Celebrations Cards and Decorations

Already this year I have done more decorations, am planning to attend more celebrations, and have written more Christmas cards than I did all last year. Last year I was recuperating from a procedure that was to correct my enlarged prostate which caused me to suffer from a urinary tract infection, diarrhea, and severe low blood level potassium. I was admitted to the hospital on Christmas Eve. While there, I tested positive for the Corona Virus.

Most of 2021 I have had one health problem after another and I’m praying that they don’t extend into 2022. I am not complaining. Any one of the health problems could have killed me, but the sequence of each individual disease directed me to the next. God intervened in each one. His timing prevented me from knocking on the pearly gates. The first procedure caused my hospitalization, which necessitated a follow-up with my family physician. If I hadn’t had the follow-up, I wouldn’t have casually mentioned my shortness of breath. I just thought it was part of the aging process. After questioning me further, my PCP ordered a stress test which I failed miserably. A cardiac catheterization revealed that I had developed 80 percent plus blockage in three vessels and I needed open heart surgery. While still in the hospital, it was necessary to have a Foley catheter inserted into my bladder. My bladder was retaining urine, 2,000 cc’s and I didn’t feel it. Several months later I had a Green Light Laser procedure done to actually correct my enlarged prostate. I no longer have a catheter, thank the Lord.

Aging isn’t for the weak-hearted, but what I am trying to say is that if one more minor health problem hadn’t caused the initial problem, the much larger and potentially fatal health problem may never have been discovered. I feel blessed that I had the initial problem, because it uncovered several others that were treatable. God in His infinite mercy allowed sequential health problems to appear after the first problem to expose the others.

My health issues were blessings were like the thoughts I expressed about my wife Cindy Morrison Beck when she passed away. She died of ovarian cancer, having no symptoms other than a cough and congestion. I forced her to go to the hospital. Ten days later she was gone. I found a blessing in the fact that she passed away quickly without the extended suffering and pain usually associated with cancer. Even in the hard times, God is so good if we look to Him for the reasons and seek Him for the answers.