Life in the Slow Lane

Contemplating life, faith, words, and memories

Tag: spine surgery

Blue — June 17, 2019

Blue

/Sherrey Meyer/3 Comments

As a little girl, I loved the color blue. Perhaps that was because my red-headed mother loved it too. Today it’s no longer a favorite of mine.

As I awoke this morning, I had the sensation that blue had seeped in overnight. I laid in bed ignoring the time. Getting out of bed wasn’t at the top of my list of things to do. It felt as if a heavy weight had been placed on my shoulders overnight.

Despite my best efforts, some days during this recovery are downers. A few posts earlier I wrote on the topic of patience. In the last paragraph, I boldly stated how I wanted to handle my attitude going forward.

Today I’m asking myself where did that woman go. 

 

Image attribution: Kristine Lejniece from Pixabay 

Hope — May 13, 2019
Tulips, pink

Hope

/Sherrey Meyer/6 Comments

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.
~~ Desmond Tutu

 

 
 
Hope is a rather small word. Only four letters and one syllable. Yet people have survived unimaginable accidents, imprisonments, and illnesses. When asked how they held on, most answered continuous hope. That symbolizes a good deal of power in a four-letter word, only one syllable.
 
How is it such a small word can do so much?
 
From a base of hope, we see courage, confidence, and happiness arise. These qualities become a coping strategy at a time of difficulty or grief or illness. I’ve had many surgeries over the years, several on my spine. But I had never felt as confused and disheartened as I did right after my surgery this past March. Entering the hospital, I hoped for relief from constant pain.
 
Since my last posts (here and here), approximately nine weeks have passed. Recovery began the instant the surgeon saw fit to call it complete. Yet, minor complications and some unknowns created a recovery more difficult than expected.
 
Despite the complications and unknowns, my hope is a reality. The constant pain I suffered since January 24, 2016, until March 6, 2019, is gone!
 
During these nine weeks, hope has been my mainstay. Of course, there are days when I am discouraged. Or there is a minor setback. But when hope kicks in other feelings surface. The courage to push on through those exercises even though it hurts comes to the fore. The confidence to overcome this stumbling block arises. And a sense of happiness envelops all I must do.
 

But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us
toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God,
hope unswervingly, love extravagantly.
1 Corinthians 13:13 MSG (emphasis mine)