Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in humans.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in princes.

• Psalm 118:8-9

The simple believe anything,
    but the prudent give thought to their steps.

• Proverbs 14:15

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

• Proverbs 3:5

Do not put your trust in princes,
    in human beings, who cannot save.

• Psalm 146:3

Roughly four weeks ago, I returned from Tennessee with a nagging cough.  My eleven-year-old grandson decided he would share his germs with me, my son (who got bronchitis), and the recent high school graduate older brother (bad sinus infection).  Oddly, the two ladies in the house did not even get the sniffles.  Of course, the little one missed a couple of days of school and then was fine.

I thought I was away from there in time, but the first day back from the trip I had about two days with a low grade fever – corresponding to the weekend.

On Sunday, I called the hospital pre-op team. They said to call with questions anytime, any day.  They were not there, but they promised to return my call.  They never called back.  One of the pre-op tests was a recent chest x-ray, and under the circumstances, my condition was different now, making that x-ray null and void, but they never called.

I had elected to have the surgery because the surgeon had done good work over the past three years and he was leaving the practice.  He only had a few openings left.  And the latest scan of the stone showed the stone to be large, not blocking anything, but porous, soft.  Thus, the ultrasound lithotripsy should be successful.  If I cancelled, I would have to wait about six-weeks for the new surgeon to come to the clinic.  And then, set up an appointment.  And then wait for a surgical opening.  The stone could move and block the ureter which would be painful, but an emergency.  But without that emergency, the stone could gain density, lessening the assurance that the surgery will be completely successful.

I wanted an unbiased opinion.  On Monday, I started making phone calls.  I called my family doctor, and the nurse said that I had to call the urologist.   As I thought about it, a second opinion to postpone or cancel would mean the urologist loses a big paycheck from the insurance company and the family doctor did not want to get involved.

I called the urologist and their nurse in charge of pre-op said to wait until Tuesday.  Vain hope that I would get better.

By Tuesday morning, I had sneezed so hard and so often that I had given myself whiplash.  I could not turn my neck at all.  Each time I woke up, I had to sit up and cough for about an hour to clear enough phlegm to be able to function.  I cancelled the surgery.

Was I sick? Yes, but none of the medical providers cared about that.  I was worried that I would become the anesthesiologist’s worse nightmare.

When I talked to the same lady as the day before, she said I had made the best decision and she told me everything I had to do to see the new surgeon – just nothing could be done until he showed up the first day to an empty clinic since no one could make an appointment until that day.

Then I called the family doctor back and he suddenly had an appointment available before lunch that morning.  Unable to talk the day before, would not talk until the surgery was cancelled.  Now a rush to get me seen.

Five days of steroids and the cough is as bad as ever, but the neck is again mobile.

But why did I cancel?  I was sick, so I had an excuse.  But I lost faith in the system.  One doctor wanted to get paid before leaving the practice.  Another doctor did not want to get sued for making an uninformed decision.

I, the patient, with no medical training, had to make the decision, and then all the medical profession applauded my decision.  Note: I never heard from the hospital or the surgeon that was scheduled to do the procedure.

The Scriptures above talk of trusting in God.  We cannot rely on others, even when they have fancy degrees.

About half the time when I see the doctor, they seem to be having a love affair with the computer screen, and they almost never make eye contact.  Welcome to the new impersonal, unaffordable healthcare of the USA.

But I was forced to lean on my own understanding.

That came after a lot of prayer.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.