And two shall become one (vertebra, I mean)

Most weeks will find Pastor Kent or I visiting patients in one or more of the area hospitals.  When Pastor Kent had his knee surgery last winter I told him that it is good for a pastor be a hospital patient every now and then so that we get a taste of the anxiety, hope, and fear that surround such stays.

I guess I’ll have to take my own advice in a couple of weeks.  For twenty years I’ve been one of those people who complain to their spouses about having a sore back.  When the ache turns into significant pain even a man of stubborn Norwegian/German stock asks his doctor for help.  Several xrays, one MRI, and  a couple of specialists later I learned that many years ago I broke my back without knowing it.  However, the good news is that it can be fixed.  So on October 3 I’ll be having what my surgeon calls an “aggressive surgery” to fuse the troublesome bone to its neighbor.  When the procedures are all done I’ll have a piece of donated cadaver bone, several screws, and a rod in my back.  If all goes well I’ll be back to work in about four weeks and fully healed in six to nine months.

I ask for your prayers for my family and I as we go through this time of surgery and recovery.  The staff at church and leadership of the congregation has been very helpful as I’ve been making plans to be gone for a few weeks.  Thank you to you all.