Disguised blessings...................................

Almost never would any of us consider having a heart attack as being a blessing, but consider this:

Last May, my sister had a mild heart attack. Except for cleaning up her diet, beginning an exercise program, and having to take a bunch of new medication, her life was not effected by this seemingly singular event.

Fast forward to Earlier this year...The medication she was taking to keep her blood healthfully thin was also causing her to have constant "womanly" bleeding. She finally got fed up enough with this unpleasant constant in her life to insist that her doctor do something about it (her suggestion was to get her off the ____ medication). Of course, being the good doctor that he is, he instead ordered a bunch of tests. It was at this point that it was discovered that the blood was coming from the bladder and not the uterus. (And to all you (guys) out there that might wonder while she didn't notice exactly where the blood was coming from I am only going to say check out an anatomy book.)

This was the point in time that the tumor in her bladder was discovered. When the tumor was removed, it was determined that it had invaded the wall of the bladder and the greatest chance of erasing the cancer from her body was to remove the bladder before any of the microscopic cells invaded other parts of the body. Not an easy choice, but a choice that embraced life. Maybe not an easy, comfortable life, but who had promised that life would always be easy?

So the bladder came out, and the _____ urine collection bags keep coming off. Apparently there is a big learning curve involved in the use of these things, but in the scheme of things this is a mild irritant as compared to what might have been.

You see, the official word came down yesterday. No matter what rigorous testing the sample slices of nearby tissues were exposed to NOT ONE SPEC OF CANCER WAS DISCOVERED! The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The The perfect punch line to a great joke. The light at the end of the tunnel. The silver lining in the heart attack cloud. Praise God, and thank all of you for your heartfelt prayers.

And the next time you find yourself crying over spilt milk, or wondering why the bad things always happen to you, ask yourself if it might not be a blessing in disguise that you can use as a learning/growth experience that just might make your life better in the end, or extend the end of your life for the better.