The Family Stone

What a wonderful Christmas season it has been! I have been up to see my fiancee dance, and sing and been to Christmas parties (plural!) with her. We have met friends and made a statement to my little community and her large one, that we are here to stay! Even my parents (for now) are ignoring the fact that I am not home as much as usual. They don't badger me why I am not home, maybe it is because there are guests (my sister and the kids) in the house. But I don't know. They haven't left things alone for long, so I am expecting something anytime.

My health is good. I found out that I have elevated cholesterol. It is time to start exercising, and I am watching my diet more carefully.

Today I visited my girlfriend and we went to see the film The Family Stone. We were going to see King Kong, but it was sold out and it was long, so the next showing was too late. I always want to see movies that challenge me, that cause me to think. Yet, I don't want to see anything racy.

The movie was good. In it there were two gay men. I am always upset how Hollywood tends to shove social change down our collective throats. This time it was a bit subtle. At least they didn't kiss. But one was a deaf white man, and his lover was a black man.

I would have never thought of it, but Stephen Hunter summarizes it well.

As another reviewer puts it, Sarah Jessica Parker sleeps in a different room from her fiancee. She seems to be wealthy, and then they paint her as a homophobe! Sounds like a Republican to me, with perhaps some evangelical Christian leanings, other than some foul language. To me it was attack her for what reason? I still don't know why the family didn't like her. But then again I don't know why my family doesn't like my fiancee. Women can be like that, perhaps they fear a threat...


In the end it turns out to be a wonderful Christmas, even the Christmas carols heard especially in the end hint at what Christmas is supposed to be--Peace on earth; Good will towards all men.
The reason for the peace is Jesus, not temporary familial harmony.

Despite the gay people in the movie, placed there for show, as my fiancee put it, adulterers and fornicators are just as bad as homosexuals in the Bible. The movie did, as she pointed out, show love towards the gay people. That is so important, to show them the love of Christ. I hope I can do that....

Something new...

About two weeks ago, I went for a bicycle ride. After that, I went to work and after a few hours of work, my heart started having strong beats. This would happen only once or twice, and then stop. After that I started having chest pain. Mild, but scary. I am getting older, but with no history of heart problems, this couldn't be a heart attack. Or could it? I drank lots of Gatorade, hoping it was an electrolyte imbalance, also cut down on the caffeine. But the next day, and the day after it kept happening. Then I asked my mom, a doctor, to ask one of her friends to take a look at me.

I went to see the cardiologist. A polished man, with great shoes, a crisp white shirt, and expensive-looking pants (if I wear pants, he must wear trousers). Compared to the other doctor's offices, his was a suite, the waiting rooms were bigger and he had two offices (one specifically for the stress tests, and other tests). Despite the pressure he must have been under he looked good. He wasn't stressed out, although he was very busy. I remember meeting him in the past, he had several pagers going off, and he always seemed to be in a hurry. But that wasn't in front of the patients. Now, he was relaxed and confident, but not arrogant. Approachable.

He spoke to me and examined me. He knew my mom very well, they were (and remain) good friends. He examined me, took my blood pressure. Then he rushed me up to get an echocardiogram. After all this he took a baseline EKG. And gave me a beta blocker. After viewing the echocardiogram, he said I had a mild mitral valve prolapse. He said that people live to be 100 with this condition, and that I could climb mountains. Also he said it would be aggravated by stress.

After all the health problems I have had, there is yet another one. I wondered over the next week or so, about whether there was a thyroid or electrolyte imbalance. So far the blood work hasn't shown anything, but the complete results will be out later this week.

I also called my gastroenterologist, and asked him if it could be a side effect of Remicade. He said no. Plus, my last Remicade treatment was more than one month ago. So this all happened just before Thanksgiving. During Thanksgiving, my brother-in-law was over. This genius doctor, who has four, yes four, board certifications under his belt--meaning that he has reached the highest level possible in four medical fields. Well, he listened to my story and was surprised at all the things I have been through. To be honest, after telling all that, I felt like crying. Even the primary care doctor said, "You look so healthy." And I do. In fact, I am a little fat. But I have had septic shock, pancreatitis (three times), typhoid fever (twice), Crohn's disease, a fistula, amebiasis, and been admitted in the hospital twice. And now a heart problem. Nothing major, true, but something else to worry about. Maybe I need to have a low stress residency and life. Perhaps family practice, or something else low stress.

Why am I going through so much? Actually, I must say, I don't feel that bad. But thinking over all this it is scary. I guess God must have a special plan for my life. Not that I am special, but the fact that I could have died several times with all these diseases. Yet here I am.

Cynical

After looking up the definition, I am certainly not a cynic. And I am not a skeptic. Although in some areas, I may be one or both, as far as my church goes, I am a doubter. I am being introduced to things in my church which are new to me. They are different from the traditions in which I grew up. They are also criticized widely, but yet, they yield undisputable fruit. I mean one could say that the evidence of the Holy Spirit in many churches is at levels which can only be described as revival.

Yet, I doubt. I am certainly not a doubting Thomas. (Doubting Thomas is a term that is used to describe someone who refuses to believe something without direct, personal evidence; a skeptic.) The painting by Caravaggio, shows Thomas inspecting Christ. But still showing doubt. This is evidenced by the furrows on his brow as his finger is in Christ. Also, the two witnesses, don't seem to be contradicting him in any way. If they were, their faces would show something different--they are in the presence of the risen Saviour! This is the painter's interpretation, of course. It is interesting, that Thomas supposedly went to India, and started churches there. Some of the oldest churches in the world. The fact that I am from India, has nothing to do with this.

So I have been reading scripture, and going to my Church, because the love that is shown there, is remarkable. And as it says in 1 Corinthians 13, "the greatest of these is love." And there is no perfect church, and I am growing spiritually, so I will stay there, until God directs me otherwise (not that God reveals things to me clearly...but that's another story).

Sunday, one of the younger men of the church, said that God wanted to heal people. As people started coming up towards him he started praying over the gathered people. This was happening towards the end of the service, so there were around 100 people there, and maybe two dozen, awaiting healing. One of the first things he mentioned was a "pancreatic" condition.
I have had other recent health problems, so I didn't respond, even though I have had a "
"pancreatic" condition. Then after a few minutes, he once again mentioned the same phrase "pancreatic" condition. I then remembered, in my long and crazy medical history, I had acute pancreatitis twice, and probably a third time. It was due to the drugs I was taking for Crohn's disease. Imuran and Asacol and the third time was Flagyl. It seems that my body is susceptible to drugs, and the pancreas, especially so. The after affects of multiple attacks of pancreatitis (usually common in alcoholics), is that subsequent attacks don't have the intensity of pain, so they may be not as apparent. Also the damage to the pancreas can result in diabetes. Which I was worried about.

The interesting thing is that most cases of diabetes, don't really involve the pancreas, they involve the receptors throughout the body. And pancreatic cancer is deadly, they live less than a year, closer to 6 months, after diagnosis. To me this is definitely of God. The odds and rarity of pancreatic disease, definitely indicate it. So thank you Lord, for the healing. I will go on in faith.