One year down and the shoulder is healed

Back in April 2008, I had a shoulder replacement of my right side. This was the second such time for this type of procedure, the first taking place on my left in the summer of 1997. I was very nervous before this surgery because I worried that, perhaps like the one before, I would be left with difficulty reaching behind my head. You wouldn't believe how precious that motion is until you don't have it. For almost a year, I could not reach behind my head with either arm. My left side never healed correctly an the right side was so far damaged the doctor said it was not only bone-on-bone but the joint nearly wore through the socket completely. No wonder it hurt. So you can understand my thoughts of it healing wrong. Once the surgeon got in there, he said it was so worn, he could only perform a hemi-replacement, which is like having it half replaced. You see, for me, the plastic cup the new metal joint would normally seat could not be affixed properly.

Once I awoke from surgery, with my brother Jeff at mt side, I asked one question.

"Did they do the whole thing?"

"The doctor did a hemi," the nearby nurse said after looking it up in her chart.

I began to sob wildly. Devastation set in. I thought having a hemi would mean I'd never be able to reach behind my head again. But hat night, while reading, the Lord led me to John 11, the story of the death of Lazarus. Though Jesus arrived to give Lazarus his healing, the bible tells us He "groaned" inside Himself. Why? The crowd, including Mary and Martha, failed to show their faith in Him. In effect, He was saying we must believe on Him no matter if He is there in person or just there in our thoughts.

That is what we must always remember: Jesus is there for us through every bad thing and all we must do is call on Him. When we do, He shows up. I didn't do that for my shoulder, but Jesus showed up anyway and a year later, my fake shoulder works just as good as the original. By the way, my surgeon's name? Dr. Lazarus. No lie.