“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
—1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I started having chest pains and shortness of breath on Tuesday! I thought it was trapped gas so I started taking Gas-X. To no avail, the symptoms persisted. On Friday morning, the pains had gotten worse, limiting my movement in bed. What sparked me to finally get up and go to the hospital is that I came across someone’s post that I follow on Instagram. She was hospitalized from having the same symptoms that I was experiencing and she was informed that she had blood clots in her lungs. I immediately got up, got dressed, and headed to the ER!

I made it to the first hospital a few minutes before 10 a.m. I was called to the back for an EKG about 5 minutes into me waiting. After that, it wasn’t long before they informed me they had a room ready. Once I got to the back, the nurse came in and introduced herself. The doctor came in afterwards.

The pain was so bad! After giving me an IV, they gave me some morphine. It only made me drowsy. It didn’t alleviate the pain at all! So a few hours passed and the doctor finally came back in and said he put in an order for me to have a CT scan done and he apologized for the long wait. He asked if the pain had subsided and I informed him that it hadn’t. So he put in an order for me to get dilaudid. That didn’t help either. I was so miserable.

A tech from radiology came and got me so that I could have the CT scan done. Scooting from my bed was a hard task and trying to lie flat on the bed for the scan was even harder. I was already having a hard time breathing and lying flat on my back felt like I was about to lose my life from suffocation or something. I reached up for the man to pull me up because I could barely get my words out. Once I was sitting up, he informed me that the test required that I lie flat. I told him I was aware but I needed a minute to get myself together since I was having trouble breathing. I finally got into a semi-comfortable position where my back was slightly lifted off the bed so that I could breathe okay. After administering the blue contrast, I was ready to get out of there. Once back to my room, the doctor said that I could eat. A nurse brought me a grilled cheese sandwich and carrots.

About an hour or so later, the doctor came back and said I had a little fluid in my left lung. The diagnosis was pleurisy and that’s why I was having shortness of breath and chest pain. But he only gave me pain medicine and told me to follow up with a lung specialist.

My friend arrived and picked me up and took me to another hospital. I needed a second opinion because every time I go to that particular hospital, they always prescribe pain medicine and that’s it. So after waiting almost 2 hours at the second hospital, I finally had a room and the doctor told me what he saw from the EKG, chest X-ray (which I forgot to mention earlier), and the CT scan. I told him pain medicine wasn’t working so he prescribed me some steroids to help with the inflammation.

In the midst of it all, I can praise God. Even though I became a little discouraged after having to constantly battle things in my body, I’m thankful that God sends people to encourage me at my lowest. I can thank Him for being who He is because He is bigger than anything that I face—no sickness or disease is a match for Him. Today I can proclaim His goodness because He is faithful. He has delivered me time and time again and I can trust Him with everything that I am facing or will face. He is sooooo good!

Whatever you’re going through today, just trust God. Rejoice in the midst of what you’re going through because God is faithful and He is able to deliver you. Thank Him for the victory because it is already won! Bless His holy name! GOD causes things to work out for our good. Even though we may not see it right now, we have to trust that God has our best interests at heart! Just rejoice! Pray! And give thanks! God is so worthy! 

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
—Romans 8:18

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
—Romans 8:28

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?. . .Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
—Romans 8:35, 37

Let this song minister to your spirit today: King of My Heart!

God bless you!

—Shameka Nicole

#PreciousLife