PRELUDE TO THE MIRACULOUS

My brother was scheduled for a very invasive, extensive surgery on April 18.  I really wanted to be there to support him and his family, so Jim and I made arrangements to fly back to the northeast two days before.  The week before, we had scheduled a number of doctor and dentist visits, for routine tests and check-ups, to establish ourselves with local doctors now that we finally have a permanent address in Florida.  That week turned out to be crazy!

First, I had my yearly mammogram.  The results were held up a bit while the doctor’s office waited for the hospital in New Jersey to send the results of previous mammograms for comparison.  Just a day or so before we left, I heard from the doctor.  They saw a density in the mammogram and needed to do an ultrasound.  This is pretty routine for me, so I wasn’t overly concerned, but I had to put it off.  Not a good idea, of course, since I've already had a related cancer, but unavoidable.

Then, just a couple of days before our flight was scheduled, I received word that our eldest daughter Amy was in the hospital with pneumonia – in Arizona.  My heart was torn.  There was a good chance, given my brother’s heart history, that he might not survive the surgery, so I wanted to be there.  And then, there was my eldest, all on her own in a hospital far away.  Both were tugging on my heart strings.  Thankfully, it was near a weekend, so we quickly booked a flight and sent our youngest daughter out to be with her sister.  

Finally, that week I was also experiencing stuffiness in my ears.  I know this is gross, but I have issues with ear wax collecting in a very narrow canal in my right eat.  I didn’t want to have pain flying, so I quickly made an appointment with an ENT to remove the wax.  When he finished, I noticed that the sound in my right ear was muffled and I mentioned it to the doctor.  Since that result was unusual, he did a hearing test and found that I had a hearing loss in my right ear that I hadn’t had before.  He suspected an infection behind the ear drum.  More gross!

The solution was simple.  Take a quick acting dose of prednisone.  As soon as I heard that, I reacted.  I’d had prednisone before for a respiratory infection.  It messed so much with my brain that I made a vow then never to take it again.  So that solution was out.

He suggested aspirin.  But I only have one kidney now and had been advised to stay away from aspirin.

Suggestion number three.  He would refer me to another ENT who would inject a series of shots of a steroid into my ear drum.  Ewwwww!  We were just two days away from flying and I did not want to do that, but I went to the other ENT anyway.

He decided that since this was a bad allergy season, maybe I was just reacting to that.  So he gave me a nasal spray and suggested I come back in two weeks if I wasn’t any better. 

All along the way it seemed, we were encountering road blocks in the way of our going to New York to be with my brother.  Each situation seemed designed to raise my stress level, preoccupy my mind, and keep me in Florida and not New York.

At that moment, I had no idea of the amazing and miraculous thing the Lord was about to do.  All I knew was that nothing was going to keep me from being with my brother and his family during the time of his surgery and recovery.  

More to follow. . . . .