Tag: Chronic Illness

Story Time- Caller ID

~ jesusluvsall ~ 6 Comments

Caller ID can be a mixed blessing. It helps to screen out calls but it also shows calls that I know I shouldn’t avoid but wish to avoid. Case in point from yesterday, I saw that all too familiar phone number calling me. It was my doctor’s office as in Primary Care Physician.

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I ignored it and let it go to voice mail. However, ten minutes later it was time to listen to the voice mail. It was a nurse calling to schedule a follow up to my most recent ER adventure. So I called back. She tried to get me in yesterday, but it did not work. She offered me an 8am appointment today. That was a no go for me.

Her persistence paid off when she told me she could get me in at 10:30am today. Have no fear my dear readers because by having the appointment at 10:30, it means finishing perhaps about 11:30. It was strategic on my part. My favorite burger place is not far from my doctor’s office. I can reward myself with a cheeseburger and fries after the appointment. 🙂

So the agenda today is doctor, burger, and later this afternoon teaching English at the Ukrainian church. It will be a whirlwind of activity. There might even be time for the coffee shop today.

Speaking of caller ID, did you know God has a sort of caller ID? For me it is in the form of a worship song in my spirit. There have many times that a worship song was in my spirit and I knew God was telling me something whether it was to pray for someone, to remember a truth from the bible, give comfort, or give guidance. That is a caller ID that I welcome.

Have you experienced that kind of caller ID?

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

Happy To Report-My Coffee Shop Is Still Open

~ jesusluvsall ~ 20 Comments

Yesterday was eventful. A momentous occasion took place. Your coffee purist stopped by his favorite coffee shop and discovered it is has not closed in his absence.

It was a day of getting things done as in run errands, so I did not have time to hang out in my beloved coffee shop, but I did stop in the get a cup to go. There were some gluten free chocolate cupcakes and considering all I have been through, it seemed appropriate to buy one as well. 🙂

The baristas were blessed and grateful to hear some of my jokes or at least that’s what I tell myself.

Hopefully there will be time for a hangout at my coffee shop, or as David of davidsdailydose.org calls it-my office- this weekend.

This semi-retirement thing of not teaching in the mornings has yet to prove to me it is worth it. My thoughts were to spend more time writing and hanging out at the coffee shop, but my body has had different ideas forcing me to spend more time at home recovering from things like minor heart procedures, pericarditis and pneumonia. But there is still time to realize the vision. 🙂

The vision for the future is to continue to share Jesus and his love with people through writing, teaching, and hopefully speaking. Of course coffee shop hangouts are part of the deal too. 🙂

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

Music Mondays- I Will Trust In You by Lauren Daigle

~ jesusluvsall ~ 19 Comments

I haven’t posted since Valentine’s Day. Guess who got sick again? Yes, me. Fortunately a snow canceled my classes Thursday and Fridays I am off, so I tried resting at home, but to no avail. After four sleepless nights due to coughing, I went to an Urgent Care place yesterday knowing they would prescribe the prednisone and antibiotics I needed. I chose to go there wanting to avoid the ER because I have been there too many times in recent months-three times. The physician at the Urgent Care place told me if I do not improve to go to the ER. She also let me know I was in the beginning of developing pneumonia and to take it seriously.

I had to cancel my two classes at the Ukrainian church. That is the worst thing for me not being there for my refugee friends. That is a downer for me.

On top of it all, when I started to my car, it sounded like the muffler had gone out. However, I think someone stole the catalytic converter. So it should be more of a nuisance thing because insurance will cover it.

But I am turning my focus on Jesus and what he has called me to do. It felt like a good time to again share Lauren Daigle’s song I Will Trust In You.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

Does God Care When I Suffer? + Excerpt From My Upcoming Book

~ jesusluvsall ~ 21 Comments

Questions can arise when we suffer whether it be from illness, family troubles, loss of a loved one, or any other suffering. The questions can be along the lines of, “Does God even care?” or :Does God see my suffering?” or :”Why me?”

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I have to admit I have struggled with those questions at times especially when I was so sick I almost died and the recovery period piecing my life back together in 1993 to 1997. What I kept coming back to was the cross of Jesus. In my upcoming book Jesus Understands Trauma, I shared:

“So though I struggled with the why questions, realizing the sacrifice God, the sacrifice Jesus made, the suffering, the cost, changed my inner dialogue. The pain Jesus endured, the suffering, the trauma, was and is God’s answer to the suffering we experience in life.”

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God cares so deeply that he sent Jesus. Jesus cares so deeply that he left heaven to become a human baby so he could become our Savior through his suffering as an adult.

As Paul wrote in Romans 8:32:

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

God did not spare Jesus. Jesus did not spare himself. So God will give us all things, healing for our souls and spirits, relationship with God, and eternity in heaven.

We do not need to deny our suffering or ignore what we are experiencing. But when we are going through it, keeping our focus on Jesus can make all of the difference.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

Back To Normal?

~ jesusluvsall ~ 26 Comments

It felt a bit anti-climatic when the cardiologist told me I am golden now and the heart flutter is cleared up. It started last fall and was diagnosed after a visit to the ER for something else. A focal point of my life is gone now. No more visits to the cardiologist except one more follow up in June. As I walked out of the clinic, my thought was, “back to normal, well normal for me.”

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Back to normal for me means continuing to live with chronic pain and fatigue due to living with autoimmune. Back to normal for me means asking Jesus each morning to give me strength to be a blessing to my students and others. Back to normal for me means seeing God at work not only in my life but in the life of others. Back to normal for me also means hanging out at the coffee shop.

