Progress continues on my recovery from Covid-19, and the extended hospital stay. For me, the improvements are small and incremental. If I look back a week or two, I recognize specific improvements. Otherwise, it is just an awareness that recovery is taking place. I’m off oxygen, driving regularly, walking most of the time without a cane. Some of this has been a week or so, the oxygen, just in the last couple of days. If I look back further, I realize I have come a long way from where I was even a couple of months ago, but I rarely consider what all has taken place and how far I’ve come since I was first diagnosed last December.
Two events recently took me back and made me stand in awe at what God has done. Week before last, we dropped off our phone bill through the drive-in window at the local office. The clerk at the window is a long-time friend from back in my days as a photographer. She saw me drive up (I had only been driving again for a few days at that time) and she greeted me with “There’s the miracle man.” It really struck me, and I began to choke up. I had not thought in those terms for a long time. It took me back to the beginning and made me realize how far I’ve come. Then she said, “Look at you driving. Does it feel good to drive again?” Tears came to my eyes as I replied, “It feels good to breathe!”
Yesterday (Sunday the 18th of July) I was putting lead sheets of some songs I had sung back in my 4″ binder, which is nearly full. I was reminded of a couple of songs I had not sung in awhile. Both are by Dennis Jernigan—”Indescribable” and “Days of Awe.” As I sang them both, I felt the message at a more personal level than I ever have before. To recognize the indescribable love and greatness of God and the salvation he has provided me, both from sin and sickness, was almost overwhelming. “Days of Awe” is a song that recognizes what God does, and declares “those are days of mercy, days of grace and awe.” As I started to sing the 2nd verse, I thought about the first line of the verse, and just had to stop and weep. “When I wake from sleep to find another day.” Oh, what a blessing it is to wake from sleep and find another day. I came so close to death, to not having another day, and yet I have not thought of that in awhile. I have come so far from that first week in the hospital when the doctor told Trish he held out no hope that I would survive the week. I find myself truly in awe of what God has done.
I am thankful to be alive. I don’t know fully why God spared me, other than the prayers that were offered on my behalf. If He will use me and work through me to the praise of the glory of His grace, I want to fully cooperate!
For those of you following my progress, I still have some weakness in my left leg and arm and am hoping physical therapy will help overcome that. There is also some numbness in my left hand and leg, and my primary care doctor has ordered an MRI to find out if maybe I had a stroke sometime during my illness. This Wednesday I meet with the heart surgeon regarding the “procedure” to fix my heart and eliminate my a-fib. Hopefully, that meeting will give me a timeline for when the procedure takes place. Other than that, I’m still working on rebuilding my strength. They tell me that takes time, and it seems they are right.
