Irene Titilola Olumese – Truly Kept By The Hands Of God

I met Irene over two years after we started our conversations and correspondence. One thing I never told her is that it was just as well that I got to meet her in person now. Not knowing the fullness of what she had to deal with made it easy for me to pull her when I needed to, without feeling like I had to treat her different. Something I am grateful for because, she would not have been able to cope with maybe my fear in it all. So what can I tell you about my Sista Irene? She is a General and has the scars of battle to show for it.

What can I say, Irene is an inspiration and I am proud that she is my Sista. More importantly from Irene I learnt that there is a way to wait when you have to wait on God. Enjoy ladies and gentlemen as I give you Irene Titlola Olumese.

Let’s meet Irene (where you are from, family background, education and what you do now)

My name is Irene Titilola Olumese. I am originally a Lagosian, born in Ibadan to Rt. Revd. I. B. Williams (Methodist Church)and Mrs Oluremi Williams (Teacher) bred in Lagos for 14 years. I went to Methodist Girls High School, Yaba, Lagos; and then, back to Ibadan to study at the University of Ibadan (UI) where I obtained my M.Sc in Human Nutrition in 1988 and later a Ph.D in 1998. I am the first of seven children. I worked with UNICEF as a Nutrition Specialist in Ibadan, Lagos, Tamale (Ghana) and Cairo (Egypt) for a total of 15 years. Currently, I am a wife, mother, writer, blogger, counsellor and launched my beading business in October, 2013.

The early years of your life as a Christian, where did you begin? What informed your conversion experience?

I got born again in Lagos in August, 1984 after my second year in the university. I had a very strict upbringing with a preacher as Father and a teacher as Mother. During my first 2 years in the university, I used my liberty and newly found freedom to its fullest. I simply did my own thing while maintaining the appearance of Christianity by going to church on Sunday morning after an overnight party. My immediate junior brother (now an RCCG Pastor in Australia) tried to reach out to me to no avail, but I later went with him to Vacation Christian Fellowship organized by UNILAG Christians at the Shepherd’s Hill Baptist Church, Obanikoro, Lagos. A preacher, during one of the fellowship meetings, admonished us to be totally committed to Christ. I was restless through that night and could not sleep until I knelt by my bedside and gave my life to Christ. I asked Him to forgive me of my sins and help me to become totally committed to Him. He did.

Tell us about your immediate family (Hubby and the Boys)

I am married to Dr Peter Olumese (a Paediatrician). We met during a Christian Musical Concert held in Paul Hendrickson Hall, UCH, Ibadan in December 1984. I was a singer with JRV, a musical group in the University of Ibadan while he played the bass guitar with his group, the Calvary Love Singers (CLS). We became friends from then. He asked me to marry him in April 1990, and we got married on April 23rd, 1992. My husband works with Global Malaria Program (WHO) in Geneva where we have lived since 2003 with our sons–God’s gifts and blessing to us. Ose is a sophomore at Penn State University, US. Ehi is a junior at College du Leman. These three men have been my strong support.

Your story; when you were first diagnosed what did you think?

It was in 1991 while I was undergoing a medical examination for Canadian Student Visa that they noticed something in my chest X-ray, but it did not appear to be a major cause of concern until 1993. I started coughing in March, and the cough was unresponsive to treatment. It became non-stop and distressing. That was when the doctors told me there was a cyst in my chest which they thought might be the cause of the cough. They advised that it should be taken out. I had a thoracotomy in June 1993. They found that it was a benign tumour lying between my lungs and heart. The rib-cracking cough, however, did not subside following the surgery; rather it went from bad to worse. I continued coughing because of the chronic recurrent chest infection for the next 20 years, which gradually weakened my lungs. I recall that while I was on admission in the hospital in 1998 and coughing all through the night, a woman from the opposite end of the ward shouted: “this cough will not kill you o!” Many times, people say to me, “what are you doing about this your cough” and “this your cough is really bad.” I would respond in my heart; it is not MY cough; it does not belong to me, and it is not of God.

In addition to the lung disease (diagnosed as bronchestasis), an initial diagnosis of Myasthenia Gravis (a degenerative disease causing the gradual weakening of the neuromuscular junction) was made in 1995. This resulted in weakness in my upper muscles–face; neck and shoulders were most affected. The diagnosis was confirmed in 1998, and I was placed on medication which I was told I would need to take for the rest of my life to control the disease. This further aggravated the respiratory problems. To the extent that I had to have another surgery on the lungs in 2003.

