Life is full of inconsistencies.
And perhaps, or because of: expectations.
When I started this blog, I expected to be sending out a new blog every week.
Obviously, that didn’t happen.
I have no excuses.
I have one reason: life happens.
Sometimes we begin a project or a plan or New Year’s resolutions with good intentions and then life happens to interrupt.
It happens to us all.
You may begin a school year with the intention of studying every night two hours.
If you are involved in anything else: sports, music, theatre, life: expectations and reality clash.
Oh there’s nothing wrong with good intentions. It can be a good place to start.
Planning is important.
Some things you just can’t plan.
January 1, 2025, I determined I was going to be consistently sending out a blog every week.
Simple, right? I write all the time. How difficult would it be to send out a writing every week?
Life intervened.
I got ill.
Oh I didn’t think it was all that serious at first.
A little stomach upset and I slept more. So what?
Then it kept happening and my stomach upset got much worse.
I decided to call my doctor.
Actually, by this time I was so ill I asked Jim to call my doctor and insist on seeing someone within the practice that very day.
Jim agreed but reminded me it was his first day of jury duty.
He called from the courthouse. He texted me at 8:10 that the only appointment available was 8:15. Or Friday.
If you do the simple math, that means I would arrive at 8:30. In time for the next appointment which, of course, was unavailable.
Now, I had been unable to keep anything down for three days.
Not sure driving myself would have been a good idea.
And I sure was not going to wait until Friday.
Options. Options. On my next trip to the bathroom I was forced to consider my options.
Hmmmm. Yup, urgent care was my only option and that would be an option only if I could find someone to drive me there.
So I did what anyone would do in this generation. I texted a friend.
Who replied as pretty much anyone would do in this generation: replied that she was booked up until 12:30.
So now what?
Fortunately. No, I cannot use that word.
In God’s mysterious way, her husband had a short 9:30 appointment and could pick me up after that.
It seemed forever into the future.
In real time, that means an hour.
So I got myself cleaned up and met him at the door.
He drove me to the nearest urgent care and I signed in.
And we did what a person does at a place called “urgent” care.
We waited. And waited. And waited some more.
In fact we waited long enough for Jim to complete his duties on his first day of jury duty so he could meet us at urgent care.
He sent my friend on his way so he and I could sit. And wait.
Finally about two hours after I arrived I was taken back to a room so I could…guess what? wait some more.
Does any of this sound familiar to any of you? 🙂
Eventually I saw the doctor.
He examined me and asked questions. Some were, I must admit, related to my stomach issues. Others…were not.
At the time I thought they were wacky questions that had nothing to do with my symptoms.
“Did I feel as if I had a UTI?”
Um.. No. I was in there because of my stomach.
He told a personal story of how he had been ill in years past. His wife wanted him to go to the ER. He refused to go just to have a Dr tell him “Nothing is wrong. Go home.” On the third day he went. Turns out he had a UTI that had developed into sepsis which kept in the hospital for a week.
That explained the “wacky questions.” He said now he always checks his patients with stomach problems for a UTI.
After they tested in the lab at Urgent Care he determined I did not have a UTI.
See? I thought? Pointless.
Then he said he felt there was something “culturing” in my urine. (Is that a word?)
He wanted to send it to an outside lab and have additional testing done.
He also sent me home with a basic antibiotic and gave me a shot for my stomach issues.
So I went home and waited.
Saltines here we come.
The next day Jim picked up two much stronger antibiotics because it was determined I was fighting not one…not two… not three…but four different bacteria in my system.
So I spent the next 10+ days on antibiotics, dealing with their side effects. We all have experienced side effects that are worse than the cure.
I thought when I took the final pills I was done. Better days were on their way!
Again…life.
Nope. I was extremely sick for two days. Then I became more and more tired. I slept through an entire weekend.
What did that mean for my future? My plans?
Do I hear faint laughter over the Internet?
Can you all relate in some way to what was happening?
I started off the new year with grand and glorious plans. Instead I spent over three weeks in bed, sick as the proverbial dog.
In reflection, I must give credit to God.
He works in mysterious ways.
If I had been able to see my regular doctor, I would simply have been treated for my stomach issues.
I probably would have been typing this from the hospital with sepsis.
I mean, four different bacteria?
If I hadn’t been forced to go to urgent care, on that particular day, where that particular doctor was working that particular shift, no UTI testing would have been done. I would not have known until it was too late about the four bacteria in my body.
Coincidence?
Friends, I don’t believe in coincidence.
Everything happens for a reason, in the hands of a loving God Who knows the future and what is best.
So, yes, life happens.
Inconsistencies occur.
They are only inconsistencies from our perspective.
The God Who created the universe and created us…created me…knows all.
And Praise Him because He does!