Words for Recovery--Tomorrow Can Be Better

I’m a balcony person for a couple months.  The numbness in feet and legs compelled me to do what I had avoided so long:  surgery on the back to replace a disc and to correct the badly aligned vertebrae which caused the issues. That meant leaving my interim ministry for at least two months.  The experience has given me a few insights that are worth sharing (hopefully):

1.  Listen to the stories of others.   As soon as you say “I’m having back surgery,” you open yourself  to the gift, or curse, of hearing many stories of  others.  Most of those stories are inspiring, such as Dave’s, whose medical history could fill volumes, who said “When it is really painful, just say to yourself  tomorrow can be better.  I like his advice better than the person who told me “back surgery did not help my pain, and my toe nails eventually fell off!”
2. No BLT’s—That is an acronym for no “bending, lifting, or turning.”  I am glad I can still eat BLT sandwiches and do so without bending, lifting, or turning.
3. My wife is patient but appropriately slow.  Bless Betsy’s heart, she took two weeks off from her work at the hospital to be my nurse at home.  I will not complain if she does not get what I ask immediately.    I think that nurses learn in school that there should be a minimum time of fifteen minutes between a patient’s request and its delivery.  That helps build my patience when I have to wait a little for something I could do in two minutes IF I could only bend, lift, or turn.
4. There are some side effects from surgical anesthesia. One is short term memory loss.   There are also some side effects from surgical anesthesia.  One is short term memory loss.
5. Every chaplain or pastor should have surgery and experience the pain of surgical recovery before entering the ministry.  I now have much greater compassion and understanding of those who have any kind of surgery—minor or major.   And by the way it is true that there is no “minor” surgery when you’re having it!  It is also true that “minimally invasive surgery” is not minimally invasive.   It just means that they stuff a camera, scalpel , harvested bone fragment, prosthetic disc cage, titanium screws and rods and a few other things inside a smaller than usual incision.

7.   Another side effect of surgical anesthesia is temporary confusion.   Now what was I saying and which point am I on? Is this a sermon?  If so, I have exceeded my three points, but have yet to include my poem.  So here it is: “…to sleep, perchance to dream; ay, there’s the rub…”    This is from either Shakespeare, Bishop Will Willimon, or Governor Christie.  Not sure which right now.

8.   Be thankful.  I am thankful to be in a place where there is excellent medical care.  I remember living in third world countries where patients had to bring their own bed linens to the hospital, then go across the street to purchase medicines (if available), and ask for friends or family in the United States or Europe to send needed medicines as they were unavailable  in that country. I am glad for accessible and affordable  health care in our country,  and for the many who dedicate so much of their own time to be healers and menders. Sure they are paid to do this, but at a cost, quite often, of much they must give up personally in order to bring others the care they need.