The God-given Gifts We Often Take for Granted - LPNI
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The God-given Gifts We Often Take for Granted
LPNI Health Topic – July 2021
How many of you wake up each morning and seriously wonder if you can see, hear, taste, smell, swallow, touch, talk, walk, and then go on about your day? Chances are not many and, furthermore, not very often. I have just had several of these experiences, and it has been life-changing and very eye-opening. Oh the gifts of our God-given senses and abilities that we take for granted!
After two days of a sore throat, a visit to my primary care physician (with whom I have a nearly 30-year history), steroids and antibiotics, I lost my voice. I mean seriously no intelligible sound came out. What was this all about?!? Since I have just moved into a new home and live alone, I had plenty of things to do that didn’t require me to talk to anyone, but setting-up services did require a voice. Thankfully I have wonderful, helpful friends who came to my aid, who could make phone calls and get services started.
I contacted my primary care physician after several days of no improvement, and he made an appointment for me with an Ear, Nose and Throat physician. I saw her in a couple days, and she gave me higher doses of medications I was already taking and performed a visual scope of my throat and vocal cords. The area was red and swollen. Swallowing was difficult and cords were unable to vibrate to produce sound. There was also a small white lesion at the top of the vocal cords and more on one vocal cord than the other. She told me several times that the lesion did not look cancerous. Whew, that was a relief! After a couple more weeks of waking up, trying to talk to no avail, undergoing more medications, tests, scopes, CT scan, hearing test, etc., the ENT physician said the lesion was enlarging, and it had to come off. Then she listed all the potential side-effects of this type of surgery: broken teeth, tongue injury and soreness, vocal cord damage and a voice afterwards but possibly not my former and usual voice. What were my alternatives?!? I had been able to do my own shopping, settling into my new home, and work in the yard, but not intelligibly talk to anyone. I used gestures and wrote notes. I missed a number of planned events including the very special 29th Annual Concordia Conference for parish nurses, health ministers and health advocates that had been cancelled last year.
The surgery was scheduled for June 3. I am sure I have not prayed for anything as fervently as I had for my doctor and the return of my voice since my son’s military deployments. The surgery was a success, and after a day I did wake up the next morning and did have a voice. It was coarse, raspy, and not recognizable as my old voice, but a voice for which I was very thankful! Praise the Lord! What a gift to have a voice! This is something I had taken for granted and will not take for granted nor abuse in at least the near the future. I have become more thankful for all senses and abilities that I have taken for granted. Thankfully, God provides these miraculous gifts to us without our thanking him on a regular basis. All of us may need to reconsider our God-given gifts and our more regular prayers of thanks for our many God-given gifts.
Jamie Spikes, RN, PhD
St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Parish Nurse
Manhattan, KS, USA
jamiespikes@gmail.com