March 24, 2023 - The "Bond" in Gilead

     As of this morning I haven’t heard any more from the doctors at Mayo Clinic.  The initial diagnosis of the bony biopsy was that something was abnormal.  The vast majority of the time abnormal is usually not a good thing when it comes to medical issues.  I was told that it might take this week to fully determine just what is going on.
     As soon as I get any more results, I will try to post another blog.
     Abnormal might be the operative word when it comes to my health.   A sarcoma in 2000.  An abdominal tumor in 2012 that was never fully diagnosed.  Now a bone disease that is hard to figure out. 
     And I always thought I was pretty normal.
     I love to swim.  I have since I was a kid.  I was never a great swimmer because of my body type, but I get joy from being in the water.
     The love for swimming increased even more after the cancer surgery on my leg.   The surgery meant that I could no longer run or play any sport that put pressure on my leg.  Swimming, however, took the weight and the pressure off my knee.
     The motel that I stayed in at Rochester had a really nice pool.  I swam the first evening after I had driven almost 12 hours to get to Rochester.  I swam most days in the morning before anyone was in the pool and late in the evening after folks had left the pool.
     Near the end of the week I was swimming about a half a mile in the morning and the same in the evening.  That’s about what I would swim once a day in the summer.  That also meant I was in the pool for about an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening.
     It came with some ramifications.   Friday evening I felt like a hoard of porcupines were rolling on my back.  I felt a rash around my ankle.  Being in the chlorine was more than my body could handle, especially the chlorine level in a public pool.  I think that the radiation contributed to the dryness of my skin.
     That was the last day of swimming.  After a couple of rest days from the chlorine I had the bone biopsy, which meant I couldn’t be submerged for about a week.
     When I got home last Friday I had several small scabs on my arms and on my back.  I’ve wished for a long time that I could be a guitar picker.  Looks like all I will be known as is a scab picker.
     My “helper” saw the scabs on my arm and came to the rescue.  She put some Gold Bond Healing on my arms and on my back.  I was amazed at how quickly my skin returned to normal.
     There’s an old spiritual that is called “There Is a Balm in Gilead.” The writer changes Jeremiah’s question, “Is there no balm in Gilead?” into an exclamation. 
 
There is a balm in Gilead,
To make the wounded whole.
There is a balm in Gilead,
To heal the sin-sick soul.
 
     Jesus applied His healing balm to my sin-sick soul a long time ago.  I go back for additional treatments often.  As good as the Gold Bond was, it doesn’t hold a candle to the balm of grace and forgiveness that Jesus applied to my heart.