To the glory of God, despite all the health issues, I was still able to live a full life as a wife, mother and professional until 2007 when my lungs became too weak to hold sufficient air, and I became oxygen-dependent. This meant that I had to be on supplemental oxygen 24 hours of each day, carrying an oxygen bottle with me whenever I had to go out of the house, and my physical abilities became limited. It was at this time that I had to stop working outside the house and gradually became home-bound. This was very challenging for me because I am an outdoor person. For the next 6 years, I struggled with breathing. Many times it was so difficult to breathe that the effort alone left me weak, in addition to the cough which, continued to drain my energy. By 2010, I had to sleep with a CPAP Ventilator to rest my lungs and to ensure they don’t stop working while I was sleeping. The drugs affected my appetite and sometimes caused excruciating pain in my abdomen. I lost 30kg between 2003 and 2013. If you consider that I was never a big person, then this is a lot of weight to lose.

In 2010, the doctors told me there was no medical solution to the problem except to continue to palliate the situation. I needed a miracle. I needed new lungs. That was when I was placed on the waiting list.

How did your family react especially hubby and the boys when it was clear, it wasn’t a problem that was going away in a hurry?

Honestly, I can’t thank God enough for my husband and my sons. Many times when we leave the doctors’ office after being given a bad report, my husband will declare, “we will believe the report of the Lord and His report says you are healed” and he will encourage me all the way back home. He was very supportive and stood strong by my side through it all. My sons became aware of the severity of my health situation in 2003 when I had to leave them behind in Tamale to go down to Accra for medical treatment and was in the hospital for 4 weeks. They were very young then and became matured through the experience as the years went on. They were always willing to provide me with their strong arms to lean on when I was too weak. They and their dad had to take care of me and our home.

How did you do in the faith department during the trying times? What kept you going?

Three months after I gave my life to Christ, God ministered to me that, in every situation, I go through in life; He will comfort me with the same comfort with which I will comfort others. I knew that no event in my life will be without purpose and that the experience I go through will be used by God to touch the life of somebody, even if just one person. With that assurance early in my walk with God, I had a strong Rock to anchor on through the trying times. And there were a lot of them. It was this assurance that God will bring me through to the other side and that He will use it to the fulfilment of purpose for His glory that kept me going.

However, there were times when the waiting seemed to be endless as the years passed. It took the grace of God, not to despair. I got to my lowest period in 2008 when I had more frequent episodes of difficult breathing. It was so bad at times that I found myself gasping for breath. It was very frightening. I coughed so much in the night that I would cry out loud to the Lord to knock me out because of the pain, distress and inability to sleep. And then, spend the best part of each day doing medical routines. I got tired of living like that. I simply could not take any more battering. I told God I was tired, and I started preparing to go home. My faith was really shaken as it seemed the end was never going to be in sight. I did end up in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) by the end of that year because I could not breath by myself. It was the sheer mercy of God that kept me alive. I had to decide at that time NEVER to give up hope again and for many years I wore a Joyce Meyer’s bracelet- NEVER GIVE UP, to remind me. I also have many friends and family members praying for me.

Were you always able to align with God’s will at every point? Did you ever think that God had dealt you a bad hand?

At every point? No! I had periods when I had to turn my face towards the wall and cry before the Lord with a loud voice. One of the most difficult things for me to handle was when I could no longer work and had to stay at home. We had a huge loan we took as down payment for our house to pay back, and huge medical bills to settle. I could not be a contributing partner as I used to be. Many times I had to ask God to give me the opportunity to use my skills to generate additional income for the family. I learnt in those times to truly trust God as our Provider; with my health, I had to keep myself constantly reminded that God is a good Father and no good Father watches His child cry without a reason. It never really crossed my mind that God dealt me a bad hand, because I knew He has a purpose for my life and a vessel of gold must go through the furnace to be of use in the hands of its master. But I never thought it was going to be as challenging, difficult, long and life-threatening as it turned out to be.

What did you do for support?

I have learnt to praise and worship God in every situation, and that is a source of strength and uplifting for me whenever my spirit was down or low. I always remind myself that for as long as I still have breath; I will praise God because no matter how difficult the situation may be, I am kept by the Hands of God, day by day, come what may. Since 2002, it was confirmed by at least three witnesses that I have a story to tell. So I started chronicling the story of my life in 2005. I had no idea how I was going to write or present the story. But when I started writing actively in 2010, it provided an emotional release for me and an opportunity to touch lives with my story.

The surgery, how did that go? What was going through your mind after you got the call that it was time? Did you think you will make it back? If yes, what informed that conviction?

I was in the middle of the preparation for the Women’s Seminar scheduled for April 27th, which we had invited you (Bidemi) to facilitate and during which we were going to launch the book–Sistapower, when the call came. It was on Saturday, April 13th. I must confess that my heart momentarily failed me. I panicked. I asked the Lord, “God now?” But interestingly, I was sure that, by some miracle, I would be back in time for the Seminar. I remember telling my husband as I was wheeled away into the theatre that whatever happens, the Seminar must go on. Well, I woke up 4 weeks later to find out that the Seminar had been held. The surgery itself went well. None of the complications anticipated happened.

