Heart Condition Part XXII
8/12/12
As the blood pressure cuff finally released on my arm the aide said that it was still coming down. My pressure was still high but at least it was headed in the right direction. The aide completed all of her other vital sign duties and wrote each result down on my bedside chart. She then asked if I needed anything to which I said no and she then took her things and left the room. I thought for a second about my theory and how it was panning out as I had believed. So I began planning my next move in order to keep myself off of other blood pressure medications and to get off of the one that my doctor was surely going to put me on. My mind was racing at this point trying to outthink the doctors and all of the other medical staff.
I knew that my weight would be the first issue that needed to be addressed, I had been overweight for quite some time now and in the back of my mind I knew I would not feel good until I was back down to my normal and healthy weight. My diet needed to change which would correspond with my weight issues. We needed to change the intake of our food and how much we actually ate would also need to be adjusted. At this time in my life I did not know my biological history within my family but I knew that my cholesterol and associated enzymes were not good, and as stated before they had been high ever since the mid 80s.
I had a plan so I thought. I believed that once my blood pressure lowered back to normal that I would return to my normal ways of living after a couple of more days off from work. With my current episode I had made up my mind to work at this goal and to obtain it as quickly and healthily as possible. I then took another “scan” of my pain level and I noticed that the pain continued to diminish in its intensity so much so that when I thought about the pain it was actually tolerable. I guess with the confirmation of my blood pressure going down and my pain level following suit reinforced my belief that I was out of the woods and ready to take on a new strategy for my health.
I turned on the television sound and began to hunt for the football game. It was getting late in the evening so I knew that some of the game would be history by now but it was something to do to kill time. As I adjusted the television to the correct channel and sound level my nurse walked in to give me my meds. As she handed me my pill cup I noticed that they were for my cholesterol and my blood pressure. She asked how I was feeling just as the aide came back in with her blood pressure pole. I had forgotten that once they give you a blood pressure pill that they had to monitor your blood pressure on a regular basis for a certain amount of time, I became slightly depressed once again but I had a smile on my face. I was hooked up to the cuff as both of my pills made their way from the cup to my mouth and then were swallowed as instructed.
After a quick wash of water to flush the pills down I answered the nurse’s question about how I was feeling. I was getting better as the evening drug on and I explained that my localized pain was easing as well. Just then the blood pressure cuff released and my new BP was even lower than the last reading, which further ignited my little gray cells in my head to believe that this episode was only a high blood pressure incident. With a few more surface checks the aide wrote my numbers down and then proceeded to leave the room.
The nurse glanced at my oxygen tube which was being hidden behind my back and when she asked why I did not have it in I gave her the excuse of that I did not want it in. She did not like that answer and then traced the tube and threatened to put it back in herself if I did not accomplish the task within the next ten seconds. I could tell she was serious and at the same time I knew deep down that I had to have it on but I also knew she would leave the room shortly and that I could take it right back out. My stubbornness and “know it all” attitude about medicine almost cost me more than I was bargaining for. My nurse stood over me like a mother hen as I grudgingly placed the cannula back into my nostrils and looped the tubing around my ears. I then looked up at her and asked if she was happy and she replied yes and then stated that all she wanted was for me to get better so that we once again could work together as it should be. With that she smiled and turned around and headed to the door.
I have always hated it when other people say things to me concerning my health and I have to sit there, or in this case lie there and accept it as the truth. I knew that she was correct and that there was nothing that I could say or do to counteract her short pinpoint speech because even though I did not want to admit it she was right in her assessment of the entire situation. AS soon as the door to my room was closed I immediately took the cannula back out of my nose and placed it on my pillow. I took a deep breath and had no pain in my breathing exercise. I then turned my attention onto the football game. For a person who had learned about compromising his beliefs in his path and vowed never to do it again, I was unknowingly following that same path once again by not following directions. God was merciful in this time and I thank Him for His mercies each day.
The football game on TV was not interesting at the time I began to watch it but as the game drew further the scenario became very interesting. The big lead of the one team was slowly dwindling every few minutes. I still did not enjoy the professional football league but for whatever reason this game caught my attention and I decided to follow it until the end. The aide came back in the room after a few minutes and took my blood pressure again, which revealed even though I was watching an exciting game my pressure continued its fall back into the normal range. I then noticed that the pain in my shoulder was almost completely gone which gave me greater relief.
Towards the end of the game my new night nurse came into my room to see how I was doing and to let me know that she would be taking care of me during the night. I had known this nurse for many years and we had a good working relationship. Her daughter had recently graduated from nursing school and had started working in the hospital as well. We chatted for a few minutes and then she told me she would return after report to get my vitals again before they let me sleep. She asked if I needed anything and after I said no she turned and headed for the door and closed it behind her. I went back to my game all the while thinking that at some time the lab night tech should pop his head in to get some blood but being a stable angina patient that probably would not come until the middle of the night.
I bring back the construction of the new hospital building to the story. The reason I do is to make a point about how God works in people’s lives without them even really realizing it until an even occurs within their lives happens; and as being humans we might not even realize what we are seeing or encountering in our lives how it plays into our lives at a future point down our path of life.
Having worked at the hospital for many years I was keenly aware of most of the plans that transpired throughout the hospital and the plans of the new building was no different. When the construction of the building began I was at the ground breaking ceremony, saw the first dirt being dug by the huge machinery and witnessed the columns going up as the building began to take some kind of visible form. This process naturally continued at its slow and methodical pace but each day it seemed like nothing happened to my eye but in my head I knew that something different was there within that building after each working day. As days turned into weeks the changes became visible and the shape of the building grew and actually started to look like the sign that stood at the front of the property.
I would then turn back to the current building and look at its condition and I could not help but to remember some of the problems that I knew about concerning the construction of the current building. The outside structure of the building looked fairly decent but the insides or the guts of the hospital were in terrible shape. One example was in the laboratory where every so often the large pipes that carried coolant to the other end of the building would leak and produce a wet spot on our ceiling tiles. This was not a problem most of the time but if the leak occurred when no one was in the lab, we would walk into a huge mess the next morning. It was these types of flaws that only people who worked in the hospital would know about and would associate with.
Looking back on my life I knew that all of humans are like the old hospital building and that we try and put on so much of a physical front on the outside that many times we totally neglect our inner conditions. This old building was sound for the most part but some of its inner structures had flaws that hindered the overall function of the hospital. This is exactly what happens within the majority of our lives and we need to first recognize these flaws and correct them as soon as possible. But at the same time we need to recognize that God wants to restore our lives in His image and ways.
This new image and ways represent the new hospital and all of its stages in the building process. Most of us fail to realize this activity that is going on within our lives once the process begins. The restoration process is not an overnight project but it takes time to establish the boundaries, rooms, etc of our new building. It is very important that we remember where we have come from and how we functioned in our old ways and means. It is just as important to remember that our restoration process is actually a work in progress and that it will change our lives completely if we allow the master to complete His work in our lives.
So, as we look at the new building project that God is completing in us, it is ok to remember the areas in which we are being improved upon and accept the pains of the building process within our hearts. It is ok to remember our past but it just as important not to allow cracks to be obtained in our new building by not allowing God to complete His work in our lives. Even though I walked by the new building every day and watched it being built literally from the ground up I had no idea that God had that same process in mind for my life both physical and spiritual. It does hurt sometimes and it is scary to be honest but I trust in God to know that He knows what He is doing in my life and I try to obey more than I sacrifice, because obeying is the original foundation for a relationship.
DLB
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