Update:
Right now I
don’t have any medical appointments scheduled for the next six days. That is the first time that has happened to
me since early April. That’s good
because I still need more time to recover from my urinary tract infection and
the outpatient surgery that I had last Thursday. I continue to feel better each day although I
haven’t done much except sit around.
Maybe next week, I’ll be well enough to get out of the house occasionally.
Since having
the stent emplaced in my right ureter (kidney to bladder), my abdomen has been
very tender. I found that wearing
anything with a waistband puts too much pressure on me and hurts. So my wife went to her costume shop and
picked up several disciples’ robes from her Easter plays. I’ve been wearing them around the house. I promised my kids that I wouldn’t go out in
public wearing them unless I carried a sign saying, “The End is Near!” I think in a couple more days I’ll be wearing
pants again.
On Sunday,
my church held a retirement celebration for me (and I wore pants for that
event). It was great to see so many
people and recall so many memories. I
wish I had been feeling better; but I was glad that I was able to attend. That signals the close of that chapter of my
life. For the last 25 years, I’ve been a
pastor. It feels strange to not be doing
that any longer. I don’t know what the
future has in store for me. Right now I
am just trying to get my medical issues under control. After that we’ll see where God leads.
One of my
good friends got me this t-shirt as a retirement gift. I thought it was hilarious and proudly wore
it to my medical appointments the next day.
On Memorial
Day, my wife will be speaking at our local Memorial Day celebration. I hope on that day you will take time to
reflect on the sacrifices that our service members and their families have made
on our behalf. In the afternoon, all of
my kids will be helping moving my books and personal items out of my office at
church. The tough part will be figuring
where to shoehorn them into our house.
My
reconstructive surgery on my kidney/ureter will be on Friday, June 12th. Right
now I have five other medical appointments prior to the surgery.
My rehab
doctor just had me try another medicine to reduce the nerve pain in the end of
my residual limb (amputated leg). It
only took me one day on the medication to realize that the side effects were
not worth any potential reduction in pain.
My doctor says that it is time to refer me back to the surgeon to remove
that nerve ending. But the kidney surgery
takes precedence, so I will be waiting for a while before I can have the leg
surgery, heal, and then beginning the process of fitting me with a prosthesis
all over again. I’m guessing that it
will be the end of August before I can expect to see the new temporary
socket. Right now I can stand the pain
of walking on my current prosthesis for only a short period of time, so
thankfully I am not in the wheelchair full-time.
I put my gym
membership on hold and I haven’t been exercising or riding my bicycle because
they all increase my pain level and I can overdo it too easily. For the last few weeks I’ve been housebound,
so it has been tougher on me mentally.
Despite all of that, my attitude has remained good and I have a lot to
be thankful for.
I don’t
understand why all of this is happening.
I really figured that after getting my prosthesis, I’d be like many
amputees and return to an altered, but fairly normal, lifestyle. That hasn’t been the case for me over the
last eight months. Things haven’t turned
out as I’ve planned. Mentally, I am
ready to go and do. Physically, I’ve
been severely limited. I’m hoping that
in the next few months things will begin to turn around for me; but whatever
ends up happening, I will be content. I
will fight and strive to gain back whatever I can; but when it becomes obvious
that something is truly beyond me I will accept it and not let it get me
down. My attitude is the only thing that
I can control. So despite pain,
setbacks, and limitations, I am going to choose to enjoy life to the fullest
that I am able.
There is no
sense in letting our circumstances make us miserable. Each one of us has the power to choose how we
respond to life’s trials. Let’s quit
dwelling on the negative. Quit nursing
the pain of hurt feelings. Let go of
expectations and realize that life isn’t fair.
Forgive people who have hurt us.
Treat others as we wish to be treated.
Life may be throwing curve balls at you and every once in a while you
get hit by a wild pitch. Just because
you haven’t gotten a hit and made it on base this inning, doesn’t mean that you
won’t the next inning. Don’t get mad and
take your ball and go home. Just keep
swinging the bat for as long as you can.
Keep swinging the bat!
No comments:
Post a Comment