful that he was kind,

and generous to touch Joyce,and give her back to us.

- [Reporter] Joyce was transferred

to a regular room the next day,and went home that weekend.

- But we had Thanksgiving here,

and it was, it was really precious.

- [Reporter] Joyce isdoing great these days.

She knows firsthand the power of prayer.

- I am 100%, I am.

I feel like I felt 20 years ago.

God can restore. God has healed.

And I believe that my desireis to make Jesus famous.

- Her outcome is amazing.

I did not think she would live.

I did not think she would make it then,

I didn't think she wouldsurvive the surgery.

Then I didn't think she'd survive

the physiological insult to the intestine.

And then I didn't think she'dsurvive the aftercare needed.

And she, against all odds, didall those things, and more.

- The importance of prayerwas demonstrated to me,

in a very visual way.

You can read about it,but when you live it,

that's when things really stick.

(serene music)