My Motorcycle Injuries

My daughter told me a story about myself the other day. It involved my time in the hospital years ago, just after I had become more coherent. The guy in charge of the church services during my absence was in the hospital room and I apparently told him that I was certain that I would be ready to take charge of the worship services on the upcoming Sunday. At the time I had been kept unconscious for over a week and I had been put through roughly a dozen surgeries. I was physically unable to get out of bed for any reason and I was unable to function physically in any practical way. I could barely speak coherently because my mind was in a drug induced haze and my jaw was wired shut. My daughter said that he gave me a quiet "alright" sort of answer and things moved on. I was obviously not in my right mind, but part of the problem must have stemmed from the fact that I never really think that I'm down for the count in anything that I do. I checked with that same guy the other da...

I visited a family member in the hospital very recently. He’s a few years younger than me and he became quite ill a few weeks ago. They were having a difficult time fully diagnosing his problems, but we were told today that they finally figured out what was wrong with him. He’ll have to endure some treatments and a few things in his lifestyle will have to change, but it’s nothing even close to terminal and for that I’m thankful. Seeing him in the hospital waiting to figure out what was wrong while he endured pain and suffering made me think about the road that we travel when dealing with a hospital, a diagnosis, and all of the aftermath. When I was in the hospital, and for many months after I came home, I honestly thought that I would overcome my injuries to the extent that my body would be the same in its function as it was before the accident. I thought that the process would involve me going home, recovering fully, and moving on with life. I have indeed moved on with life in a good ...

I have a young niece that I’m really close to, much more so than any of my other nieces and nephews. I’ve helped to take care of her to one extent or another over the years and we’re very fond of each other. She’s been sick for several weeks and wound up being admitted to the hospital earlier this week. She was there for a few days and was released yesterday. I can’t describe how difficult it was for me to see her in the hospital, waiting for a diagnosis that never really came while having to endure the IV’s and all of the hospital “stuff”. I remembered how extremely unpleasant it was for me to stay in the hospital (1 ½ months) and it bothered me a little to think that she was going through some of the same things. I’ve never thought of her as being able to become this sick. She’s just always been…OK. It’s weird how we tend to neglect having a thankful spirit until things change and someone is in jeopardy. We never really consider the possibilities of harmful things in this life until ...

One of the stranger things that I have had to deal with over the past few years has involved the issue of memory. To explain the bigger picture briefly; my memory skills are not exactly fantastic. It’s weird because I can remember certain things that go back to when I was a very young kid, but I have a difficult time remembering what I did just a few days ago. I always have to ask my wife about certain events in our lives because I’m not good at mental recall and she is. As a result of this, my thinking process doesn’t often involve going back to another time mentally when dealing with present-day events. You would think that this problem has to do with the aging process but no, I’ve pretty much been this way since I was a kid. It’s been a lifelong issue for me but at least it’s not senility, right? At this moment I can’t remember what I had for dinner last night. Yeah… Anyway, back to the issue concerning my memory over the past few years. There are times when I cannot get myself to l...