What going to the doctor could mean....

I was thinking about when I say "oh I'm going to the doctor". I realized that statement can mean so many different things for me. When I say that people probably just think about a check up that they would go to.

I have been referred to specialists who have referred me to more specialists and on and on.

So going to the doctor could mean...

...going to Nevada to my Lyme Doctor for weeks at a time

...going to a pain management team at Children's Hospital for body pain from Lyme

...going to a cardiologist for an EKG and Echo tests

...a trip to one of the many hospitals I go to for blood work

...going to my primary care doctor for more blood work or more tests

...going to one of my doctors in Oklahoma but a couple hours away for some different IV treatments

...going to anyone of these doctors and more to update them on my current status and talk about medicines and side effects (these appointments are usually 2 or 3 times a week with different doctors)

...we have telephone appointments with many doctors

Usually both my parents go to all of my appointments since every appointment has to do with critical subjects. Nothing is taken lightly.

Sometimes these appointments are an hour or so. But some are sooo long. We have spent from 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM with no breaks talking to my Seminole doctor. Then I did an IV after that.

There is no such thing as a quick doctor's appointment.

Yes I hate going to appointments. There are too many. But since I go to these doctors so often, they have become friends. (Friends as in I feel at home when I'm there. Feeling at home meaning I know what the routine is and I'm comfortable with everyone there)

And when I get referred to new doctors I am not happy. It means explaining everything from the beginning. Starting with my health as a child. So those appointments are for sure going to be a few hours because just us explaining everything will take over an hour.

Obviously there are lots of appointments that do not go well. There are test results that don't come back good or doctors not knowing what to do. There have been many explanations that are no where to be found. The doctors can't find what is causing problems. But that gives us a chance to tell my doctors the story of Christ. Medically my case is so challenging. So challenging that I get rejected by doctors or we're told that there is no way to fix this. But Christ has promised hope of something better. Our physical bodies are going to break down and eventually die. That is known. But we are given eternal life. One day there will be no sickness, loss, grieving, worry, hate. So until then we want to tell everyone about the hope that we have already taken part in.

How do we spread this wonderful news? By showing love to everyone. If we don't show love to people and think that we can spread the news of Christ, then we are wrong. How could we not love when we are teaching about the one who gave us eternal love? We don't want to be hypocrites. Just genuinely loving others is a way to start. People will see something different about us and will ask what it is. Then we can tell them more about the hope and promises that God gives us.

^"1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13

So the way we talk to my doctors is a chance to tell them about Christ. We would have never gotten this chance if I had never gotten sick. God works in amazing ways.

"And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father." Colossians 3:17

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.¹⁷For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18