We just returned home after a family emergency brought us out of state for a while and I realized that my faith may not be as strong as the faith of others might be.
Our son suffered a seizure-like episode caused by a cardiac arrhythmia known as Brugada Syndrome. Yeah, don't feel bad if you haven't heard of it, neither did we. In fact, many of the doctors and nurses that treated our son knew a lot about it either. We had multiple medical personnel tell us, "we've heard about it but I don't know a lot about it so I had to do some research prior to seeing him." Well, as you can imagine, we had mixed feelings about that response. On the negative side, we asked "are these people qualified to look after our son?" On the positive side however, at least they will be well versed and the information will be fresh in their mind.
Before we get into the crux of the care, I want to give you a bit of background on the situation.
Over the past few months, Jordan has had a series of episodes that he, and quite frankly all of us, wrote off as "panic attacks". His heart would race, he would get light headed and feel faint. a few weeks ago at work, he passed out, fell and dislocated his shoulder. He has no memory of fainting, falling, or injuring himself which in and of itself was a scary situation. He was brought into the ER and was promptly told that he just fainted and had a massive muscle strain and not a dislocated shoulder and was sent home. That there was some great medicining let me tell you what. Needless to say, after 38 hours of suffering with a dislocated shoulder, he went back into a different ER (smart thinking) and they sent him to an orthopedic clinic to set his shoulder. Mind you, no scans were done even after the medical team were told about the blacking out and fall causing the injury. Over the next couple of weeks the panic attacks increased in frequency, no doubt in all of our minds, due to the trauma that he recently experienced. Last week while driving home from work on the freeway, he had another "episode" in which he passed out while driving, sending his car into the cement barrier before coming to rest on the left shoulder of the highway. Thankfully his wife Maddy and him share location on their phones so when he didn't come home at the expected time, she went out on the hunt for him. She found him on the side of the freeway vomiting to no end and called us, her father (who is a BRILLIANT MD) and then 911. He was rushed to the ER (a different one from the previous two "stellar" ERs) where he promptly had another seizure-like episode. After a battery of tests, consulting, research, a ton of prayer, and an operation to install an ICD (Implantable Cardio Defibrillator) he is on the mend. Albeit sore, he is feeling better and in good spirits.
Here is where my faith comes into this situation. I know that God has a way of using situations and people in certain ways that may seem like coincidences or luck or chance or whatever adage a person may want to assign, but when looking at it in its entirety, it is quite amazing and bolsters my faith in the one True King. "How?" you may say? Well I'm glad you asked.
You would think that all these things that occurred, it should have brought us to a point where a competent medical analysis would have been warranted. Sometimes, however, we as humans tend to ignore what is best for us, so God has to keep "pushing us" in a direction that we might otherwise resist.
Us- "Just panic attacks, it will pass". God - "You should go to a Dr and get checked"
Us - "I just fainted and hurt my shoulder" - God - "You should REALLY get this checked"
Us - "I'm not feeling well, but should be ok" - God -"Okay, they're still not getting it, let's get you in to see a Dr. ASAP"
(Full transparency - that was a scenario in my mind not based on an actual conversation)
Let's examine quickly all of the things that could have gone wrong but didn't:
With Brugada Syndrome, if an episode occurs while sleeping, chances are, you don't wake up, you simply die in your sleep- (that comes from multiple medical personnel) That didn't happen
The dislocated shoulder incident without any scans could have led to an even worse episode causing tremendous harm - That didn't happen
The incident on the freeway could have been catastrophic but simply ended up with a flat tire and marks on the cement barricade and relatively little damage to the car - Now he spent over an hour on the side of the road without anyone stopping - (that shows the depravity of our society but that is a subject for another day) No catastrophic accident
The ER doctor (not a cardiologist mind you) diagnosed Jordan with a condition that the majority of medical personnel have only heard of and not actually witnessed. His diagnosis triggered a battery of tests that pushed this "incident" into high gear and got the attention of renowned doctors to get on Jordan's case. Was his initial thought of Brugada Syndrome just a lucky guess - I think not
My faith tells me that God has a way to put the right people in the right position at the right time. I know without a doubt that God has made it possible for our son to see another day, to be there for his loving wife (and hero for finding him on a freeway), for him to continue his journey to the Kingdom and be a witness for others. As imagined, there were a lot of emotions, a lot of prayers, a few songs by Adelaide played, as I proudly (yeah, I know... "sinner) wore my Chaotic Resemblance hoodie that states "Jesus is King" for the entire hospital to see, but most importantly, a call to the Kingdom that was answered!
Another warrior is ready for battle and the enemy is running scared.
For the people that will say this was just a lucky string of circumstances, coincidences, or a fortunate happenstance, and you believe that this situation was simply a serendipitous occurrence and not an intervention of Divine Providence, then Godspeed, your faith is bigger than mine.
As for me and mine, we will continue to put our faith in something real, tangible, and eternal, and that is the ONE TRUE KING -
God is Great - ALWAYS!