When It Rains It Pours

Interesting.

After the last 24 hours, part of me wants to just crawl into bed and allow the Holy Spirit to comfort and heal my soul while I sleep and hit the reset on just about everything. The other part of me is mad as hell and wants to stay up all night fighting Satan and his evil schemes by reminding him of Who it is that I belong to. He probably thinks he has me right where he wants me, and that he can kick me when I'm done, but I know how this story ends and I know his ultimate fate!

I had a feeling a "faith test" of some sort was coming, and that maybe that's perhaps why I was so focused and intent on drawing nearer to God and resting in His Word. Now I know why (at least in part) because the last 24 hours completely came out of left field and just about caught me flat-footed.

When it rains it pours sometimes. Yet, we still can choose how we want to respond in the face of such adversity. Despite my recent acknowledgement of my personal struggles, I think you know how I chose to respond.

What happened? Well, in the middle of my self-examination process last night (and mere hours after hitting the "Publish" button!) Mrs. JRed began to experience severe stomach pains. Bad enough whenever it happens to anyone, but for a 28-year-old to have the kind of pain she was feeling out of the blue like that was even more disturbing.

We immediately thought it was her appendix and rushed to the Emergency Room of our local hospital. Fortunately, we live less than 5 minutes away. That was around 1:45am. We sat in the Emergency Room after they administered the CT Scan and pain meds until about 10:30am when they moved us upstairs to a "private" room. I put the word "private" in quotes because another young woman shared the room with my wife. We sat there from 10:30am until 9:30pm before a single doctor could come in and see us to properly diagnose her and issue the right treatment.


(NOTE: Not my favorite pic of the two of us -- I think I have a weird smile and strange body language in this one -- but Wifey looks beautiful as usual so I'm gonna run with it!)

Folks, it's not like Buffalo, NY is a major metropolitan area or like we even live in a busy part of the city. In my book, there was no excuse for that sort of thing just like there's no excuse as to why the hospital's ONLY Radiologist who reads all the CT Scans is in Australia.

No, the guy isn't someone who works here and who's merely on vacation this summer "Down Under" at the moment. Nope, this hospital admitted to us that they don't have a local, in-house Radiologist and that the only one they do have on staff is a guy they outsource that role and work to who actually lives in Australia! Is this a common practice? Being in the Recruiting Industry and running my own small Recruiting Firm, you mean to tell me they can't find anyone local let alone from the states to give that job to?

Anyway, without getting into specifics let's just say that it's a good thing we pushed for a second opinion and review of the original CT Scan (sorry Mr. Australia) because when they took a closer look it revealed A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT (AND LESS SERIOUS) PROBLEM than the one they had originally decided to go with! Praise the Lord! That new finding prompted them to cancel a virtual laundry list of GI-related procedures and tests, which surely would've put Mrs. JRed through so much unnecessary pain and suffering for nothing. I'm sorry if I expect more from my local medical institutions (and I know that's precisely why people always say you should "get a second opinion"), but come on, that's just all unacceptable to me.

There's also no excuse for the fact that the young lady in the room next to my wife had told us about how the other day she had to sit in her own urine for 20 minutes before she was forced to clean herself up and work through the pain herself due to the non-response of the staff at the time. Again, unacceptable!

On a brief side note, this experience absolutely convinced me (as if I needed convincing, right?) that if this current Health Care Bill passes it will undoubtedly makes things worse than they already are -- and they're already very bad! In fairness, I will say that my mom (who's a nurse) has been right all along when she's talked to me about some of the major problems in the Health Care Industry. Simply put, the unique national environment is creating a complete mess! How? The urgent need for more and more medical professionals and the economy being what it is has led many people to pursue a career in the medical field when they probably shouldn't be pursuing one. By that I just mean that there are far too many nurses and doctors that we encountered who don't really care about their work (or the patients and their families for that matter). Their bedside manner is some of the worst I've ever encountered! It's almost like the economy and the need for a stable job has forced them to pursue a career out of necessity rather than out of it being their calling in this life. It shows every time a simple question or request is met with sighing, rolling the eyes, impatience, aggravation, and just a general annoyance with us. Ok, we get it. We're bothering you more than someone who's only in this for the steady paycheck is allowed to be bothered. Cripes!

