An Afernoon on Highway 95

11/12/10 

Please pardon my writing if I have omitted a ‘T’… My laptop is falling apart and the T gets stuck. Ugh!

Usually I spend a wee bit of time praying before going out into a day, asking he LORD to lead me to people I can share Him with and to help me be attentive to their needs. I did have a special prayer that I would know more about a pain specialist I saw twice this week. He had some legal trouble in 2005 that made the news and he cooperated with authorities, blew the whistle on a medical fraud ring and recieved immunity. His license to practice was pulled and I just hope he’s an excellent physician now. I’m sure he’s paid that price a million times over. I never know what or whom I shall encounter on my outings but I DO know it’s almost always interesting.Take yesterday for example…

The major road I live near is one long strip of desert highway (95) and there are hundreds of businesses along each side. I have to keep a keen eye out for a place I may want to patronize. It’s hard paying attention as the speed limit is 55 (or something like that) so folks whiz past the dusty red 4 Runner, filled with wagging tails who think and hope to Doggie God that there must be a dog park among the store fronts and parking lots. All eyes are peeled. I look for words like ‘Spa’, ‘Baptist Church’, ‘Laundromat’.  To each his own. 

I had several errands to do and the one little library and post office are just up the road so that one is easy. Side by side. I pop into the library and talk to Avis, the librarian. I met her the previous week and noted that I know one more Avis who was a librarian. How odd is that? Do you know any Avis librarians? Maybe it’s a pattern.

I turned in a few DVDs (you’ve gotta watch ‘The Curious Life of Benjamin Button’ and “Fireproof’ ) and wanted more since the price fits my budget perfectly. I recognize the man standing next to me at the DVD rack as an internist who was at a presentation I attended the previous evening on a Pain Pacemaker. It a unit implanted that can interfere with pain messages going from the spinal cord to the brain. Relief may be in sight.

I introduce myself to both he and his wife. He has a British/Aussie accent so I prod a bit to find out he is actually from San Diego but lived in the UK for awhile and is now laden with the Queen’s English. I have never met anyone who took it up like that. He’s a cheery chap, blond rustled hair, straight and strong posture, outgoing like an Aussie. His wife speaks Arizonian and is a bit plain compared to him. I’m sure she was hovering for a reason. Ha!

He asked what I was doing at the seminar and I told him Dr. Venger had recommended I attend. He quickly commented “He’s brilliant! Truly! Quiet a gifted and intelligent neurosurgeon!”  Really? I asked. I don’t want to be placated. He assured me. Good. Turns out they are people of faith. Curiously, though. As he put it, “LDS, Mormons and born-again Christians.”  Really? We chatted about that for a bit and who Joseph Smith was and who Jesus Christ, the only Savior of our souls is…Interesting people. Warm and kind.

So, off to the Valley View Hospital to talk to the finance department about payment plans since Dr. Venger wants me to have x-rays and MRI… Gotta pay my deductable, then squeeze blood out of the turnip. I had spoken with a receptionist the night before and she referred me to her boss, who referred me to Becky C. I must say it is very humbling to ask for a break but I know hospitals are willing to help out. After discussing the fees with Becky C., I decided to have the MRI off site at a place called “Wide Open Imaging”. For some reason, I can’t recall their name and my first inclination is to call it “Open Casket”.. I crack myself up. I have it written down so I don’t sound stoopid. 

The cost of the MRI at Valley View is $2800 and the cost at Open Casket is $500. Duh. I have to pay 20%. But the point of this is that as we talk, she had the same area of the neck fused by Dr. Venger! C 4 to 7. She said he is a great surgeon and she was very pleased. Had the surgery done in Las Vegas where he had his practice several years ago.  She still has cervical pain and now has problems in her low back, sciatica. I told her about the Pain Pacemaker and she was going to give him a call. Nice how that works. Turns out she is a Believer and attends a little Baptist church just around the corner from the hospital. Bible study on Weds nights. They had a revival and it was a packed house. People need the LORD. We are praying for each other. Sweet. She needs prayer. I could see the pain in her face. She said (like so many others) that pain has affected her marriage as her husband doesn’t understand. Yes, I know. It can be very hard on people closest to us.

