I’m getting the idea He’s not through with me yet.
So, let's say you pass out while driving on the expressway. What would you be doing when you come to? May I be so bold as to answer for both of us? We'd worship! We’d be worshipping God because we woke up in His very presence, or because we didn’t.
On Tuesday the 31st of October, yes Halloween, I was driving home alone from a meeting in Dallas when I passed out at the wheel. Realizing you're about to pass out at 70mph on a freeway is disconcerting to say the least. But, waking up alive some unknown span of time later with your car intact, not surrounded by airbags or worse is... Well, there really are no words. But God,... So, I worship.
To increase our worship of Him, let me relate the miracles I see, so far, looking back. Miracle #1 - He had me in the protection of a single express lane with walls on both sides vs. in the heavy traffic on the other side of the wall where I could’ve taken out enumerable others. #2 - He had me in Ann's 2016 CRV which has adaptive cruise control and lane assist, contributing to the next two miracles. #3 - Adaptive cruise control had my speed locked to the speed of the slow-moving truck in front of me, keeping me at 70mph vs. the speed I might normally drive in the express lane. #4 - The car’s lane assist feature seems to have helped the car hit the wall almost completely parallel, minimizing damage to our car and to me. #5 - At 2:00pm on a Tuesday driving on 183 past DFW airport the traffic on that express lane consisted of me and the slow truck ahead of me. Nothing behind me for miles! #6 - He chose something dramatic enough to get my attention focused on invisible health issues that must need to be brought into the light.
My first concern was for the car, but when the reality of what had just happened settled in, my intentions immediately changed. Instead of calling our insurance company, I called my Primary Care Physician. His office set me up to come in the next morning before their other patients arrived, and of course, to have Ann drive me. They did an EKG and fitted me with a Holter monitor to wear for the next 24-hours to capture a picture of what my heart was doing from beat to beat. Some arrhythmias were found, causing the PCP a level of concern to instruct Ann on CPR and suggest we get straight to a cardiologist.
We saw a cardiologist that afternoon, but he was not seeing anything of consequence in explaining my symptoms. He scheduled me for a follow up echocardiogram and stress test, but while we waited for that over the next few days, I continued to experience lightheadedness. As symptoms worsened I eventually asked Ann to take me to the ER. That began three days in the hospital undergoing a bevy of tests, most resulting in the medical assessment of “unremarkable”, meaning, nothing to write home about. Which has contributed to the difficulty in writing this update. The hardest thing so far in all of this is just not knowing what caused the incident that brought us here.
Now in mid-December, I’ve met for follow ups with my PCP and the cardiologists. I’ve finished a 14-day evaluation with a heart monitor that sent data 24/7 to my cardiologists. I’ve had an ultrasound of my carotid arteries, and still they don’t see anything explaining my incident on Halloween. My PCP is referring me to a neurologist just in case they can shed any light on a potential diagnosis. My doctor doesn’t think the symptoms of my incident are indicative of it being neurological, but he wants to be as thorough as possible and I’m grateful for that.
I’ve also added a root canal to this month’s medical saga, adding to the financial strain on our end-of-year resources. For more on this, check out the Financial Snapshot here.
So, we continue to wait in hopes of a more complete picture, knowing God’s got this, with evidence all over this incident that He’s not through with me yet. Ann and I are grateful for all the prayers offered up for us already, and asked for continued prayer for peace, patience, and provision as we wait for answers.