I'm Back, Looking Back at a Better Back, and Forward to Blessed Back!

That's a lot of "backs", did the surgery go well?  I have only God to praise that the surgery, which only two years ago I was told would be a disaster if I went through with it, turned out as well as it did.  The very day after surgery, I walked about fifteen yards with a walker, and totally without the nerve pain that has plagued my right leg for the last five plus years.  There was a part of me (my imagination) that wanted to run down the hall crying out, "Thank God!  He is my salvation!".  I guess in some ways we should always feel like that, but when we experience a level of grace of such magnitude, we are once again reminded of all that He does for us.

But wasn't it the surgeon that did the work?  Why must you bring God into this?  It is true that the surgeon that performed my operation was well qualified and experienced, but don't forget that all manner of things could have gone wrong while I was under the knife.  You see, for those of us who are witnesses to the Lord's goodness, we can see the divine intervention that the Hand of God works in our lives; and we have to proclaim that.  


So you're calling this a miracle?  You're going to be 100%?  As for the miracle part, all I can say is that two years ago I was told that I would have to live like I was.  I was told that nothing could be done, and that if I found someone "to cut on" me, it would only make matters worse.  Now that I have had someone cut on me, I'm doing great.  As my doctor put it, my nerve was caught between a hammer and an anvil, and he took away the hammer.  Yes, he took a pretty large chunk of bone off my spine, then used some of that bone, titanium rods and screws to seal the deal.  This morning, I walked 1/2 a mile.  Before the operation, I couldn't think of walking any fraction of a mile.  I'm doing some exercises that before the surgery were impossible for me.  So is this a miracle?  I don't know.  I know that I'm better than I was, better than I hoped to be.  I still have pain, but it is much different than I've had before, and there is less of it.  Maybe we toss around the concept of miracles too easily, or maybe we want them to be more grandiose; I believe that without God's help I wouldn't have gotten this far.  As for whether I'll be 100%, the doctor doesn't think that will be possible, and I don't either.  Although, here again, I leave that up to God to see how far I will go.  I'm looking forward to what this journey leads to next.