May 14, 2015 was the day after I have had major
neck surgery. For almost eight months, especially the last four, I have had
daily, almost continuous pain in my neck, left shoulder and arm, with tingling
and numbness in my forearm and hand. The pain has been constant, but at times
it's been almost unbearable when the pain spiked. We have prayed, declared the
promises of God in Psalm 103, various other passages, ad infinitum. Finally,
after months of seeking the Lord, it became very obvious, after discussing it
with my wife and my own personal physician who loves Jesus, to seek other
doctoral care.
I went to see an orthopedist I've seen before,
because most of the pain was in my shoulder. After having X-Rays and an MRI
done back in January, and after several physical therapy sessions, the
orthopedist said all that could be done was to give epidural injections to
manage the pain or have surgery. The MRI showed I had a compressed nerve by a
bad disc and some bone spurs coming from my spine through the C5-C6 pathway to
my left shoulder and arm. From here I contacted a well-known neurosurgeon, one
who had done some surgery on my wife's back some years ago. After finally
seeing him, I was told I would have to have an Anterior Cervical Discectomy and
Fusion. The doctor's appointment was on May 7 and the surgery was scheduled
yesterday on May 13 (on the seventh day). This was no minor surgery as the
surgery would come within millimeters of my spinal cord. This means a mistake could leave me
with paraplegic muscle weakness at best, paralyzed, at worst. But, we
knew this was the Lord's will. I was completely at the mercy of the Lord and
His best surgical team! That was yesterday. Today, other than pain from the
suture and a little swelling, all the pain and numbness from my neck to my hand
is gone. But I still have a six-week recovery time before I'm allowed to lift
anything over the weight of a gallon of milk!
