The last three weeks have been filled with many wonderful things. Because of the questionable level of one of the markers in March, I have sent lab work to Little Rock every two weeks in April. Praise God, even though the one marker is still a little high nothing else has moved up. I will not send another marker until the end of this month and will not need to return to Little Rock until July.
The side effects of the medications are no longer getting worse so I have had a better time in that regard the past three weeks. One of the things that really helps manage the side effects is exercise. I learned back in 2000 that exercise seems to work the by products (or something) through my system more quickly and helps reduce the negative effects of the medications. That fact has been substantiated in the last year and a half as my lung and heart problems interfered with consistent exercise and I experienced more side effects. The last three weeks I have been able to get more exercise and that has really helped keep side effects from increasing. I have had a lot of stomach pain the last four days and will undergo some tests tomorrow. Hopefully, I have just had a virus.
When I saw the cardiologist Tuesday of last week she released me to go back to “normal” activity. It is so good not to have to worry about injuring the surgery site by certain movements or lifting. She did say I was on too high a dose of one of the atrial fibrillation medications to remain on it permanently. Because I will take it for life she reduced the dose. My heart was not happy. I dealt with a lot of atrial fibrillations Thursday through Sunday morning of last week and am still having difficulty at times. Thank goodness the heart is gradually adjusting. I have been reminded just how weak I was those months before the surgery and appropriate medications. I am so grateful to have regained much of my energy.
Sometimes people tell me that I say I am well regardless of how I feel. Actually, when pressed I will briefly share difficulties that I may be experiencing, but I feel that to do more is complaining and that just makes me feel worse. It focuses my attention on the problem instead of the good things around me. I also believe that it is negative to our health. In Proverbs we read, “A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body” (14:30 AMP). Complaining is also disobedient to the God who made us and loves us. We are told in Philippians, “Do everything thing without complaining or arguing” (2:14). God knows it is not best for us to complain.
I fully believe Psalm 146:5, “Blessed (Happy) is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the lord his God.” As F.B. Meyer said, “The education of our faith is incomplete until we learn that God’s providence works through loss. . . that there’s a ministry to us through the failure and fading of things. The dwindling brook where Elijah sat is a picture of our lives! ‘Some time later the brook dried up’ (I Kings 17:7 NIV) is the history of our yesterdays and a prophecy of our tomorrows. . . learn the difference between trusting in the gift and trusting in the Giver. The gift may last for a season but the Giver is eternal. If the Lord had led Elijah directly to the widow at Zarephath, he’d have missed something that helped make him a better man—living by faith. Whenever our earthly resources dry up it’s so we may learn that our hope and help are in God.” I have always been a happy person, but there is a sense in which I am even happier today than I was before the illness occurred. Through the illness I have seen God work in so many ways and have learned to trust Him more and rest more in His perfect love for me. As Ruth Myers says, “I praise You that the things that happened in my past, both enjoyable and painful, are raw materials for blessings, both in my life and in the lives of others” (31 Days of Praise). My prayer is that others will be blessed as I travel this journey. I certainly have been!
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