As an aside, the night before at the Pain Pacemaker seminar, I purposefully visually checked out the audience. I counted about 45 people, many (if not all) older than I. Some came alone, some with a spouse. One veteran had gotten his leg blown off in Vietnam. I shook his hand warmly and was glad I had worn an American flag shirt in tribute to Veteran’s Day. God love him. Some folks came in bent over their walkers, but most ambulated in. First time I had been in a room full of people with chronic pain. All hoping this works. He’s put in 1500 and very few haven’t had some relief.

Now here’s the funny part…As the presentation came to a close, an elderly man got up and said in a loud voice “Doc, I’ve gotta go! My back is killing me!” Several others chimed in and I had to chuckle given the nature of the audience. They should’ve passed out pain pills with the cookies and soft drinks. “These cookies have Vicodin, macadamia nuts and M & Ms.”  About half of the group hobbled out of the room, the other half wincing, adjusting their bodies, rubbing sore spots to keep listening to what could be a way to reduce our pain challenge area. Two folks gave testimony. One man had his Pacemaker put in way back in 1992 and is still so happy. Another woman test drove the apparatus for 7 days and is awaiting approval for the permanent one.. She couldn’t stop grinning. She’s had pain for two years. Pain can be so challenging to live with.I’ve had it since 1970 in various intensities. It changes lifestyles, relationships, emotions and can certainly deepen our faith, if we let it. Bitter or better. Turns out Dr. Venger put one in Jerry Lewis when Jerry was suicidal. Saved his life, according to Lewis. I checked it out on a Larry King Show replay. This may be just what I am looking for. Hope is on the horizon.

So, back to the people of my Friday ~ I left Becky’s office to check for get x-rays at the hospital and as I was waiting, I spent some time reading the  2 books of the Bible; Ezekial and Hebrews, focusing on how God feels and deals with sin in a nation and individual. I am aware of  the TV in the background and it’s Oprah (naturally) who is interviewing an audience of 200 men who had been molested as children. Breaks my heart…Same thing I am reading about.  Sin. Self. Judgement,. Mercy. The Cross.

My x-rays get snapped and I smiled really pretty for the camera. I am sent out to the waiting room and the constantly on flat screen TV to wait for them to give me a copy. INSIDER is on and they are interviewing Cher. The host is reading down a list of male Hollywood stars to her and she is saying whether or not she had sex with them and some she elaborated on – “Only once.” Or ‘It was really good!”.. I am disgusted and see there are two young children with their mother watching this garbage on TV.. I make a comment about the USA going to down the tubes morally.

Next to me sits a small gray-haired Polish man who encourages me to write to the station. We talk. He was four years old during the war, his mother and he had to hide since they were Jewish. He said he remembers going past an open grave and watching the soldiers open fire on crowd of people who fell into a large pit in the ground. He’s rubbing his sore knee as he speaks of memories 70 plus years ago. His eyes are distant, pained. They visited the site four days later and you could see the ground moving because some people were not dead. He noted with teary eyes that people in this country do not appreciate the freedom and blessings they have. Yes. I agree. We part ways with a long handshake. I’m praying for his heart and knee to heal.

So, what do I know? Looks like Dr.Venger is a good and knowledgeable physician. Pain is pain, anyway you cut it and it affects us deeply. Our country is in need of revival. I have no idea what you think about as you read this but I’m sure the people of your days can be meaningful, if you ask and seek God’s purpose for your encounters.

Well, I’ve gotta head out and get to the Laundromat. See what the day has to offer.

Better get prayed up. Don’t want to miss anything. What will Higway 95 bring us today? Maybe a dog park after all?