November 7, 2020
He Is the God Who Leads Us
Thanks to the Lord! It has been a peaceful week. Water in my lung has gradually decreased, and breathing has gradually returned to normal, with almost no need for the oxygen machine. Yesterday (Friday, the 6th) I went to the hospital in St. Louis for my appointments with the pulmonary specialist. Thank the Lord! The hospital knew that it would take me 2 hours one way driving from Columbia, MO to St. Louis, MO. To save my time traveling back and forth, to the four scheduled meetings they added two more appointments, filling my day with appointments. I left the hospital at 6:30 p.m. and got home at around 9 p.m. Thanks to the Lord that He filled my wife with strength driving and accompanying me the whole day!
In the hospital, I first got a lung X-ray. After an hour of lung testing, I saw a lung specialist. Thank the Lord! Although my lungs still contained a little water, my doctor said I have largely returned to normal and this should not affect the operation. But then he noticed some swelling on my legs. This is a common reaction to chemotherapy, and there was some strange numbing. So the doctor arranged for me to take an ultrasound to see if there were blood clots in the blood vessels on my feet. After the ultrasound, I finally went to the pre-op department. Thank the Lord, although I was more than 2 hours late for this appointment at around 4:30pm, and the process itself would take about two hours, they were willing to accept my original appointment. Thanks be to the Lord, the whole process went smoothly. They carefully explained things I needed to do before the operation. Nearly to the end of this appointment, they told me that they just received the ultrasound report which showed that my left leg had some blood clots and needed to be treated before the surgery. Therefore, I need to contact the doctor on Monday to determine the treatment plan. The doctor will set the operation date after the clot issue has been resolved.
Thanks be to the Lord! Even though troubles lie before us one after another, so the date of the operation cannot be settled, He is the Lord who leads us, His leading is for us to experience more of His grace and to exemplify His mighty power in victorious glory, as Paul said, ” But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” (2 Cor. 2:14). If we have Christ as our Royal Master and follow Him step by step, the path we take—no matter where, no matter under what situation, and no matter when—we can always experience God’s mighty victory and exemplify the full glory of God!