I went to Emory one day last month to get platelets, and instead they put me in the hospital. I argued with Celia, the nurse practitioner, and convinced her I didn\u2019t need to be in the hospital\u2026 but she said she needed to talk to Dr. Lonial. He overruled us. \u201cGo talk to Charise,\u201d I pleaded, \u201cCharise always sides with me.\u201d Charise is Dr. Lonial\u2019s assistant and a great friend.<\/p>\n
Since December 18, I\u2019ve had several occasions of chills and fevers. They always last five or six hours, then my blood counts crash, then I\u2019ll get platelets and\/or blood at the clinic, then I\u2019ll be fine for a few days. Celia appealed to Charise, but she agreed with Dr. Lonial. I was not happy. Daniel, one of my favorite nurses, called the Tower and confirmed I would be in room 903 with a spectacular view of the Atlanta skyline. No view would change my attitude.<\/p>\n
Daniel arranged for two young nurses to escort Susan and me from the clinic to the hospital. \u201cMr. Davis!\u201d one of the young ladies exclaimed, \u201cThe last time we met was another time you had to go to the hospital!\u201d Both nurses were kind and cheerful\u2026 but I was not.<\/p>\n
A nurse and a Physician\u2019s Assistant welcomed us to my room with genuine care and professional courtesy. \u201cI don\u2019t need to be here,\u201d I told them. \u201cWhen I have the chills and fevers like I did last night, they always go away for several days\u2026 I\u2019m fine.\u201d \u201cWell Mr. Davis, we understand how you feel, but we must all follow your doctor\u2019s orders. In a little while, someone will take you downstairs to get a CT Scan then we need to run several blood tests. Your doctors want to find the root cause of these persistent flare-ups.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shortly after admission, a woman about my age named Beverly, a native of Jamaica, introduced herself and started giving orders. When I told her I didn\u2019t want to wear her standard hospital socks and I didn\u2019t want to clean my arms, legs, and torso with antiseptic wipes that make you sticky, Beverly responded forcefully with her Jamaican accent: \u201cWhat do you do?\u201d \u201cI\u2019m a dean of students in a middle school,\u201d I answered. \u201cWhat? I\u2019m going to tell your students that their dean is uncooperative and disobedient!\u201d I smiled, cracked a joke, and started obeying the lady.<\/p>\n
I was stuck. Susan drove home to retrieve some bed clothes and my toothbrush while I submitted to the tests and scans and Beverly\u2019s orders. Susan returned with the stuff; I told her I was fine and that she needed to go home and get some rest. The night nurse was named Stephanie. She was young, full of energy, always smiling, and difficult to give a hard time. \u201cIs that Jesus?\u201d she asked, pointing to a picture on my table. \u201cYes,\u201d I answered. \u201cI love it! I mean\u2026 I love Him!\u201d She made sure I was comfortable and told me \u201cGood night.\u201d<\/p>\n
God always talks to me in the hospital, but this night I simply fell asleep with dreams of returning home the next morning. At 11:30, the chills began and I called Stephanie for a warm blanket. Four or five blankets later, the chills ceased and the fevers began. I called Stephanie and she brought some meds. In the wee hours of the morning, I heard God\u2019s comforting voice\u2026 only one sentence: \u201cI have you here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next morning, I felt like I had been run over by a truck. The day nurse was named Celeste and she reminded me of our daughter Kinsey. She took care of every need with gentleness and compassion. Dr. Kauffman visited late in the morning and shared that I needed to stay at least another night. The CT Scan revealed I had pneumonia and they wanted to determine the proper antibiotic to combat it. I did not argue. Jewel and Stacey and Maria and the wonderful meal lady and many others made my unplanned hospitalization as pleasant as it could be. Susan of course loves me most and constantly reminded me of God\u2019s providence.<\/p>\n
I am re-learning an important truth regarding the One who \u2018holds all things together.\u2019 Jesus could have healed me December 18 or before. But Jesus likes to invite others whom He loves to participate in His activity. Just like He allows farmers to grow the food that we thank Him for and parents to raise the future citizens of nations, He permitted all of the people at Emory that I mentioned (and scores more that I did not) to take care of one of His children who argues too much and thinks he has a clue when he really has none. Instead of giving me my way, He surrounded me with the best of helpers to make things better. \u201cThank you, Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! \u2018Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?\u2019 \u2018Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?\u2019 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever!\u201d Romans 11:33-36<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I went to Emory one day last month to get platelets, and instead they put me in the hospital. I argued with Celia, the nurse practitioner, and convinced her I didn\u2019t need to be in the hospital\u2026 but she said she needed to talk to Dr. Lonial. He overruled us. \u201cGo talk to Charise,\u201d I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3007"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3010,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3007\/revisions\/3010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}