M-M-M-My Schwannoma!

They removed my schwannoma because it was getting on my nerves!

What is a schwannoma? In short it is a tumor/outgrowth on a nerve.
I found out about three months ago that I had some mass growing in me about the size of a ping-pong ball. The doctors all agreed it needed to be removed. They could not tell from the MRI and ultra-sounds if it was attached to anything important and at the time they were unsure as to what it was exactly.
So, feeling completely fine, I checked into the hospital last week and had surgery to remove this “ping-pong” sized enigma.
Abdominal surgery, even laparoscopic, has a way of making a healthy person feel sick. After one night in the hospital they told me the ping-pong was removed, everything looks great and the next day I could go *home.
Six days later at my check up the Doctor says, “So the punch line is this…you had a schwannoma and it was resting on a nerve. Do you feel any different with it gone?”
Actually, I did feel different. I felt like someone ran over me with a truck, like I could sleep for a week and when I walked I looked like my grandmother in her 90’s.
However this is not what I told the Doctor. I just told him my left knee (that has bothered me for years) when I sit for long periods didn’t hurt anymore. Could it have been a pinched nerve that now was no longer pinched?
He just raised an eyebrow and said, “Sure, I’ll take credit for that!”

So my schwannoma is gone.
( I kinda like saying that word… SCHWANNOMA!)
Strangely enough my knee which is no where near my abdomen :) …. feels better and I am in recovery from the surgery.
God is good.
You see, I didn’t even know there was anything wrong but the Lord knew and through a series of seemingly random events he made it clear to me and to the physicians. Those who knew how to help me, who were trained for this kind of work did what they had to do to remove it. As a result, I feel pain for awhile because of the surgery but in the long run I am healthier.

What’s getting on your nerves? Is it affecting your walk with God?

How often do we have something resting on our “last nerve” slowly growing with in us and we don’t realize how it is affecting our walk with the Lord, our relationship with others.

The removal process can be painful but the end results are health for the whole body.

Hebrews 12:10-13
“Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.”

* Thank you to my parents for coming to stay with us, helping with the house and the kids!