Not Quite Finished

This past year or two has been an interesting one, or perhaps I should say an informative one, or maybe I could define it as a challenging one. For all of my life, and most of my wife’s, we have been incredibly and blessedly healthy. Considering that we have spent decades of that time living in the bush, and in parts of Africa and the Middle East, in conditions that did not necessarily lean towards a healthy atmosphere, we can iterate that God has been abundantly gracious to the both of us.

Since we came to the States a couple of years ago we have had numerous doctor and hospital visits. Every month there is something on the calendar on our fridge that is reminding one of us that we have an appointment with one medical person or another. Doctors, dentists, surgeons, specialists, etc. Personally I’m so tired of visits to medical folks that I just want to flee the States and go to somewhere that doctors are scarce and sick folks are abundant. And I’ve already written about the scam of the American medical insurance world. There is no need for me to go into that here but I can just say that I understand clearly why people are constantly complaining about medical practices here.

Reflecting back on our time overseas and thinking about the years we lived in the bush – with malaria, guinea worm, river blindness, bilharzia, TB, sleeping sickness, polio, leprosy, and a host of other rare diseases – and God bringing us through without contracting any of these (except for malaria), in places where the nearest doctors were hours away by road or plane. And now in the states where doctors are 3 minutes away we seem to be having one ailment after another. Yes, I understand that we are older now and our bodies are not in the physical condition that they were three or four decades ago, but the constant surfacing of one thing after another is driving us crazy. Shoulder pain, foot pain, back pain, stomach pain, neck pain, knee pain and a plethora of other ailments. Perhaps these things are simply the result of all of those years and God is just “catching us up” to normalcy in the health world. But I would hope not.

During times when we ran clinics in the bush, or lived with civil wars going on around us, we rarely thought about death. Now-a-days I find myself thinking how much nicer it would be in heaven where the Master Physician will take care of any physical issues I have and I will be instantly able to dunk a basketball. That sure beats hobbling around with an ankle that several doctors have said is the worst they have ever seen, and a knee that is constantly not working properly.

We are supremely grateful that the company we retired from has covered us with their health insurance for a year after we retired. That is about to end next month. For the past several months, maybe for the past year, my wife has been trying to figure out the Medicare world and the endless different programs they offer to people of retirement age. It is mind-boggling how many options there are, not to mention the costs involved. We are very close to choosing one of those options and hopefully it will cover the medical costs we have until we go home to be with the Lord.

I hope I don’t sound like I’m complaining (other than about the insurance companies) about our current state of health. We still go to the gym three times a week where I swim a mile or row for three miles. And on the “off days” we ride our bikes around parks that are local. And on some afternoons we take walks in a park with lakes and wildlife surrounding us. So, it’s not like we are invalid or using a walker to get around. It is just the routine of doctors constantly in our lives that is a major change that I’m not enjoying. And, like I said, one day…swimming ten miles…hitting 20 “threes” in a row…
riding my bike for 1000 miles…