I knew that God had an assignment for me to fulfil, and I knew that I had yet to accomplish it. I also knew that God has promised me that He will keep my soul in life, and I am kept by the Hands of God. So I had this assurance that He will pull me through. It was a battle for life during the next 4-6 weeks.

Post surgery, how long before you came to? The recovery and healing process… walk us through it.

Following the surgery I developed severe unexpected and unexplainable complications, it was so bad that a coma had to be induced. I was told that I was placed on a heart-lung machine (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation); haemodialysis and ventilator to sustain my systems during this period. I was asleep for 4 weeks. When I woke up, pain, distress and overwhelming discomfort were my constant companion. It was difficult to communicate; I could not speak, and my hands trembled so much making writing difficult. All I could do was repeat over and over again in my heart; “This has come to pass” and “I will not die but live to declare the glory of God in the land of the living”. I spent almost eight weeks in the ICU in two hospitals.

On Sunday, June 2nd, the ventilator was turned off, and oxygen tube was removed. For the first time after six years of continuous dependence on supplemental oxygen, I took a breath without any external support and my oxygen saturation remained stable. It was with an exhilarating joy and much praise to God Who turned away my captivity!

The second surgery (feet of grace) how did you take that one?

The complications I had after the lung surgery caused a period of severe lack of oxygen to my feet and my hands were also affected. Praise be to God; my hands recovered, but I was told my feet will not recover and will cause more damage to my health. My husband and I were faced with the difficult decision of having a second surgery which had far-reaching and life-changing consequences for us. It was one of the most difficult moments of our lives and perhaps the most difficult decision we had to make. But God promised us that He will give me the feet of grace that will take me places beyond my natural feet.

Irene today? What have you learnt? Did all these in anyway change your perspective of God and life? In what ways?

Foremost, I know without any doubt that God loves me and that I am precious in His sight. I have made remarkably progress with recovery and rehabilitation over the past 6 months. My doctors, therapists, family and friends are all amazed at how far I have come. The oxygen reservoir, bottles, ventilator, concentrator and nebulizers are all gone! Secondly, I know that He has a plan and purpose for my life; an ‘only-me can fulfil purpose’. I also know that He is going to use my story to touch many lives beyond my wildest imagination. I have grown and matured spiritually through this experience. One thing I must note also is that I no longer have the fear of death. I have a different perspective to life and death now. Heaven is the reward of the believer. No matter the length of our stay here, one thing, is for sure, at the appointed time we will die. One thing we must make certain is where we are going to spend eternity. Lastly, while we are still on this side, we must be busy about the Father’s business.

With this second chance, have you articulated how you want to live? And to what end?

I have been given many chances of life. With this one, all I want to do is to live it in the centre of God’s will and in the consciousness of His presence. There is no better place to be than in the centre of God’s will, except in His presence. I want to live each day of the new life God has given me in pursuit of fulfilling His purpose for my life and for His glory.

If you could do it over, what will you take and what will you not take?

Ha! This is a tough one. I don’t think any of us will willingly choose the furnace experience or willingly go through the valley of the shadow of death. But gold must be refined for it to be useful in the hands of the Master. Our tests and trials give us testimonies and put the glory of God on display in our lives. Knowing what God has processed in me with this experience and seeing the way He is using it to touch lives, I don’t think I will exchange the joy of the eternal weight of glory, this light and momentary affliction is working for me, for anything less. His grace is always abundantly available, and His presence abides with us through whatever path He takes us. Like the songwriter (Andrea Crouch) said, “If I never had a problem, how would I know that God could solve them…Through it all, I have learnt to trust in Jesus.”

Irene in 10 years, what has God told you? How will all these work out for your good?

I don’t have clarity about 10 years yet. But I have very strong impression in my heart that God is going to use the feet of grace to take me to places beyond my wildest imagination. He has confirmed that through many witnesses that I am going to travel to different places sharing my story. My instruction for now is to share my story and watch what God is going to do with it. He has already started to use my story to touch lives for good and to inspire hope in many who are going through challenging and difficult situation. So I see myself as an inspirational speaker inspiring hope in those facing challenging situations. I would like to see my books (both fiction and non-fiction) published, and my beading business expanded. My prayer is that we will surely recover all the enemy has stolen, wasted and destroyed in our lives through the years of affliction.

It is certainly all working together for our good. My husband, my sons and I have become closer, and our family more closely knit together. My relationship with my husband is richer, deeper and more refreshing. It is like we have been given a new lease of life in every sphere of our lives. We have been richly blessed, and we want to be conduits of His blessings.