I had to have an emergency appendectomy this past Wednesday. It hit me very fast - literally at 12:30 I was eating lunch and by 3:00 I was lying on the bed at the doctor's office crying and sweating from the pain. God was looking down on me though. Even in my pain, I could see it:
1. I called the doctor's office when I couldn't diagnose my pain and they told me to come immediately there. I drove myself to the office, not a smart thing to do when you're doubled over in pain. I don't even remember the drive there. God was watching over me.
2. By the time I got to the office, I couldn't stand up straight the pain was so bad. I had long since given up on holding back tears and let them fall freely. I've been a patient there for many years and know some of the nurses and doctors personally. My favorite nurse also happens to be a friend of our's mother. She took one look at me and went running for pain relief. God was watching over me.
3. The doctor asked me some questions and then said she was sending me to the hospital to CT my tummy. Todd was in a massage at the college. I couldn't get ahold of him to come get me and I clearly could not drive any more. I simply hit "send" on my phone and reached Danna. Danna and her husband (Bill) weren't supposed to be home Wednesday afternoon. They were and while Danna came to get me, Bill went to find Todd. God was watching over me.
4. Todd was in the massage room at the school with three other people doing a massage. They lock the door when they're massaging to give those who derobe peace of mind that no one else is coming in. The security guard was beating on the door and when Todd answered it, he said, "Are you Todd Shore?" From the "worst case scenario" department, Todd's heart paused and he said yes. The guard then said, "they've taken your wife to the hospital." We found out later that Bill hadn't told the guard that. He just told him he needed to get to Todd ASAP. God was watching over me.
5. The CT scan was done and showed an inflamed and infected appendix. The surgeon was in the hospital and would be down in a little bit. The surgeon was the same doctor who did Todd's hernia surgery a little over a year ago. God was watching over me.
There are other, little things that we have realized. Work has been CRAZY lately. We just finished up the Baptist State Convention and our last Care Team training for the year. If the timing had been off even a few days, the whole team would have been left in a lurch. Todd's mom just returned from the beach on Tuesday. If I'd gotten sick even a day earlier, she wouldn't have been here to help with the girls.
I don't wish appendicitis on anyone. The pain is worse than child birth and the fear of not knowing what's wrong is crippling. But I do wish that each of you could know, even in times of crisis, that God is watching over you. It's the peace in the center of the storm and it's unbelievable.
