As an update over the weekend, my son Jon came home from the hospital again after being readmitted, but this time seems to be doing great. It is amazing to see how fast he is recovering from major surgery. Praise God for answered prayers and thanks to you for sending them Jon’s way.
Ahhh . . . To be young again. Us old guys don’t recover so fast. My shoulder specialist said over the weekend that I need surgery immediately to repair my rotator cuff. He states that the muscle has separated entirely from the bone, and I have let it go for so long, opting to try and fight through the pain myself, that the muscle has atrophied. Fortunately, I have been leading an active life and most of the other muscles in the surrounding area are in good shape, but I know rehab will be tough and painful.
My wife has had a field day with that one. She cannot cope with the fact that I won’t go to the doctor until it is too late. I think I can just muscle through it and grit my teeth and maybe it will get better. Now I must listen to her telling me “I told you so” for who knows how long.
He told me that to achieve full recovery it will take a full six months. In three months, he said I would be back to where I currently am which is not a good place.
The doc told me I would be able to type fairly quickly, but otherwise, my arm must remain in a sling, and I cannot raise it; he warned that I should not even lift a cup of coffee with it. It’s a good thing I don’t drink coffee, I wonder if iced tea is okay? Just joking.
I am a very active person and spend my days lifting bags of corn etc. and doing manual labor. I imagine I will be climbing the walls before conquering this obstacle. I have so many projects going at the farm that require heavy lifting and tasks such as repairing fences, driving tractors and other equipment to prepare the soil and plant crops and my garden, splitting and stacking firewood, thinning overgrown areas, repairing roads, etc. that I am quite concerned as to how it will be accomplished. It is next to impossible to hire anyone here (like everywhere in the country) and I have been doing the overwhelming majority of the work by myself with occasional help from my great neighbors.
So, I have identified the problem, now to solve it. First and foremost, I need to get the surgery ASAP. I trust God to get me through that in fine shape with a top-notch surgeon. I must force myself to go to therapy and do as the doctor says for the next six months. That sounds easy but knowing me, as soon as I feel a little better, I will want to quit therapy and get back to work. I will rely on God to keep me on track. I will need to avoid painkillers, (narcotics), to the extent possible to avoid addiction concerns. I will rely on much prayer and God for that. Finally, I will battle depression. I am not the kind of person that can sit around doing nothing and slowing down seems to be akin to a death sentence. I must rely on God to heal my heart and mind for that one.
As I look at this obstacle, I realize that everything in my life relies on God. It reminds me of my life’s verse Phil. 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. So, the key for me is to seek God’s help daily in prayer.
I write Words for the Day to help other people. I am led by the Holy Spirit to do so, and every morning I just sit down and start typing whatever comes to mind and I believe it is totally inspired by the Holy Spirit almost all the time. Some reader somewhere just needs to hear what I’m writing about and through the years I have received many thousands and tens of thousands of letters telling me I wrote about something that was burdening them and the timing was perfect.
God sometimes allows me to work out my own problems through WFTD and this morning is one of those moments. I don’t know if today’s post has helped anyone else, (probably not), but it helped me to clearly see a path forward as I plan my war with a torn rotator cuff and my ultimate victory of healing. Thank you, Jesus!
Psalm 46:1
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” God helps by giving refuge in the midst of battles and trials. He is the believers’ safe place, always ready to strengthen them when they feel weak or afraid.”