I mentioned in my last post that I have been battling severe pain in my right collar bone. I have also alluded to the fact that I thought my surgeon was not listening to me. I clearly told him I had infection.

Thank God, I have a dear friend, Dr. Alvarado, who has known me for several years. When I called him, to begin with, telling him I thought I was on death’s doorstep with possible Osteomyelitis, he also refused to order antibiotics for me. He said he didn’t know what to order because Osteomyelitis was not something he treated on a normal basis.

I accepted that excuse for a smidgen of a minute then called him back and begged him to prescribe some Bactrim. The Bactrim helped but since no one had taken a blood draw, I wasn’t even sure that it was infection.

I began taking the Norco syrup I had on hand from my previous vocal cord surgery. That was a God send. It was medium strength and was the only medicine which remotely relieved the pain.

After going to the ER and being very unhappy with them, I once again called my surgeon. I got a call back at the end of the day. I was able to get in to see him on the 16th of January at 1:10 pm.

I am very capable of posting viciously accurate reviews of companies which are incompetent. I already had a review planned out in my mind for this surgeon. Yet, I just couldn’t bring myself to post anything. I wanted to give the surgeon the greatest chance to redeem himself. He had done the initial surgery on my collar bone and that fracture was horrendous. That surgery had been done with complete perfection.

So today was the 16th. It had been twelve days of disabling pain. What was I going to say to the surgeon? I rehearsed different “come to Jesus” speeches but somehow, they always got peppered with obscenities. I was so angry, and the pain was still fierce.

I began to document the timeline of this ordeal so that I could be accurate when I talked to the surgeon. I opened my day planner which my boyfriend had got me for Christmas and it fell open to October. Yes, I know it is January, but God wanted me to read the verse that was attached to the first week in October. So, I read it…

Colossians 4:6 “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt. So you will know how you should respond to each person.”

Well, that wasn’t what I wanted to say. I wanted to give that surgeon a piece of my mind. However, I wrote that verse down on an index card and slipped it in my pocket asking God to give me grace.

The surgeon came in and disarmed me. He is just such a genuinely kind person I could not visit my rage upon him. Instead I calmly told him the things that had happened, and he suggested another x-ray. When he came back into my room after viewing the x-ray he said I had another fracture. This had never happened to him before.

Gads, 2018 is quickly going to the pot for me as far as my nursing career goals are concerned.

He said the bone had probably not healed all the way and I would have to keep my right arm immobile for 4-8 weeks. That means I cannot work for 1-2 months. I have no disability insurance and no savings, so that will be a challenge.

My parents are generous to some extent and my boyfriend is amazing, so I have no fear. In addition to this, I have a God who has impressed upon me the discipline of not going into debt. He will provide what I need and beyond that, things which I don’t even know I need.

I looked at the surgeon with a smile and said. “Well, I have a novel to finish. It is a God novel. I can use this time to finish and start the publication process. I can also work on my blog.”

He said, “Well that is turning lemons into lemonade.”

I responded with laughter, “I have had plenty of lemons in my lifetime. I am an expert at making lemonade.”

I believe that Colossians 4:6 was lived out in my life today. I don’t know why I got the fracture, but I am determined to use it to glorify God. To have cussed out a surgeon, who tries his very best and has been Christ like in his manner, wouldn’t have been the correct way to glorify God.