2013 — The Year Of Replacements

7 Jul

“My hip replacement made me a new man. The old one couldn’t stand up properly.” ~ Unknown

This coming Wednesday is the anniversary of my right hip replacement.  My left hip was replaced in January of 2013.  I timed my second surgery so that I didn’t have to do a second medical clearance for surgery since they are good for six months.  In addition, my out-of-pocket insurance expenses for the calendar year were made with my January surgery to my July surgery was “free” for me.  Frugality pays at times.

2013 was a year that I found myself being able to be more mobile once again.  The strange thing about my surgeries was that I was hobbling along relatively well until 2011.  In that year, I found myself in cardiac rehab because of my pacemaker implantation following the discovery that I had experienced substantial cardiac damage from a virus that triggered an auto-immune response.

In cardiac rehab, they make you work as hard as you are able.  Toward the end of rehab, I began to experience a lot of pain on the rowing machines and stationary bikes.  Checking in with a doctor, I found that my joints, which had been bad, were at the point of needing to be replaced.  Thus began my journey toward replacement surgery.

[For those of you who may need to have hip replacement surgery, try not to fret.  It was the easiest thing that I ever experienced.  Going from continual pain to no pain is a real no-brainer as far as I can see.]

So where is all of this going for a reflection for today?  Quite simply, there are times in our lives that we find ourselves in need of surgical intervention.  It can be anxiety-provoking if not downright fearful but it may be necessary.  Those kinds of times give us an incredible opportunity to trust God and draw closer to Him.

I know that it helped my prayer life.  Since I was “down” for a few weeks after each surgery, I had extra time each day to be able to pray.  That is a luxury in our busy days and schedules as we often have to fight for time to pray.  It also provided an opportunity to give thanks to God for a medical intervention that provided relief from chronic pain.

God bless the physicians and surgeons who use their God-given talents to help others. I wonder if they really know how much they touch the lives of others.  God bless the nurses who care for patients post-surgery.  They are incredible blessings.

FAITH ACTION:  If you know someone who suffers from a chronic condition, give them the aid and comfort that they need.  A kind word goes a long way.