Two Weeks, Two Firsts!

The last two weeks have been quite interesting. In these two weeks I experienced two "firsts" in my life. Many times in my ministry I have traveled to numerous hospitals. I have been in trauma units, intensive care units, preop rooms, postop rooms, regular patient rooms, emergency rooms, and of course many a coffee shop. But never have I been any of these areas of the hospital as a patient. That of course all came to an end two weeks ago!

On the evening of September 9th, I made my first visit to a hospital ER. A rather stubborn kidney stone was the reason for the visit to Lancaster General. I must say I would much rather be on the comfort giving rather than the comfort receiving end of things. This kidney stone episode had the result of postponing my surgery for a week. But finally on September 18th, I got to experience yet another "first" as I was prepped and then went through surgery on my left arm. The staff at LGH did all they could to make it as "pleasant" as possible. What amazed me the most was how quickly the anesthesia worked to put me out. Without warning I was out, only to awaken an hour and a half later with my left arm in a cast and my head full of post anesthesia fog. A little over an hour later I was wheeled out to our car and on my way home!

Going into the surgery, I didn't know how I would respond. As we grew closer and closer to the surgery date, I must of been talking about it more more to my wife. She pointed this out to me. I told her, "as you're driving toward a mountain, the closer you get to the mountain the larger it appears. And so with the surgery...as it draws closer it appears bigger in my mind." But now having gone through it, I can say that I'm very very thankful for modern medical technology and the staff at Lancaster General Hospital. No it wasn't really pleasant. But the pain level was kept at a tolerable level and the hospital staff did everything they could to help me be as comfortable as possible. If I had suffered this injury 400+ years ago, I would've had to live with it. But thanks to the advances in medicine, I hope to have my left arm back healthy and whole and ready to take on the world in just a matter of a few months.

Thanks to all of you, my friends, who prayed for me through this. I would ask for your continued prayers as I go through the fairly lengthy rehab process. I am also thankful to God for allowing me to go through this experience. I do believe it will help me better minister to those are going through physical problems (see 2 Corinthians 1:3-5).

Thanks for stopping by,
PJ