Injured Reserves

* internet went down last night so here is yesterday’s posting*

Over a month ago, I saved my sheep dog from strangling. It was very scary. I found her in the woods and she had gotten a branch stuck through her collar. In her panic, she had flipped around and twisted until her collar became a tourniquet. When I found her she was barely breathing. I immediately tried to lift her off the branch. I could not lift her high enough. You know 120 pounds of fur is really heavy! I tried four times to do it, I can remember sobbing with frustration at my own weakness and limitations. Finally my brain over rode my panic and I lifted her high enough to take some of the tension off her collar and was finally able to unbuckle it.

She soon recovered, me ... well not so much. In rescuing her I pulled a muscle in my arm. Over the past month it has complained and slowly grown increasingly painful. When I realized that I could no longer push down on my hair spray with my right hand I finally decided that I needed to go have it looked at. So I trekked off to the doctor yesterday.

I am a Kaiser Permenente member. My experiences with them have run the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous. I got there with 15 minutes to spare only to be told that they had canceled my appointment! I told them that I had just driven 40 minutes into town for this appointment. So they spent 15 minutes trying to find someone who could fit me it. They finally got the nurses station to agree to look at me. The nurse came in and took all my vitals, looked at my arm, took my history and said, “Wow, I think this needs to be looked at.” So she spent 30 minutes trying to find a doctor who would agree to see me. When she found one she sent me back to the lobby to check in to see the doctor. (Kaiser is all about waiting in lines)

The upshot is that within another 30 minutes I was waiting to see a real live doctor. My primary care doctor was not in (I was glad, he has the personality of a kumquat) but someone else said they would fit me in. When he came in he poked and prodded and tested and said, “You have really abused those tendons”. I explained the circumstances of my injury and he asked, “Was it worth it?” I immediately stated, “It was to me.” He laughed and shared it would have been worth it to him too.

The outcome was that I now I have a diagnosis of tennis elbow. (I have not played tennis in 30 years) It is nice to have such an elegant injury. I am on anti-inflammatories for 2 weeks and I have been ordered to physical therapy. So all in all, it was a successful trip to town, though frustrating at times. I really liked the doctor who treated me and I am wondering if I could change my primary care doctor?

“I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak” Ezekiel 34:16

So as my doctor informed me, “I am on the injured reserves for 2 weeks.” But I believe in God’s healing inside and out and two weeks can bring a lot of healing.

Just Connie