Nabeel Qureshi asks for prayers after operation to remove feeding tube that got lodged in his throat

Christian apologist Nabeel Qureshi, who was diagnosed with advanced-stage stomach cancer last year, is asking for prayers as he awaits to be released from the hospital following an operation to remove a feeding tube that got lodged in his throat.

Qureshi, who served with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries before he was diagnosed last summer, revealed in a Facebook post on Tuesday that he is still in the hospital after checking into the emergency room on July 21 due to a dislodged stent in his esophagus.

"I'm still in the hospital. Day 19! Please continue to pray," Qureshi said, while apologizing to his followers for not frequently posting an update on his medical situation.

On July 23, the Christian apologist announced on social media that he was taken to the hospital after a stent placed in his stomach was dislodged and traveled up to his esophagus, causing extreme pain.

In the 38th edition of his video blog, Qureshi explained from his hospital bed that he was still in the facility even though the stent had already been removed. The stent was placed in his stomach on July 20 after he told a doctor that he had lost about 20 pounds because he had not been able to eat for the past two weeks.

He recounted that he was vomiting blood on his way to the emergency room when the stent got dislodged a day after it was placed in his stomach.

"While I was in the ER, I was in excruciating pain. I have never felt or imagined pain like this before. It was internal, as if something inside me was trying to explode out," Qureshi said.

Qureshi narrated that he had an overwhelming spiritual experience as he was experiencing tremendous pain while waiting to get the stent removed from his throat.

"As I was going through this tremendous pain that I had only ever conceived of ... I felt like I heard voices of reassurance. I don't know if it was just my head or if the Lord was speaking to me or if angels were whispering assurances. I just felt a presence — that even though I knew it wasn't physically there I just knew there was a presence there," he recalled.

The apologist recounted that when some friends came to pray for him, he felt hands on his stomach and on his head even though they were not actually their laying hands on him.

He said that his experience taught him that God will be there to send comfort "when you're going through the absolute worst of it."

Qureshi said that he is hoping to get a jejunostomy feeding tube or J-tube, which enables people to receive supplemental nutrition formulas and water directly into the small intestine, to get surgically inserted soon so that he will stop losing weight, regain nourishment and begin his recovery. On July 31, he announced that he went in for laparoscopic surgery to get the J-tube placed.