If I really think about, normal is not a word I would use to describe life with Jesus. The same Jesus who did things like walking on water in the midst of a storm is the same Jesus who says follow me. He is the same Jesus who is always with us, at work around us, and at work in our lives.

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Life with Jesus can bring many amazing surprises if we seek to follow him and stay open to him working in our lives and working around us. We can see amazing things happen.

Maybe I should say back to the adventure. 🙂

Thank you for reading. Also thank you for all the prayers. God Bless.

Back To The ER?

~ jesusluvsall ~ 25 Comments

Pericarditis is swelling and irritation of the thin, saclike tissue surrounding the heart (pericardium). Pericarditis often causes sharp chest pain. The chest pain occurs when the irritated layers of the pericardium rub against each other. Pericarditis is usually mild and goes away without treatment.

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I found out yesterday that .8% of people who have cardiac ablations for irregular heart rhythms develop pericarditis. Guess who developed it. If you guessed me, you would be correct. The fact that I developed something that only .8% of people develop makes me think I should buy a lottery ticket. 🙂

The pain was intense, so off to the ER I went. The nurses were wonderful. One nurse felt I should stay overnight because she saw my discomfort but the doctor’s orders were for me to go home.

I had worship music in my spirit and prayed while I was alone in the room. Yes Jesus is always with us even in the Emergency Room.

They gave me medicine to take and it started helping. I managed to sleep last night.

Hopefully there won’t be anymore surprises for a while. 🙂

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

God Shows He Is With Us Through Others-Surgery Update

~ jesusluvsall ~ 34 Comments

I had my outpatient surgery yesterday and there were a few nice surprises. God showed me he was with me through others. I checked in 5am all blurry eyed and a short time later had my first surprise.

I found out Friday that one of my colleague’s mother is a nurse at the hospital. I joked with her to tell her mom to give me ice cream. The nurse who came out to bring to the waiting area to bring me to the prep area started off by asking me what kind of ice cream I wanted. She is my colleague’s mom. That started my day off with a laugh and a smile. she took great care of me.

The next one was the anesthesiologist who prepped me. I did not recognize him at first because of his mask, big glasses, and cap, He is a friend from church. It was reassuring to chat with him while he prepped me.

Jesus definitely showed he was with me through others!!!

Everything went well and I was back home about 2:30pm. That was followed by a four hour nap. Naps are part of my recovery plan, personal one not doctor’s guidelines. 🙂

I have proof cheeseburgers, fries and ice cream are healthy. I asked for them for my lunch and the hospital have me two cheeseburgers-no bun, fries and a chocolate ice cream for lunch. Therefore they must be healthy. Completely logical in my mind.

Thank you to all who prayed for me.

Peace of God in a Crazy Day

~ jesusluvsall ~ 13 Comments

Yesterday was a whirlwind of activity with doctor stuff. The day started off with an MRI my rheumatologist wanted me to have with check in time for it at 7am. To put that in perspective, I usually wake up at 7:30 🙂 MRI machines are loud even with the earplugs in, but it was no big deal.

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Then I stopped at the school where my morning class is to do a few things. Mondays I do not teach. It is the day that we have a speaker come to share with the moms through a translator. I was there for a few hours.

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Then the big one my appointment with a cardio electro physiologist about an ablation. It looks to be a simple procedure. I will have the ablation next Monday with a check in time of 5am.

After a refreshing nap, it was time for conversation practice with a Brazilian friend.. She lived in my city for one year several years ago. She is back in Brazil, so we meet in Zoom. Yesterday I met her boyfriend while we were talking. We do entrecambio-exchange- speaking in English and also some Portugues.

The day capped off with teaching my online class for the college.

What was the common theme that wove all of that together? Jesus.

Philippians 4:7 says:

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Throughout the day there was a calm in my spirit because of Jesus. Starting a day with an MRI could be an unsettling experience, but the peace of God was with me. Seeing a cardio doctor could be unsettling, but the peace of God was with me. The peace of God was with me because of Jesus.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

Music Mondays- It Is Well by Kristene DiMarco

~ jesusluvsall ~ 27 Comments

Seven years ago I began the experience of what I call being a pinball patient going from doctor to doctor to try to find out what was wrong. At that time, I came across this video by Kristene DiMarco-It Is Well. Since that time, I have listened to it every day and some days more than once, some days several times.

I have shared it before, but felt it would be good to share it again today. Today is a double doctor day for me. I have an MRI this morning with check in at 7am. The MRI is to determine if I have ankylosing spondylitis which is an arthritis that is in the spine. Then at 1pm I have an appointment with an cardiac electro physiologist which is a doctor who does ablations. I need one to correct my heart rhythm.

So I will start my morning, way too early, by listening to It Is Well and praying. It is a video that has blessed me, so I am sharing it in hopes it blesses you as well.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

My Unexpected Test This Morning

~ jesusluvsall ~ 11 Comments

I had planned a different post for today but one phone call changed that. My cardiologist wants me to have a test before the ablation procedure. The hospital called to schedule the test. The woman I talked with suggested having it this morning, so at 9:30 off I go.

Getting to the heart of the issue, sorry couldn’t resist the pun, we are all on a temporary basis in this life. The urgent issue is whether we are reconciled with God. Have we come to Jesus?

The verse of the day on Bible Gateway yesterday was fitting. I had read it before the phone call. It was from John 14:1-3:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

Jesus has a place for me in heaven already because of his grace, not because of me.

I am confident I will be around for a while longer in this life and that Jesus has much for me to do yet, but knowing Jesus has a place for us is most comforting when life throws the unexpected at us.As I thought about that truth, I remembered a song from long ago called Mansion Builder after the phone call. I am sharing it today.

My post I had planned on for today will wait for tomorrow.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.