One of the things I have been thankful about is meeting a good, effective doctor.
I had a health scare last year. I fell sick in April, with what seemed to be the flu. I am not sure if I actually recovered fully, but I fell very ill again in June.
When I saw the doctor who had become my regular GP, I was told that I had developed sinusitis. And because my immunity had been low for some time, and together with some other possible symptoms, a worst-case scenario was that my low immunity was due to lupus (https://www.niams.nih.gov/health_info/lupus/lupus_ff.asp).
This worst-case scenario really frightened me. And there were only two persons I could share my fear with then, one in a face-to-face conversation a few days later, and the other, through an email.
In retrospect, it was good that most of my family was not with me then, if not, they would have worried excessively. I am thankful these two friends were available for me to share my fears with them.
I spent my birthday sick, mostly in bed, and feeling quite sorry for myself too because I was not home, and not with loved ones. I spent my birthday willing my body (if one could really do something like that) to get better soon so that I could be told that I do not have lupus at my next medical appointment.
Eventually, I did not have to go for the blood test for lupus because I was responding to the prescribed antibiotics. I also began using a nasal spray regularly to combat allergies. For years, when I had flu-like symptoms, I would be told that I had probably caught a bug from the workplace (even when it was not flu season and no one around was sick). Growing up, it bothered me that I developed throat infection so easily. It has made more sense to me now that I have allergies.
So I thank God for a competent, experienced doctor who, did not simply prescribe me a course of antibiotics but prepared me for a worse possibility because he was concerned, and has also been working with me towards recovering fuller health. I thank God for a supportive supervisor who reassured me that I could and should take time to rest and recover. I must say now I am deeply appreciative of work policies/ places which provide for their employees' healthcare claims.
I thank God also for this learning process He is taking me on. I am learning that I am mortal and finite, that I am made for rest.
I am learning that instead of comparing myself to others and wondering why I get sick so often/ easily, or why I take such a long time to recover, I should be taking in the information I am receiving to help me take better care of my own health, so that I can do the things which God positions me to do. Where God places me, and with whom He places me, I want to be fully there.
I am learning to be thankful. And while I learn to be so, my eyes are opened again and again to the reality that there is God who cares for me, who knows my needs, who knows how my body is made, who provides me with the persons who can be with me on this journey.
The Lord God who made us all, cares for each of us.
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