John has been dealing with a lot of right shoulder pain for about a year. He continued to work hard helping friends as much as he could despite the pain. And he recently made a trip to WA to attend a family reunion where he played 2 rounds of golf returning home on July 17th with very intense pain. So we went to the ER on the 19th of July to get it checked out.

However, as soon as they pulled his name and birthdate up and saw his long heart history (32 heart procedures and 13 heart attacks) they were far more concerned with his heart than his shoulder. So we spent 2 days in the ER where the hospital cardiologist strongly recommended a heart cath. I explained that the risk was greater than the benefit and asked the cardiologist to review his file and also to read Dr Spain’s detailed list of John’s heart procedures. He responded that Dr Spain had moved on and that he still recommended a heart cath, then he left to give us time to discuss what to do. My habit is to pray that the doctors can do no harm first, before praying about what to do. So we prayed and within a couple of hours the same cardiologist came back in, sat down in front of me and said you are right. In this case, the risk outweighs any benefit. I no longer recommend a heart cath. And I heard Holy Spirit whisper to my heart No Harm Done!

The rest of the story is that we spent 5 days in the hospital and continued to try and get his shoulder checked out without success. After getting discharged we saw an orthopedist who took the shoulder issue seriously and John had surgery to repair multiple tears in his right bicep and rotator cuff.

I am so very thankful that the cardiologist changed his mind, that no harm was done and that John’s shoulder surgery was successful. But I am even more thankful that we have a loving Father who does speak to us and that we can hear Him.

– Nancy Smith