Health Talk

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Permalink Reply by Kristy Simons on March 2, 2009 at 3:39pm

Dear Hazel, I am not chronically ill, but it is interesting that you brought this topic up. I just recently was as sick as I have ever been. A two week bout with the flu. I discovered I was a really bad at being sick! I had to recognize how much I took for granted my health...even prideful about it, like I had something to do with it...not true, I am not super human, somehow less prone to sickness than others...God simply hasn't allowed this kind of trial in my life. It was a real wake up call and I was left admiring anyone who handles chronic illness with any grace at all. I would love to dialogue on this topic...I understand that without being chronically ill it may be hard for me to completely get it...but I think it is important for you to remain engaged in the community at large. I have a great friend in Texas who leads a group for the chronically ill, she has MS and Chrone's disease, she would be a great person to have an e-mail relationship with. If your interested I'll give you her e-mail. We need to meet!

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Permalink Reply by Hazel Wesson-Peterson on March 2, 2009 at 5:12pm

Kristy Simons said:

Dear Hazel, I am not chronically ill, but it is interesting that you brought this topic up. I just recently was as sick as I have ever been. A two week bout with the flu. I discovered I was a really bad at being sick! I had to recognize how much I took for granted my health...even prideful about it, like I had something to do with it...not true, I am not super human, somehow less prone to sickness than others...God simply hasn't allowed this kind of trial in my life. It was a real wake up call and I was left admiring anyone who handles chronic illness with any grace at all. I would love to dialogue on this topic...I understand that without being chronically ill it may be hard for me to completely get it...but I think it is important for you to remain engaged in the community at large. I have a great friend in Texas who leads a group for the chronically ill, she has MS and Chrone's disease, she would be a great person to have an e-mail relationship with. If your interested I'll give you her e-mail. We need to meet!

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Permalink Reply by Hazel Wesson-Peterson on March 2, 2009 at 5:16pm

I'd like to meet as well. I've had R.A. since my mid-twenties and, as of late, it has been a real struggle. My hubby and I actually own 3 businesses and I've had to slow WAY down. I've been going to National Jewish to the Rheumatological clinic. It's a fascinating place and I've gotten more answers in the short time I've been going there than I've gotten EVER in the past 20 something years. I'm a retired nurse, so, sometimes I think docs don't dialogue with me as much for whatever reason.

God is faithful and I know he will never fail me. I've held on to that for a very long time.

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Permalink Reply by Teri Purcell on March 3, 2009 at 10:36am

Hazel:

I also suffer from chronic illness (fibromyalgia and moderate-severe asthma). I know what it's like to want to do things but be unable to do them. It really bothers me that I can't do active things with my children like I would like to do. Sometimes the basics of day-to-day living are a struggle. I don't understand why God chooses to let me be sick, and I probably never will understand it. I just need to accept it and move on.

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Permalink Reply by Michelle G on March 4, 2009 at 10:02am

Hi Hazel,

I had one of those externally invisible problems too. I suffered a brain injury in Jan 05. From the outside everything looks normal. On the inside it is not - just ask anyone who has to live with me.

I too had people try to help and say well I don't like balancing my checkbook either, or I could never do this, that or the other either, so don't feel bad. I know people are trying to help. However, what they end up doing unintentionally is minimizing your loss. I learned to respond by learning something about the person and trying to relate to them in a manner they could understand.

My next door neighbor at the time was one would would say things like the above. She loved horses and owned several. So I told her, "Just imagine waking up one day and not knowing how to ride a horse, groom a horse, feed a horse, etc., but still having the knowledge that horses are your main hobby and that you love them and that you should know everything about them." Somehow this helps others put things into perspective.

At that time I was still learning how to get dressed in the right order - LOL! Thankfully much has improved since the early days. Any believer who endures these types of things asks God why. I believe it is only human nature. But I also believe in Gods infinite wisdom - all things work together for God's good, and that He has a purpose for it, even if I never understand that purpose in my lifetime.

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Permalink Reply by Hazel Wesson-Peterson on March 4, 2009 at 10:45am

Michelle Gielas said:

Hi Hazel,

I had one of those externally invisible problems too. I suffered a brain injury in Jan 05. From the outside everything looks normal. On the inside it is not - just ask anyone who has to live with me.

I too had people try to help and say well I don't like balancing my checkbook either, or I could never do this, that or the other either, so don't feel bad. I know people are trying to help. However, what they end up doing unintentionally is minimizing your loss. I learned to respond by learning something about the person and trying to relate to them in a manner they could understand.

