Oh, the Gall of It All!

     So here’s what happened, as best as I can remember.

     We were on our way back to Reading after a pleasant vacation visiting family. It was last Friday. We stopped for the night at a small town in northwestern Pennsylvania, leaving us about a four-hour drive home the next day. Easy peasy.

     Except that after dinner Friday night, I developed severe abdominal pains that made it difficult to sleep—or to get comfortable in any position, for that matter. I soldiered on Saturday morning, and by early afternoon we were home. But the pain was still powerful, and it was now accompanied by chills and fever. I shivered and sweated my way through the next day, but by midnight Sunday I knew something had to be done, Sarah drove me to the Reading Hospital emergency department.

     Now my ordeal was the wait. I arrived at the ED before one a.m., and I languished in the waiting room until after 7:30 before I was called back. This doesn’t make me special—there were folks who waited as long as or longer than I—but it is an indication of the fundamental brokenness of the healthcare system in this country, which has real effects on real people.

     After I did get to a bed, I received excellent treatment from the medical and nursing staff, and It was finally discovered that some gallstones had “gone rogue” and entered one of the passageways leading to the bile duct. One doctor told me that if I had left it untreated it could have killed me. The human body is such a masterpiece of design, with diverse systems working together in a delicate balance to perform all the functions of life. But because it is such a delicate balance and all the systems are interconnected, when one little part goes haywire it can lead to danger for the whole organism. The same thing can happen in the body of Christ, by the way. We need to pay attention to our spiritual and congregational health at all times, because it doesn’t take much to break down the whole system.

     Over the next few hours a strategy developed among the three or four different teams that consulted on my case. On Monday afternoon I went into surgery for an endoscopy procedure to knock loose the obstruction. The surgical team removed three large stones, and once I woke up I realized the pain that had been near-constant for three days was gone.

     Next, they would take out my gall bladder to prevent similar obstructions in the future. They did this on Tuesday in a laparoscopic operation that came off with only one complication: now they had found a kidney stone that had entered my ureter and threatened to cause even more problems and pain. So that scotched the possibility of my being discharged Tuesday, and I settled in for another night in the hospital with its incessant beeps and interruptions and people constantly coming in to take away my blood and a roommate who talked continuously—often to himself. I kept myself from going insane by reading, doing puzzles, and watching that godawful MLB All-Star game, and I made it through another night.

     On Wednesday I had an ultrasound that ultimately couldn’t find any traces of the kidney stone, so they told me I might be able to go home. Apparently I had already passed the stone, or the medication they had given me had taken care of it. Next, I was told I wasn’t going home until at least the next morning (Thursday), and despair settled over me like a damp wool blanket. But about a half-hour later I got the liberating news that I could in fact go home, and Sarah picked me up around 7:00 p.m.

     Now my main issue is constant soreness and a burning, ripping pain whenever I try to stand up or sit down. But I fully intend to be in church with you this Sunday morning to worship God with you and the late, great Rich Mullins, as we continue our theme of “The Gospel in 4/4 Time” with his delightful song “Boy Like Me/Man Like You.” I hope you will be there to.

     Thank you to all who have been praying for me or have sent an email or made a phone call. I feel your love in these small but meaningful gestures. May God’s grace always be with you.