#32 A Hit Over the Head

God must have thought I needed a hit over the head. He gave me one. One hour I could hear and the next hour, my right ear couldn’t hear anything.

My first thought was wax. I tend to have lots of ear wax and many years ago I had wax buildup, enough to cause hearing loss. A trip to the  doctor revealed the wax had caused my sudden hearing loss then, so I figured wax must be the problem this time. Surprise. No wax!  My hearing loss had nothing to do with wax. The doctor ordered a steroid and a few days later the hearing returned.

The worrywart part of me asked, “Did my tumor grow?”

Another MRI revealed it hadn’t grown in length but had ballooned out a bit. The doctor who ordered the MRI said, “You need to consider this a wake-up call. I want to schedule surgery.”

No surprise – he’s a surgeon. When I told him, I didn’t want surgery, he didn’t hide his surprise. “Why?”

I told him about my anesthesia problem when I had gall bladder surgery.

“That’s no problem. We can use a different anesthetic.”

God’s ways are strange indeed. Our daughter-in-law’s sister was planning a wedding in Portland, Oregon. And our precious grandson would be the ring bearer. This was a wedding we didn’t want to miss. After prayer, we decided to fly to California, meet with the doctor who had developed cyberknife radiation, and drive up the coast to the wedding in Oregon.

I wanted to get that doctor’s recommendation about treatment; after all, he used both surgery and radiation. Did he think my tumor required treatment? Did he recommend radiation or surgery? If radiation, did he think the cyberknife treatment was for me?

The minute I walked into the huge complex at Stanford University, I heard someone playing a harp. I felt comfortable. Everyone had always told me, “You will know where to have treatment when you feel 100% comfortable with the doctor.” That’s how I felt with this doctor. He had a high hearing preservation rate which was important to me.

My mother and grandmother both had macular degeneration. With their loss of vision, I knew the importance of hearing to them.

We made plans to return after the wedding for the radiation treatment. And that’s what we did. I didn’t second guess my decision on the trip. I knew it was the right decision, because I didn’t second guess it. I didn’t even let it interfere with the joy of the wedding.

*****

Dear God,

Thank you for being with us and bringing us to this hospital and this treatment, with this team of doctors. If we hadn’t gone to the Florida symposium, we would not have learned about this type of treatment. If the wedding weren’t happening, we wouldn’t be in this place at this time.

Your ways are incredible. Thank you. Amen. 

For he orders his angels to protect you wherever you go. Psalm 91:11