My next door neighbor at the time was one would would say things like the above. She loved horses and owned several. So I told her, "Just imagine waking up one day and not knowing how to ride a horse, groom a horse, feed a horse, etc., but still having the knowledge that horses are your main hobby and that you love them and that you should know everything about them." Somehow this helps others put things into perspective.

At that time I was still learning how to get dressed in the right order - LOL! Thankfully much has improved since the early days. Any believer who endures these types of things asks God why. I believe it is only human nature. But I also believe in Gods infinite wisdom - all things work together for God's good, and that He has a purpose for it, even if I never understand that purpose in my lifetime.

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Permalink Reply by Hazel Wesson-Peterson on March 4, 2009 at 10:47am

You know, I can honesty say I have never asked God "why". What I have asked is "ok, God...please just let me get up to go to the bathroom", or "Lord, I know this is nothing in comparison to what you lived through and died for on the cross, so let me just buck up and get going".

I guess I've just gotten used to it as a part of my life. I'm 52-years-old and I've been sick since I was 27....so....there you go. Almost half my life so far. But the God we serve promises us a perfect body in heaven. Keep that in the forefront of your thoughts.

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Permalink Reply by Michelle G on March 6, 2009 at 3:14pm

Hazel Wesson-Peterson said:

You know, I can honesty say I have never asked God "why". What I have asked is "ok, God...please just let me get up to go to the bathroom", or "Lord, I know this is nothing in comparison to what you lived through and died for on the cross, so let me just buck up and get going".

I guess I've just gotten used to it as a part of my life. I'm 52-years-old and I've been sick since I was 27....so....there you go. Almost half my life so far. But the God we serve promises us a perfect body in heaven. Keep that in the forefront of your thoughts.

It is very surprising to me that you haven't asked why. (It certainly isn't a requirement!) But, I don't feel guilty either for asking, and I don't think anyone else should either. I think it is part of the grieving process before we get to the acceptance stage. I don't doubt that God has used the "new me" with all my quirks and foibles to bring others to the Lord or closer to the Lord because I have witnessed it. We are all broken vessels in God's eyes and thankfully he does use us.

But it wasn't an easy journey for me (probably over a year) from my accident where I had to learn to accept the new me as I was, take any improvement as a gift, and go on from where I was knowing that I was not the same person as I was before.

This whole experience has been a faith builder for me because my life is literally out of my control. It has actually made faith easier for me in some ways. As my pastor said to me at the time, "This situation didn't surprise God." And when taken into perspective, it reminded me that I am in God's hands. I don't always understand the whys of how I get from point A to point B - but God hasn't failed me yet. He is true to Word. Matt 5 vs. 16-24 has really been a blessing. After the accident I wanted to memorize scripture. I have found however that I am incapable of memorization, and also incapable of remembering that I was trying to memorize something. So I continue and work with what I have got rather than what I had.

The more control we have over our bodies and our life in general the easier it is to get complacent, get proud, not have our eyes staid on God as our sufficiency. It is easy to say look what I have done rather than look how God has let me use the talents and abilities that he gave me for good.

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Permalink Reply by Hazel Wesson-Peterson on March 6, 2009 at 5:56pm

Michelle Gielas said:

Hazel Wesson-Peterson said:

You know, I can honesty say I have never asked God "why". What I have asked is "ok, God...please just let me get up to go to the bathroom", or "Lord, I know this is nothing in comparison to what you lived through and died for on the cross, so let me just buck up and get going".

I guess I've just gotten used to it as a part of my life. I'm 52-years-old and I've been sick since I was 27....so....there you go. Almost half my life so far. But the God we serve promises us a perfect body in heaven. Keep that in the forefront of your thoughts.

It is very surprising to me that you haven't asked why. (It certainly isn't a requirement!) But, I don't feel guilty either for asking, and I don't think anyone else should either. I think it is part of the grieving process before we get to the acceptance stage. I don't doubt that God has used the "new me" with all my quirks and foibles to bring others to the Lord or closer to the Lord because I have witnessed it. We are all broken vessels in God's eyes and thankfully he does use us.

But it wasn't an easy journey for me (probably over a year) from my accident where I had to learn to accept the new me as I was, take any improvement as a gift, and go on from where I was knowing that I was not the same person as I was before.

