Saturday, May 1, 2021

Ice Cream and Hot Peppers

It was about a month ago, that I was in the hospital having my gallbladder removed. This last month has been interesting as I have been navigating life without a gallbladder.

When I found out that I needed to have surgery to remove my gallbladder, I figured that my diet would probably have to change. So, I looked at the websites of Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins to get an idea of what changes I would need to make after surgery. Both recommended a low-fat diet and to avoid spicy foods. That was not exactly what I wanted to hear. What was I going to do with all the hot peppers growing in my garden?! Then I began talking with folks who had their gallbladder removed. They pretty much said that their diet really did not change all that much.

When I left the hospital, I had a decision to make. Do I follow the advice of the “medical experts” changing to a low-fat diet and letting all my hot peppers go to waste? Or do I go with the “word on the street” of those who actually have had their gallbladder removed?

You guessed it. I went with the “word on the street,” and I paid dearly!

Enter the bowl of ice cream from hell! Less than 24 hours after being discharged from the hospital a kindly neighbor brought me over some “comfort food.” It was only 2 small scoops of ice cream. After being on a 5-day liquid diet in the hospital, my shriveled-up stomach could only handle 2 small scoops. After suffering several hours of indigestion, those 2 small scoops ended up in the toilet as I vomited up that high-fat ticking timebomb. I learned the hard way that Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins, probably knew what they were talking about.

Later it dawned on me that my informal “word on the street” survey did not factor in one important part of the equation. I asked, “How has your diet changed since having your gallbladder removed.” Their answer was based on their current diet 2-years, 5-years, or 10-years after the surgery. It was not based on 3-days after having their gallbladder removed.

Actually, I am eating things now, 30-days after the surgery, that would have caused me problems 3-days after the surgery. I am still trying to figure out what I can and cannot eat.

Recently, I have been able to help some folks out with their computer issues. I feel like I am getting my strength back and it is a blessing to climb back into the saddle and help out with computer issues.

Blessings,

Bob

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God’s Delays

“And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush…saying…I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt” (Acts 7:30, 32, 34).

That was a long wait in preparation for a great mission. When God delays, He is not inactive. He is getting ready His instruments, He is ripening our powers; and at the appointed moment we shall arise equal to our task. Even Jesus of Nazareth was thirty years in privacy, growing in wisdom before He began His work. —Dr. Jowett

God is never in a hurry but spends years with those He expects to greatly use. He never thinks the days of preparation too long or too dull.