Taking blessings for granted

In my last posting I shared the many blessings we have enjoyed, however, I overlooked and forgot one that is so obvious. I am afraid that this is not just a blessing overlooked by myself but by the vast majority of Canadians. We are so prone to overlook God’s blessings, and it should bring us back on our knees to repent and to thank our Creator for the blessings we enjoy each day.

What triggered my memory and opened my eyes was a story widely covered by news channels in Canada and the USA about the injury and death of Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke. She died from a head injury while practicing at Park City, Utah. Sadly enough Sarah did not carry the proper health insurance to cover her in the event of a mishap. The result of that you can read here.

It is not my intention to wade into controversial waters of which country has the best health care coverage. I just want to use this example to share with you how blessed we are in Canada with our socialized health care. Some Canadians tend to complain at times about the waiting they have to do before receiving the necessary care. I most certainly can’t be part of that. Right from the day I was diagnosed with cancer, the health care machine kicked into high gear, within 4 days I had seen 2 surgeons and specialist for my lungs and kidneys. Many tests were done at lightning speed and before I knew it I was receiving Chemotherapy treatments.

Several months later I received major surgery to remove my Kidney and Adrenal gland and up to this day I continue to receive topnotch care at no cost to me, all this for a premium of $1300 per year for Henrietta and myself. When I read that some 700.000 families in the USA declare bankruptcy due to high medical bills then we as Canadians must count our blessings for the care we receive without the worry of losing our homes or large amounts of money.

Personally, I receive care that cost at least $10.000 - $12.000 each month. More than $7000 of that is Chemo treatments, the remainder is for CT scans, doctors and specialised care by the Oncologist and others. We never see even one bill and that I find amazing.

 Please don’t take your medical care in Canada for granted, thank God that these things are in place and that you can rest assured that you will receive the best possible care with the latest equipment and highly qualified medical personnel, ready to help you.

I had planned to post much sooner, but due to many things it did not happen. The main reason being that since January 19 I have been on new Chemo treatments, it is suppose to be more tolerable and easier on the body. Today, after only 12 days of taking these treatments I had again no choice but to stop. Chemo is breaking and weakening me, yet when I stop I recover quickly to my old self. This time the side effects came on so strong and suddenly in the form of fever and sweating, severe headaches, blisters in my mouth, very high blood pressure, very rapid heart rate and in the last week I dropped a pound each day. There is no way I could possible keep this up for the next 6 weeks. I will write more about this soon. It is good that I can leave all these things in God’s hands with a quiet heart.

Spiritually all is well; God is my Refuge and Strength. There are times that I struggle with the things that God has laid on my shoulders; on the other hand I know that I am not carrying the load alone and that He is ever present. So often I am comforted through His word and I feel that that is where I need to spend time.

When I feel up to it I keep busy emailing people of all walks of life and really enjoy it. It is good to be in God’s word, it blesses me and I pray that others may be blessed by it. Thank you to all of you who email, keep contact, visit and call. Thank you for your prayers. Above all I thank God for life.

May God bless you all.

John