From Nightmare To Blessing

I have never been a big fan of hospitals. I’ve had my share of hospital stays and from what I can remember, for the most part they were survivable. 😅 Covid-19 only reinforced my dislike of hospitals. Not long ago my husband had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. While waiting to find out when he would have surgery, he became ill and had to be rushed to the ER. That same day he had found out when he was to have surgery. That same day our nightmare began.

While waiting for my husband to be called back, I was allowed to stay with him in the ER waiting area. He was shaking and sweating profusely and his blood pressure was fairly high. He had a difficult time trying to control the shaking, so I wrapped my arms around him hugging him in the hopes of easing the shakes, but to no avail. It would be two, almost three hours before he would be taken to the back and I would have to leave. Now I personally believe ~ especially with COVID ~ that a patient should be allowed to have at least one person with them at all times. There is nothing more lonely than having to face being in the hospital alone without someone being able to be a voice for you if you should need one. Nothing personal to those in the medical profession, however, there are some out there that simply don’t care.

After I left the ER, I started to wait in the car like others were doing. I waited about twenty minutes before I decided to go home since we lived nearby. Boy am I glad I did too. It would be hours later when I would hear from my husband asking me to bring him an overnight bag. He was being admitted to the hospital. So I did. He had been in the ER since early that morning and by the time I heard from him it was mid to late afternoon. It would be almost midnight before they would find a room for him. His experience that day and into the next would be a nightmare. I mean NIGHTMARE. The next day he was asking me to come pick him up before lunch. We still had no idea as to what was wrong with him and we had no idea that if he did go home, he wouldn’t have another episode. By late afternoon he was finally released and was at home resting. There had been little to no communication during his whole stay. The little bit that there had been, no one seemed to know what was going on and there was a lot of confusion taking place.

My husband was told to call his surgeon’s office and see about getting in for surgery the next week since he had been tested for covid. Praise the LORD for He is good! My husband’s surgery was set for August 4th. Again I was allowed to be with him while he waited to go back for surgery. The surgeon came by and explained what would take place and told me that once the procedure was done he would call and let me know how things went. He said it would be about an hour to an hour and a half before I would hear from him. True to his word, the doctor called and said that everything went well and that once they had my husband awake from the anesthesia I could call and talk to him. My husband had to stay overnight, but this time his experience was totally different than the ER experience. Compassion makes a difference.

But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.

Psalm 86:15

The Bible talks about God’s compassion being gracious, longsuffering, overflowing with mercy and truth. When I examine the difference between my husband’s first overnight hospital stay and his second one, it reminds me of the difference between God’s love and compassion, and the enemy’s chaos and destruction. I can see how the enemy took the ER visit and attacked my husband. But I also see how God took that situation and used it for good. You see, my husband would have had to wait until 21st of August for surgery had this incident not happened.

Can you think of an incident that seemed like nothing good could come out of it only to be surprised when it did turn around for good? Isn’t our God so awesome? He takes our struggles, our pains, and our hurts and turns them around for good when we let him. God bless!💖🙏