I thank
God that I am alive to experience family with my best friend
Ayele and our beautiful children, Joshua, Jonathan, David and bubbly Annabelle.
From a rocky start in Syracuse New York to a lovely wedding 20 years ago in
Silver Spring Maryland, we are experiencing God’s grace and mercy in sustaining
us.
What a gift life is and my life has been. You see in July-August of 1979, I felt intense abdominal pain, lost appetite and could barely walk or stand up straight. Late afternoon, a relative of ours, who was then a medical student at the University of Benin came to visit. Brother Ghandhi as we called him, inquired about me and he was led to the dimly lit room where I was lying in pain. Ghandhi did a preliminary diagnosis and ran upstairs to alert my father that I needed to see a Doctor that night. So, my father drove us to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH). We went straight to the offices of a Doctor Densa who was an anesthesiologist.
What a gift life is and my life has been. You see in July-August of 1979, I felt intense abdominal pain, lost appetite and could barely walk or stand up straight. Late afternoon, a relative of ours, who was then a medical student at the University of Benin came to visit. Brother Ghandhi as we called him, inquired about me and he was led to the dimly lit room where I was lying in pain. Ghandhi did a preliminary diagnosis and ran upstairs to alert my father that I needed to see a Doctor that night. So, my father drove us to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH). We went straight to the offices of a Doctor Densa who was an anesthesiologist.
Further diagnosis confirmed what Brother
Ghandhi feared. I faintly heard Doctor Densa say something like "Appendicitis,
surgery tonight". According to
WebMD, Appendicitis is a medical emergency that requires prompt surgery to
remove the appendix. Left untreated, an inflamed appendix will eventually
burst, or perforate, spilling infectious materials into the abdominal cavity, this
can lead to a serious inflammation of the abdominal cavity's lining
that can be fatal unless it is treated quickly with strong antibiotics.
So from Doctor Densa's home, that also doubled as consulting room, I was wheeled to the emergency room. By this time I had been undressed and shaved. I recall the ride to the emergency room and the soft voice of Doctor Densa as he administered the anesthetic. The next thing I knew was the sound of voices and as I looked at the door I could see the rim of my father's eye glasses straining against it. I just came out of surgery where my appendix was removed. I was later told that the appendix had almost ruptured.
Looking back, I am grateful to God for keeping me. You see in those days and even now, anything could have happened. My father could have been out of town and that would have meant lying in that poorly lit room downstairs. The room (boys quarters) use be sanctuary to wind down after most of the days chores were done.
So instead of an untimely epitaph in 1979 God gave me the opportunity to see through that year and to travel to Syracuse New York four years later where I met Ayele. So, my life today is one massive gratitude to a God who truly knows our end from the beginning.
So As we are about to head to Blantyre, Malawi, I am in a reflective of God's grace, mercy and provision. I know that despite my imperfections, my God came into this world so that I can have life and have it more abundantly and when my work is done here, we can look to eternity with great hope and satisfaction.
So from Doctor Densa's home, that also doubled as consulting room, I was wheeled to the emergency room. By this time I had been undressed and shaved. I recall the ride to the emergency room and the soft voice of Doctor Densa as he administered the anesthetic. The next thing I knew was the sound of voices and as I looked at the door I could see the rim of my father's eye glasses straining against it. I just came out of surgery where my appendix was removed. I was later told that the appendix had almost ruptured.
Looking back, I am grateful to God for keeping me. You see in those days and even now, anything could have happened. My father could have been out of town and that would have meant lying in that poorly lit room downstairs. The room (boys quarters) use be sanctuary to wind down after most of the days chores were done.
So instead of an untimely epitaph in 1979 God gave me the opportunity to see through that year and to travel to Syracuse New York four years later where I met Ayele. So, my life today is one massive gratitude to a God who truly knows our end from the beginning.
So As we are about to head to Blantyre, Malawi, I am in a reflective of God's grace, mercy and provision. I know that despite my imperfections, my God came into this world so that I can have life and have it more abundantly and when my work is done here, we can look to eternity with great hope and satisfaction.
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