Monthly Archives: September 2011
On having appendicitis
| September 28, 2011 | Posted by matt under family |
On Sunday evening I underwent laparoscopic surgery for removal of my appendix. I had been feeling ill for about two days and woke up at 3 in the morning with a pain in the middle of my stomach, right under my navel. The pain continued all morning, and after not feeling any relief I called my Doctor’s office and the doctor on call recommended I go to the ER immediately. After about a 45 minute wait, I was in the ER and answering questions. I still felt like it couldn’t be appendicitis, and that I’d somehow end up being embarrassed to find out that I just had bad gas or some food poisoning. I wasn’t confident it was appendicitis until they started pushing on my stomach at the spot of the appendix and I felt severe pain, while other areas of my stomach felt fine.
They did the typical lab tests of blood and urine to eliminate a urinary tract infection and to get an idea of my white blood cell count. I didn’t have a fever or a high white blood cell count so they also ordered a CT scan, and it turned out positive. I underwent surgery about 7 hours after arriving. I spent one night in the hospital and was discharged the next afternoon, about 20 hours after surgery. I’ve been home for a few days and recovering pretty quickly.
When I was a kid, living in Venezuela, there was a man who died from appendicitis. He had no access to good health care, the local clinic had sent him home with pain killers when he had come to see them with initial symptoms. His appendix burst, and he was unable to survive the ensuing peritonitis and died, leaving behind a wife and children. In reality, just a few centuries ago I would have probably had an experience very similar to his, with a high chance of serious damage from an event that affects 1 in 15 Americans. I found this Time article from 1931 that indicates that 18-20,000 people died annually from appendicitis at that time.
I’m truly grateful for a great hospital, good doctors, and access to good healthcare.
Book Review: Just Courage
| September 11, 2011 | Posted by matt under books, reviews |
Just Courage: God’s Great Expedition for the Restless Christian is a book by Gary Haugen, the president and CEO of International Justice Mission (IJM), a human rights organization based in Washington, DC. A former U.S. Justice Department trial attorney, Haugen founded IJM to pursue justice for victims around the world caught in situations such as slavery, prostitution, or poverty caused by injustice. Haugen makes the premise in Just Courage that the Christian life is meant to be an adventure, but because Christians (specifically American Christians) choose to pursue comfort and safety, they miss out on the exciting life that God has for them. He says the answer for those seeking a life of adventure is to confront the violence and injustice that occurs around the world against the defenseless.
Just Courage is filled with accounts of victims of injustice as well as those who stood up for them. There are also historical accounts of people who made a difference, such as William Sheppard, an African American missionary who helped document and end the atrocities committed by Belgium’s King Leopold in the Congo before the turn of the century. But slavery is not a solved issue in our world, and Haugen highlights a number of cases in which IJM employees have freed people from slave labor or forced prostitution around the world. These employees are often highly talented and successful lawyers who have given up lucrative positions in the U.S. in order to move to a third world country and protect the defenseless.
The part of the book that stuck with me the most was the question, ‘Would you rather be safe or brave?’. An IJM employee named Sean Litton made a decision to leave his law practice and test the words of Jesus: You find your life when you lose it. He found that there were four things holding him back: Comfort, Security, Control, and Success. When he let go of these things, he instead received a life of Adventure, Faith, Miracles, and deep knowledge of Jesus. Just Courage makes the assertion that we can’t be both safe and brave.
While reading this book was very inspirational, there are next steps to take if its assertions are true. The appendix to Just Courage contains helpful study guide questions, making it a good choice for a small group to read and discuss. There is also a helpful list of next steps that a person can take to be involved in pursuing justice through IJM. The actions range from something as simple as sending one email to pursuing a career with IJM. There is a reasonable next step for every person, regardless of their vocation or abilities.
Recent Comments