This whole experience has been a faith builder for me because my life is literally out of my control. It has actually made faith easier for me in some ways. As my pastor said to me at the time, "This situation didn't surprise God." And when taken into perspective, it reminded me that I am in God's hands. I don't always understand the whys of how I get from point A to point B - but God hasn't failed me yet. He is true to Word. Matt 5 vs. 16-24 has really been a blessing. After the accident I wanted to memorize scripture. I have found however that I am incapable of memorization, and also incapable of remembering that I was trying to memorize something. So I continue and work with what I have got rather than what I had.

The more control we have over our bodies and our life in general the easier it is to get complacent, get proud, not have our eyes staid on God as our sufficiency. It is easy to say look what I have done rather than look how God has let me use the talents and abilities that he gave me for good.

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Permalink Reply by Hazel Wesson-Peterson on March 6, 2009 at 6:05pm

When I said I never asked why it wasn't to sound haughty or proud, it was simply because I've always just trusted God with a childlike faith. I just never questioned....period. Not because I consider my super spiritual, because I don't. I just have always believed God would take care of me no matter what. I have been angry...not because I'm sick, but because of some of the limitations. What is natural for me may not be natural for someone else. There's a good read that Philip Yancy wrote back in the late 70s called Where is God When It Hurts. I read that and everything just seemed to make sense and gave perspective to health issues in a way I had never thought about it. I guess it is difficult for others to understand how someone could never question God. When my husband died, I didn't question...I mourned...I grieved...but still I trusted. But I never would condemn or speak ill of someone who does question. It's just part of our human experience. And since God made us, He understands that.

I've been sick for a long time and unless God chooses to heal me this side of heaven, or the rapture comes, or some miracle cure comes along, I have accepted the idea of wheelchairs, limitations, ill health, etc., etc., etc. I'm not faithless, just realistic...and I trust God to do whatever He chooses with me.

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Permalink Reply by Michelle G on March 6, 2009 at 7:59pm

I didn't mean for it to sound as though I felt you were proud for not - questioning God about your medical condition. But it really didn't even dawn on me that anyone wouldn't question. I grew up in a church that Grace was taught but not lived. So from my upbringing one could spend a lot of time feeling guilty for questioning God. To me that is not living Grace because it is not accepting God's forgiveness and realizing that no matter how good we are - our works aren't the deciding factor between heaven and hell.

From another perspective is is kind of funny that I did question God considering there are so many many things that others get all worked up about in religion, that I don't have any problem saying, "I'm not worried about that, God said XYZ, so be it." But my accident I guess humbled me quite a lot. And it was very difficult going from where I was one day to somebody totally different overnight.

As to my last paragraph, I feel that I was complacent in my achievements before my injury. I wasn't a braggart, but I was smart and had accomplished a lot. Sometimes those accomplishments were to the detriment of my family (working long hours) or my spiritual life (not giving enough of my time to God.) And I don't think that I consciously or subconsciously gave enough credit to God as I should. So there have been many spiritual lessons for me personally that have come out of this whole situation.

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Permalink Reply by Hazel Wesson-Peterson on March 9, 2009 at 9:25am

No..I didn't think you were being rude or anything. But I know what you mean about being accomplished, etc. I was a concert pianist before all this happened. I was married to a pastor of a Southern Baptist church, working in music ministry, and them WHAM! I knit like a fiend, making prayer shawls, or blankets for people or this or that, just to keep my fingers moving. But the piano? I just can't do it so much anymore. I have all this glorious music in my head and my fingers don't cooperate. Thank goodness I can sing...otherwise, I'd probably go crazy not having an outlet to get all that music out.

Anyway...I understand about head injuries. My husband, Don, was in a very serious accident when he was 19 years old. His girlfriend was killed instantly, but he was spared. However, he has a brain injury as well. His short term memory bank is just about nonexistent. I know it is frustrating for him most days, but he does very well. Most people probably would just think he is forgetful. But God is so good and so gracious. He gave me this wonderful man to help me and me to help him in the 2nd half of our lives. I just don't have anything to complain about.

Tomorrow I go to National Jewish Medical again for more testing. This disease has left me with lung disease and asthma, plus something wrong with my vocal cords. I'm so hoarse most of the time. You know, I've been blessed with amazing physicians at Nat'l Jewish...they are at the forefront of research and testing for all the things that matter medically. I am so blessed!

My husband is nudging me to write a book. My life has been the stuff that "Lifetime for Women" is all about. But the ending is written yet for us. Our ending is with the Father of Light, the Healer of the Nations, Jehovah Jirah, our Provider, the GREAT PHYSICIAN!

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