“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.