In fairness, I should mention that there's a definite disparity though, which gets back to what my mom who's a nurse has been telling me for quite some time about the industry. The older, more experienced nurses and staff members are the most considerate and kind. They represent the "old guard" who began their career in this field because they genuinely wanted to help people. They still get it. It was sad (and embarrassing) to see some of them simply approach the younger nurses (the ones right out of school) about something, only to have the younger ones either ignore them outright, or respond with such ferocity that you almost want to leave for fear that your loved one will be treated in much the same way at some point if that's how they really are with their colleagues.

Look, I'm not painting with a broad brush here, but just trying to convey everything about this experience. Plus, you'll have to forgive me if my "filter" isn't working too properly tonight because I haven't slept at all, barely ate anything, and didn't have a single cup of coffee which is HUGE for me. Needless to say, I need to find a bed and ASAP. I also never intended for this entry to be so long. I just wanted to put up a little, "Isn't that interesting in light of my last commentary..." column here and it turns into this. So be it I guess.

Long story short, while Mrs. JRed will still have to experience some pain for the next few days the official diagnosis isn't as bad as we thought it was going to be. Praise the Lord!

Boy, isn't that just like our common enemy? He has to sit and just watch me react in a way that he probably never expected -- coming out publicly to admit my faults, shortcomings, and sins -- and then figures he better turn up the heat a little more, or at the very least do whatever he can to keep me from doing the very thing I said I was going to do, which is spend more time with the Lord and His Word. Oops! Sorry, but I still plan to do some of that before hitting the sack tonight.

Lord, I am still yours. Always have been, and always will be. While I know that I'm not as experienced when it comes to wielding the spiritual weapons of warfare you freely give to me there's a part of me that wants to stand up using what little strength I have, look him in the eyes, and challenge him if not simply tell him that no matter what he throws at me and my family I will never -- ever -- blame or curse you for any situation I or we find ourselves in. Never! Is that foolish? Is that wise? Should I even concern myself with that at this point, or just focus on drawing near to You instead? Ah-ha! Thank you for answering so quickly and clearly. That's EXACTLY what Satan wants me to do, isn't it? He wants me to keep my eyes focused on him rather than focused on You and Your Son Jesus Christ! He would've succeeded and scored another point because here I would've thought that I was somehow "doing the right thing" in standing up for You and defending my faith when, in reality, you don't need me to defend You at all, do You? In fact, it's me who needs the defending and You who will provide that defense. Man, this revelation that You led me to also seems to provide a nice commentary to earlier columns from this week and sort of echoes what a lot of us have been suggesting should be our appropriate, Christian response in the event of any kind of government tyranny -- thank You for that! The Subtle Serpent almost struck again, didn't he? Amazing too because now I have peace about this entire situation and when I first began writing this I was all over the map emotionally and not knowing what the proper response should be tonight before I close my eyes. I now know. It will be falling to my knees, thanking You for convicting me of my sins, praising Your unimaginable mercy and forgiveness despite my unworthy condition, glorifying You as Healer for helping my wife get through, and meditating on a few verses before turning out the light so that a new light can begin to shine within my heart and soul as I sleep, refreshing me and preparing me for the next battle; a battle that's Yours and Yours alone to fight and win on my behalf. I love You dearly my Heavenly Father. Amen.

One final note has to do with an email chain I was a part of somehow. I don't know Luke or his father John Bolger, but I received an email tonight that stated the following:

"Please help me and my family by praying for my father - He is awake - has limited movement (hands /arms) and is suffering severe delirium. He is acting confused and aggressive. Please pray that his mind settles down quickly. I can't thank you enough for all your prayers. I know God is working something here - but its very hard for my dad and my family."

Luke, I just said a prayer for your father, for you, and for your family.

Thank you all in advance for your prayers too.

Posted in: Prayer Requests,Week In Review,Welcome