Just Swell

I went in today for my first post-op check-up and bandage change. The nurse unwrapped my foot and cleaned the sewed-up incision. (Oh, I should have counted the stitches! There were more than I expected.)

When my doctor came in, she took one look and said, "Oh dear, you're a sweller. That must be really painful. I wish we could use the Lidoderm patches on you--that would really help the pain." [I have reactions to Lidocaine.]

Then she looked intently into my eyes and said, "How do you feel? You don't look like you're doing so well."

And then I cried. Just a little bit.

It took me completely by surprise.

She said kindly, "Some people just swell more than others, and in my experience, you're in about the top 5%. You really are dealing with a lot of pain here, and there are psychological issues as well when you're so helpless and unable to take care of yourself or your family like you want to. You're disabled, really.

But hang in there for a few more days. You're going to feel a lot better when that swelling comes down."


Thank you, Lord, for my skilled, caring, sympathetic doctor.
Thank you for my father-in-law who drove me to her office and to Walgreen's afterward for more Motrin.
Thank you for my kids who are functioning as my nurses, cooks, babysitters and go-fers without complaining and with great sympathy and kindness to me.
Thank you for my husband, who is doing all he can to serve, comfort and encourage me.
Thank you for my family and friends, in real life and through the internet, who have comforted and prayed for me.
Thank you for this little lesson in suffering, Lord. May you use it to soften me. Fill me with compassion for others who suffer far more than I do.


Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. (2 Cor. 3-4)