My Motorcycle Injuries

Years ago my wife and I took a short cruise that made a stop in Nassau, Bahamas. We were there for about half the day and spent the time meandering and checking out the sights. At one point we walked along the beach and enjoyed the beauty of the ocean and the waves beating along the shore. There was this man and his wife on the beach and he was in the process of renting a personal water craft (you know, Wave Runner/Jet Ski). He had a fairly serious physical disability with his arms that made it more difficult to operate the machine, but he hopped on and started to maneuver the thing in circles at an unsafe speed while shouting with excitement. His wife stood at the water’s edge attempting to get him to stop being careless. She looked as though she was very nervous and scared, but I also got the feeling that she had been through this type of thing before. I got the distinct impression that her husband spent a great deal of time attempting to prove to himself and the world around him tha...

I spent the earlier part of the day at the office. I had a list of things that I wanted to accomplish, and I was able to cross everything off the list by the time that I left. I even did a few things that weren’t on the list, so kudos to me. I wanted to stay later and do a few more things, but today was one of those days where my body decided to act weird. By midday I started to feel really lightheaded and weak. You know how sometimes people say that they feel lightheaded and you don’t know exactly what they mean? I’m not even certain what I was actually feeling. These things hit me without provocation of any kind and I wind up not so certain as to what I’m experiencing. It’s been going on since the accident and nobody has been able to explain to me why. Wacky stuff. I went home, ate lunch, and sat for a while as I studied for a sermon outline. Next up was my phone. Yesterday I joked with a couple of people who asked about my recent CT Scan. I said that I would know if something was wr...

Early appointments grant quicker exits! I went to have my annual CT Scan today. I need to have one done every year because of the potential for movement or leakage with the stent in my aorta. It was placed there because of a rupture caused by the forced impact of the accident. My heart is quite healthy, but the stent needs to be monitored in order to ensure that there isn’t a leak. I set the appointment for early in the morning because they wanted me to fast for three hours before the appointment and I figured that it would be easiest to go before breakfast and eat something afterward. Also, I didn’t think that the wait would be as long if I scheduled the procedure for the earliest possible time. I set the appointment for their opening hour and I was right about the wait. Everything went as well as I think it could have with my visit to the imaging center today. In a sense it all started a few days ago when I had a blood sample taken for the sake of today’s scan. The...

I spent most of the day yesterday with a bunch of family members, helping my sister-in-law in getting things ready within her home for a baby that is due in just four weeks. She lives in a two story place nearby with her husband and daughter, and I consequently needed to go up and down a two-tiered staircase several times throughout the day. The work involved was relatively simple, but the staircase was a little bit of a challenge. It really wasn’t any single trip that mattered, but rather the combined trips up and down throughout the day. I was both worn out and impressed with the whole thing. The day wore me out because the staircase took its toll on my leg in a bad way by the end of the day. I had a church service last night and things were a little rougher for me in handling all of the walking and standing involved. The day was impressive, however, because I did everything needed of me without any kind of physical failure. I was able to get everything done and worked as though ther...

My daughter had a relatively minor surgical procedure performed today. She entered the hospital as an outpatient early in the morning and was released in the early afternoon. My wife and I took her to the hospital and waited there throughout the process. We went to the area where they do the prep work before surgery and then went in later to sit with her in the recovery area. She’s resting comfortably at home now so all is well. It has taken me all day before I could write these present thoughts, in part because I’ve been busy taking care of things like food and medicine, but mostly because I’m a dad. Nothing is easy. It was a little weird to see all of the medical stuff associated with surgery today. On one side of my mind was the involvement and concern with my daughter’s condition, but on the other side were the memories and thoughts that arose with being in the surgery section of a hospital. As the pastor of a church I visit hospitals fairly often, but I rarely have the need to vis...

The Santa in the photo belongs to me. When you press his stomach he cheerfully says, “Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas”, and then he sings a verse of Santa Clause Is Coming to Town. I should state that my wife and I never endorsed the whole Santa thing at Christmastime. We never taught my daughter that he existed, but rather taught that he was a fantasy figure similar to a cartoon character. The thing is that as a Christian I cannot allow an omniscient and magical individual to supplement the glory of a Divine Savior who came to this world in human form to provide a redeeming work of grace. Jesus Christ came as a baby in a manger in order to die as a man on the cross. It is because of His redeeming work that we are able to receive the saving grace of God, and I could never allow Santa or anyone else to diminish the glory of Christ from the heart of my kid. With this in mind, why then do I keep the Santa doll that speaks and sings in a somewhat goofy voice? My niece (the one that I’m closes...

I’ve been having a more difficult time with my leg the past few weeks. I’m not sure if it’s just the way that things are, or if I’ve been doing something to aggravate it. I’ve been forced to limp at times, and the pain focuses on my knee and shin. Pain has had the tendency to come and go throughout various points in my body over the years since the accident, so I’m not really going to think that much about it just yet. The problem is that I always harbor the thought of knee replacement surgery in the back of my mind. There’s a real contrast within my mind regarding this issue. Part of me doesn’t ever want to be a patient in a hospital again. That part of me would much rather endure the inconvenience of a bad leg and just move on with life. No more surgery, no more thin robes that open in the back when you stand, no more gross food, no more being bothered in the middle of the night, and no more nurses in charge of touching and measuring and dispensing. The other part of me would like to...