Invisible

The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health,has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and salvation, even among her own members. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church

Spending my 50th birthday in the hospital recovering from surgery was the beginning of my road to PTSD on the health care system.  I had no idea things would go so horrible but in the Catholic tradition I offered my suffering for a friend dying of cancer, and mother of eight. Thirteen years have passed but I drive by that hospital at least once a week. The day before entering the hospital I had gone to mass and in mentioning my upcoming surgery a friend suggested I receive the "Anointing of the Sick". When the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is given, the hoped-for effect is that, if it be God's will, the person be physically healed of illness. I believe it saved my life but not in the way I would expect. My friend passed away on my birthday. While recovering from surgery I received a text from a mutual friend. Interesting side story, my friend's grave site is right next to an elevated flower garden that had been my son's Eagle Scout project at the cemetery.

I was released from the hospital on a Tuesday.  The following Tuesday I was not feeling well and felt there was something wrong.  I convinced my wife to come home to take me to the emergency room. It was a 40 minute drive from our town so off we went. They took some blood and checked my vitals.  We waited a good amount of time and my wife was anxious to get back to work so we decided to head home and wait for the hospital to call.  As i walked into the house I could hear the message machine beeping. The message was urgent and asked us to call right away.  I called and they asked where we were, expecting that we were still nearby.  They asked us to come back right away.  The surgery had been on my colon and apparently the laparoscopic surgery did not get me completely sewn up and leaked into my body. Laparoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that uses a thin, lighted tube called a laparoscope to examine and operate on organs in the abdomen or pelvis. The clean up procedure was another surgery that lasted seven hours. The details could take up another multiple series of posts but it all turned into a two year ordeal with many trips to the emergency room for pain and over 80 nights in the hospital.

Contributing to my PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) has been magnified by the loss of faith in our medical institutions, medical professionals and public health officials. I have followed the events very closely these past 4 years. My rehabilitation was a good three years of total surrender to my multiple doctors and caregivers. The one thing that stands out was the night that our friends from Guatemala came to visit me in the hospital. In that dimly lit hospital room they asked if they could pray over me and if I was okay with them praying in their native language. It was so emotional for me.  The intensity of their prayers and the love that they expressed strengthened my healing but PTSD is now on my mind as I contemplate hip surgery. It's simple, they do them all the time, don't wait, you'll feel so much better. Soon I will have to make a decision as the pain and mobility issues have become very annoying. I need to get "prayed up" as they say.