This is the most important thing after you come out of
surgery. It was described to me in many
ways, but the perfect cocktail to make you feel better is the one that stuck
with me. The most important word though
is Management.
Manage means to succeed in being able (to do something) despite obstacles. (This really doesn’t help what I’m trying to talk about
at all) My point is that they don’t call
it Pain Elimination, there is going to be pain.
Which brings me back to another reason I decided to write
this blog; so that all the glory would be given to God?
I haven’t wanted to force bible verses into the Blog but God
has put one on my mind over the last couple of days. It is Luke 9:23 then he said to them
all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple
must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me”.
You have to be thinking how this fit into Pain Management, and
I really have been asking God that same question but follow me here and let’s
see where it leads. This is a verse I have
meditated on many times in the past and every time I have focused on the idea
of taking up my cross, what does that mean, what is my cross, how do I take it
up. What I realized is that I am
focusing on the wrong part of the verse; the most important part is to follow
him. Jesus has already lifted my cross.
When we follow him it will not always be easy, the beginning
of that verse requires that we deny ourselves and this is bound to cause
immeasurable amount of pain. It is not
if but when will we experience this pain.
The next question is what do we do when we are in the pain? How do we
act?
We will get back to that; let’s talk about what it feels
like after you donate a kidney. The one
coordinator told me I would feel like I had been hit by a bus. This was not how it felt at all; it felt like
I was stabbed right through the middle of the gut with one of those giant Ninja
Swords (it didn’t feel like it was pushed all the way through my body, but just
into my gut).
However, that doesn’t really finish it, and then it felt
like someone took my insides apart moved everything around and put everything
back together, only it didn’t quite fit exactly the same. To be honest this isn’t all that far from the
truth.
I have worked on cell phones for the last 7 years and I have
become very good at repairing them. Over
time you learn the where the parts go and are able to take them out and put
them all back in, but those first couple of times you try this you always end
up with an extra part or screw (I hope they were able to figure out where all
my extra parts went, even though I have been told on many occasions I have a
screw loose).
I can’t even imagine how hard this is for the doctors cause
here is the catch, when repairing manufactured products they all come off an
assembly line and are created the same way, every screw is in the same
spot. Well I don’t have screws, my
insides are not exactly the same as someone else’s so every time they do this
it is brand new, they do an amazing job, but in my mind sometimes I can see
them just saying, close enough squeeze it back in there, as long as we can
close it up should be good. I know that’s
not the case (at least I think I do).
The pain is significant, much more than I had prepared
myself for (Kate is saying I told you so as she is reading this), the
medications controlled it very well but I was very limited. I did not respond well to oxycodone, it made
me nauseous and completely knocked me out so I had them switch me to Vicodin (because
I wanted to be like House) to see if it would work better. It did a much better job of stopping the pain
without making me useless, and I have been comfortable ever since.
Now you didn’t think I would forget the bible study at the
top did you? I believe the answer is in Romans 5:3-5 “we also rejoice in our
sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance,
character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God
has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has
given us.”
It is easy to rejoice after we know the results and we are
through the pain, however to rejoice while we are in the midst of pain is what
Christ has called us to and shows the true character of a disciple of Christ.
Good post Jermy!!!
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