Wow, no I'm glad for all your questions. Believe me, a day doesn't go by where I don't think about this experience, and it's been what, 11 years? I actually hold that day as a holiday for me, July 25, and I celebrate it every year, not only because I got to live that day but also for the most incredible experience of my life, one that completely changed things for me.
I'll try to answer your questions. Yes my family saw him and spoke with him as well. My whole family was present in the hospital room most of the time, so several interactions with this young man included my family being there. The first day he came in to talk with us at a least a couple different times. That's why he seemed like a regular, physical human being. We had no way and no reason to tell he was anything different.
And yes everyone remembered him. When he told me the detailed account of what to expect the next morning right before surgery, no one else was present in the room. This was perhaps later on in the evening. Yes, I'm 100% sure about the exact details he gave which all happened exactly as he told them. It was something like, him saying my husband planned to arrive at 6:30 am but would be running late because of trying to get the baby ready, and he actually wouldn't show up until 7:05. Just funny details like that. He knew things my mom and dad were going to do and say. There were some strange details that I thought were not normal or necessary things he needed to prep me for, so that's why I wondered why he was saying them. Now I believe that it was a little sign for me to recognize that this was no ordinary experience, him coming to visit me. It just added to the amazement and memory of the experience, as if it were meant to help prove that this was something special going on.
I believe he did have physical contact with me. I do remember him sitting on the edge of my hospital bed a couple times, once before surgery and once after, as he asked if he could sit and say a prayer with me. Like I said, I'm not a religious person but if someone wants to say a prayer with and for me I don't push it away. Everything helps, especially good intentions and acts of love and kindness. Once he was sitting on the bed I think, but am not sure, he held my hand during the prayer. Again, I had no reason to think he wasn't a regular man. The thing about feeling his presence, it was like the air around him was so pure and brilliant, and the love and kindness that came off of him was like it was radiating from him. It's the kind of awe feeling that makes you completely forget every pain, every problem you've ever had. You are in such awe that you completely forget anything about yourself at that moment and are completely focused on that wonderful feeling you're getting.
There wasn't any physical traces he left behind.
About the voice in my head warning me about the tumor, it wasn't like what you hear in your head when you think in your mind, it was like hearing a physical voice except I heard it inside my head. The voice had no dialect, tone, or characteristics that I can describe. It was just a voice. I've never been able to figure out a way to describe it. Yes, I've had it since this experience, and i've also had it prior. At the time of this experience, I didn't remember having had "the voice" before. But since I began documenting my paranormal experiences for my book I'm writing, I remembered an experience with this voice at least as far back as 1993. It told me to get the phone, as I was about to lay down for a nap, because I'd be getting an important phone call. Ha ha, I actually "argued" with this voice in my head, (just the same physical voice as in my tumor experience), and it persisted in telling me the phone would ring and it would be important. I was mad but got the phone anyway, took my nap, and about 30 minutes later I awoke to the phone ringing. It was my friend's 12-year-old daughter calling me because she was home alone, could not get ahold of her mom, and she needed to get to the pharmacy for a new inhaler. She had asthma and her old inhaler was empty. It wasn't life threatening, but she was scared and it was important to her to get help, so thus it was an important phone call. It was weird, though, that voice. I always wondered "who is it anyway??" By the time of the voice about the tumor, I hadn't connected the two experiences, didn't really give my "weird" experiences much thought, but I did think about them off and on. Now since writing my book it's been fun to look at all my experiences clumped together and realize what an amazing life I've had because of them.
No I have not had anymore experiences with this young man, not that I know of. Perhaps we meet and interact with people like this all the time but they give us no proof that they are something extraordinary. I mean, really if he had not popped out of thin air to me, I probably would not have ever given him another thought. It's when he did that and then explained about why he was there that I really put two and two together and realized what had taken place. I've often wished I could experience another encounter with him, albeit under normal circumstances. I wish I had had the presence of mind to ask him a bunch of questions too, but I was pretty stunned and amazed. I guess it's like running into your favorite celebrity and being so star struck you can't think of anything to say until it's too late.
At the time it happened I didn't really give much thought to spirit guides or angels. It wasn't something I was into back then. I didn't not believe in such a thing, but it wasn't something I was into. At the time I remember thinking that he must be an angel, that this is what an angel is all about, answering prayers. After this experience I read every book on true angel stories I could find, and was amazed to see how many people have had such experiences. I didn't talk about this to anyone for one year, and finally I told my mom. She was so excited she ran to get my dad and have me tell him too. He said I should never be afraid to share that story, never be afraid of what people might think. What they think is up to them, but at some point a story like this will reach someone who really needs to hear it. And he's right. I think about all the stories I've heard of other people's experiences that have really made an impact on me. Take Bruce's life story for example. What I've learned from him changed my life. If he had been afraid to share his experiences, I wouldn't know what I know now, wouldn't have had a lot of the experiences I've had because of him.
As for who this man was, I would simply guess he was a representation of our connection with our higher self, and our connection to God and Consciousness. Whether I call him an angel, guide, or anything else really doesn't matter. Perhaps if I were a religious person I may have seen him looking like a saint or something. Who knows?
Again, I do believe many people have these kinds of encounters, but the person appearing to them may give no visible signs that they are not of this world. They may just walk into our lives and we just assume they are a regular person. I think if people really pay attention to coincidences in their lives they may start to realize that they've had extraordinary experiences too.