Our ever present help

Have you been in a situation where you say unless God comes down now I will not manage?

As an anaesthesiologist part of my work is to insert IV lines commonly called drips. I’m fortunate to work with a great team at our clinic. We had a patient recently when we had to spend a very long time looking for the line before surgery. It was all hands on deck at that moment in the operating room. The lady was light skinned and elderly but the veins were invisible. Most of my team has experience in putting lines in very difficult circumstances including babies but this one was tough one. We would think we have succeeded only to see the line swell. The elderly lady was also very gracious and also looking and searching for the lines too. We considered a central line but the pharmacy that sells them was closed for the night and her surgery was urgent and we couldn’t postpone to the next day.

It is that moment when we finally see something, we thank the Lord and one of us – the Orthopaedic surgeon inserted it and we began the surgery. We prayed as we began and then midway into the surgery we needed another line since other one was moving very slowly and I’m thinking, I wouldn’t like to be called in the middle of the night that the line has tissued- meaning you can’t use it to give medication. The line was like a tap with very little water dripping, drip………… drip……….... drip. It reminded me of how the taps at home are when they run dry and no water has been pumped.

At the same time the surgery, which ordinarily would be straightforward, was difficult. The fracture fragments had a mind of their own and didn’t want to be aligned. The surgeon commented that he feels like he should not breathe so that the fragments stay in place as he puts in the implant. I recall feeling like where is God. Please just come down. Its like the song by a Mwanga band called Throne. There is a part where we ask God to SHUKA- Meaning come down. I need a good line that will hold for several days and the fracture fragments need to stay in place.

At that precise moment it was just God’s grace. I saw a vein in a place I had searched for and got in, secured it- if I could make my heart stop so that it doesn’t move I could do so at that moment. Our surgeon also had his hands guided- the fragments held in place and we were able to conclude the surgery.

I realized that prayer is constant. God listens even to my concerns about a line and every thing concerning my life. Our work is what God called us to do. In this surgery-truly God came down to inhabit this place and He was glorified. The success was not because of us but because He was our ever-present help in our time of need.

By the way the line worked well for 3 days until she was ready to go home. God was and still is our hero.