(Minghui.org) My name is Zhang Guoyu. I'm a 44-year-old farmer from Dezhou City, Shandong Province. In September 2012, I experienced extreme swelling in my legs and stomach. I sought treatment at a local hospital for seven days, but doctors were unable to relieve my condition.

I was then transferred to Dezhou City’s Lingxian Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, where I was diagnosed with hepatitis. The doctors immediately began treatment, but my condition did not improve.

Within two weeks, my stomach swelled to the point that I appeared seven or eight months pregnant. My limbs, however, became emaciated to the point that they were skin and bones.

I was next sent to Dezhou Municipal Hospital, where I was diagnosed with cirrhotic ascites (abdominal fluid buildup). To treat my condition, I was continually infused with an expensive intravenous solution. Unfortunately, my condition only worsened.

Within 10 days, my stomach became so bloated I thought it would explode. Giving up all hope, I decided to stop treatment at the hospital and return home.

My anxious family desperately searched for a better treatment facility and finally persuaded me to transfer to Jinan Municipal Hospital of Infectious Diseases. There I underwent the same treatment as before, except the drainage of excess abdominal cavity fluid was performed less frequently.

Specialists there recommended that I undergo an operation to implant a bypass shunt through my liver. This shunt could potentially help relieve the fluid buildup in my abdomen. However, the prohibitively high cost of the procedure, the uncertainty of success, and the fear that I was too weak to withstand the operation convinced me not to have the procedure done.

With no further treatment options and my condition stabilized, the doctors decided to discharge me from the hospital a week later.

Within a month, I experienced more severe symptoms, including weakness and lethargy. Family members hastily rushed me back to Lingxian Hospital, where I was pronounced to be in critical condition. Heartbroken, my family started preparing for my funeral that night.

My sister-in-law is a Falun Dafa practitioner. Upon hearing the news of my condition, she told my family to whisper in my ear, “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good. Master Li, please save this life.”

Miraculously, I woke up the following morning feeling lucid and stronger. My inexplicable improvement stunned the doctors!

However, on the day of discharge, I began experiencing severe abdominal pain and uncontrollable sweating. I was informed that I had an umbilical hernia and needed an emergency operation to resolve the intestinal obstruction. Although warned that my chances of recovery were poor, my family decided to proceed with the operation.

The hernia operation did little to relieve my condition, and with the hospital fees mounting, I insisted on being discharged.

My cultivation in Dafa began after I returned home. My belief in the Fa grew, and I began to conduct myself according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Within two months, the fluid in my stomach disappeared, and I was able to move around on my own. I started growing vegetables and began cooking for my family. I am determined to persevere in practicing Falun Dafa!