by Kristy Jacks

What is a miracle? Have you ever witnessed one or known one? The dictionary offers two definitions – 1. an extraordinary or unusual event that is considered to be a manifestation of divine or supernatural power; and 2. one that excites admiration, awe, or wonder. I’ve met both, and her name is Kelli Burbage.

You see, my friend Kelli did what doctors said was impossible. She beat the odds in more ways than just one.

Kelli Smith was always thin growing up in Selma, AL. When she met Gene Burbage during college, she was “on cloud nine” because she’d met the man of her dreams. Then, for some strange reason, Kelli started putting on weight. No level of dieting could stop the scales from going up.

After the wedding and finishing college, Kelli and Gene moved to Tuscaloosa to work with the Central Church of Christ, and life was good for the young couple. Still, the weight was always there and always growing.

Kelli had to hear the same prognosis, year after year, from doctor after doctor. “Eat less and exercise more,” they said. She had to endure the same well-meaning friends telling her to “take better care of herself” and not-so-well-meaning people who felt the need to judge her based solely on her size.

Finally God sent a ray of hope into Kelli’s life. “I was at a doctor’s office for my skin when I mentioned my unexplained weight gain – and for the first time, someone listened.”

She was sent for a CT scan and a neurosurgeon gave her the grim news. Kelli had a tumor on her brain. “Cushing’s disease” is a condition caused by a tumor on the pituitary gland, the part of the brain controlling things such as metabolism, hair growth and reproductive hormones.

Surgery revealed a tumor so big that Kelli’s pituitary gland had to be completely removed. If the tumor hadn’t been found, then she would have been dead in a year’s time.

Doctors saved her life but told her the possibility for children was lost…or so they thought. You see, without her pituitary gland, Kelli’s hormones levels should have plummeted…but they didn’t. Without the proper hormones, she should never have been able to conceive…but she did! And even if conception occurred, she should have miscarried her child…but she DID NOT!

A healthy Kaitlyn Burbage was born to Kelli and Gene on April 13, 2004, weighing in at a beautiful eight pounds and three ounces. “Doctors can’t explain how I managed to conceive Kaitlyn and carry her to term without a pituitary gland. ‘It’s just not physically possible!’ says Kelli. “I’d always believed in miracles before, but now I’m a living one!”

Hmmm…let’s see, find a doctor who will listen and give a real diagnosis…check. Survive major brain surgery…check! Beat the odds, again, by conceiving and delivering a baby…CHECK, CHECK!

Meet my friend, Kelli…a divine event and a woman who excites wonder!

Kristy Jacks and Kelli Burbage attend Central church of Christ. They also share the same birthday, a love for calligraphy, children and laughter, and a “heart the size of Texas!”