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Posts Tagged ‘Faith’

Well, it appears I have indeed survived my cardiac ablation procedure (yesterday).  Because I ended up as an afternoon procedure, I had to stay in the hospital overnight for observation…
Before I go any farther, I want to give a BIG shout-out to the wonderful doctors, nurses, aides and other staff working at John Muir Hospital in Concord, CA.  Every one of them were professional and caring!  I KNOW they were busy, but they all took the time to make sure I was comfortable and that everything followed the protocol / schedule without making it seem routine.  I genuinely felt like a person and not just a patient.
I am dating myself, but I’ll say it anyway:  “You guys ROCK!
Now, I start the road to recovery.  The milestones are:
1)  survive the procedure (check)
2)  survive the first 24 hours and go home (check)
3)  survive the first 11.5 days.   According to the NIH, this is the median point for fatalities in the first 30 days after the procedure.  Fatalities for the procedure are “roughly” .46% – so 1 in 200, but the majority of those are related to co-morbidity factors, which I do not / did not have.
4)  survive 30 days post-op.  Again, according to the NIH, this is the critical time frame after which fatalities from the procedure drop to near zero(0).
5)  90 days evaluation of post-op medications and return to almost “normal” activity.
After 90 days, and assuming the procedure was successful, my “odds” of living a “normal” life expectancy (compared to those on or off of AFib medications) are the same.
Disclaimer:  As always, I would like to remind anyone reading this that I am NOT a doctor, I am not recommending this procedure to anyone, and you should ALWAYS consult with your own medical provider / primary physician if you notice any personal health issues.  My “road to recovery” checklist is based on my conversations with my cardiologist and my personal research on the Internet.
Finally, I offer my thanks to anyone who did offer up a prayer or positive thought for me.   I am and will remain extremely grateful.
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On This Day In:
2022 Dust Under Your Fingertips
2021 Stopped Counting Decades Ago
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2020 To My Idealistic Sister
2019 Respect For My Sister
2018 I Trust Cows
No Boundary
2017 Don’t Sink Now
2016 A Burning Passion To Teach Freedom
2015 Before Debit (And Credit) Cards
2014 Herding Cats
2013 Ooops!
2012 Understand A Great Truth
2011 Start Here…
2010 Random Acts of Vandalism On Easter Weekend…

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It can do truth no service to blink the fact, known to all who have the most ordinary acquaintance with literary history, that a large portion of the noblest and most valuable moral teaching has been the work, not only of men who did not know, but of men who knew and rejected, the Christian faith.
 
    —    John Stuart Mill
From:  “On Liberty
 
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On This Day In:
2022 The Fight Continues…
2021 Short, Swift, Haste
  Another Friend’s Passing
2020 Can We At Least Set The Bar Higher Than An Incompetent Liar In The Oval Office?
2019 Uncertain Times
  And Government Shutdowns, Too
2018 Satisfied
2017 In The Mind
2016 Dreaming
2015 The Best Medicine Is Also Contagious
2014 Eyes Off
2013 The More Things Change…
2012 The Delicate Moment Of Giving
2011 Ready, Shoot, Aim!!

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What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly.
    —     Richard Bach
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On This Day In:
2022 Do It
2021 The Honor Is To Serve…
I Don’t Know That I Will
Only So Long
2020 Each Meaning
2019 The Deep End
Is Anyone ELSE Out There Listening?
2018 Defining Characteristic
2017 Just Asking
2016 Still A Burden
15 And Counting
2015 All A Game
2014 Two Thoughts
2013 RIP – Dear Abby
Half-Life Problems
2012 To The Soul…
2011 Reverted!!

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The window of my soul I throw open to the sun.
    —     John Greenleaf Whittier
From:  “My Psalm
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On This Day In:
2021 What Should Be Universal Exercise
I’m So Glad
2020 Trying To Keep On Keeping On
Bending
2019 Ooops (Again)
2018 Two Start Up Front
2017 I Love America Because…
An Act Of God
And So It Came To Pass (Act Of God part 2)
2016 As Far From
2015 Rocky 7
Just Like Politics
2014 Game And Legend
“Scientific” Pride In Humanity
2013 Real Honor
Catching Up
2012 Thoughts And Communications
2011 But How Does Peter Feel?
2010 Name That Regret

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The glory of God is a human being fully alive.
    —     St. Irenaeus
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On This Day In:
2021 Our Common Humanity
A History Story
2020 At The Very Least Smile More
Your Touch
2019 Still Working On Both
2018 Two Jordans To Heaven
Speaking Of #45
2017 All Greek To Me
2016 Judgment
2015 I Love Bacon, Too
2014 The Wee Bit
2013 Reading Rules
2012 Cadet Prayer
2011 Easy To Tell
2010 A NEW Lion In The Senate (Channeling Mr. Smith)
Inception Redux
A Quick Hit Of Stats

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I’m an atheist and I thank God for it.
    ―     George Bernard Shaw
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On This Day In:
2021 Learning And Teaching
Two Loves
2020 Does Anyone Else Look Forward To The Last Lawn Mowing ‘Til Spring?
Only For You
2019 10,000 Tries
2018 Keep America Great – Vote This Tuesday
2017 Old Style Ear Candy
2016 Next Tuesday
2015 Wanna Trade?
2014 Brothers And Friends
2013 So Suddenly
2012 At The Center
2011 Live Long And Thinner
Got Health?
2010 SF Giants – 2010 World Series Champions!!!
52 – 54 – 56 – 58
2009 Diet Update
Pictures from Chicago Trip…

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For me the Voice of God, of Conscience, of Truth, or the Inner Voice or “the Still Small Voice” mean one and the same thing.
    —     Mahatma Gandhi
Live seeking God, then you will not live without God.
    —     Leo Tolstoy
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On This Day In:
2021 Climate Change Deniers
We Don’t Listen Anyway
2020 Nothing New Here
Talk To Me
Register And Vote
2019 Love And Leave
2018 Smiling If Not Laughing
2017 Chilled And Smooth
2016 But Sometimes You Have To Stand In Front
2015 The Key Shift
2014 Remember ISIS / ISIL?
2013 What Have You Done Lately?
2012 B8
2011 I’m Definitely Not In Control

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As we in the United States are currently experiencing terrible flooding in our South – South / East and extreme deadly heat in our South – South / West, let us take a moment to think about our fellow humanity suffering equally devastating weather related catastrophes in other parts of the world.
Tonight, as I am thinking of / praying for my fellow Americans in Mississippi, I am doing the same for Pakistan where there are estimates of over 1,100 people having lost their lives and over 20 million are homeless due to rain and flooding.
May God / Allah assist you in your time of need…
Salaam Alaikum for and from the people of America.
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On This Day In:
2021 Why Republicans Are Unhappy
I Guess It’s True
2020 A Tiny And Fragile World
Your Lyin’ Eyes
2019 Day 1: Done
#IncompetentDonald Fails On All Three
2018 I Put It Down To Bad Teachers
Day 34: In And Out
2017 And The Future Is Now
2016 I Am
2015 Positively Aiming Higher
2014 Suspicious Minds
2013 We Are Not Alone
2012 Lawyer, n.
2011 Each Day Remember…
2010 Impossible Dreams of Camelot

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Silence is the only language God speaks.  Everything else is a bad translation.
    —     Rumi
[My message to the members of the “Christian / American Taliban”…    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2021 It Cannot Be A Science
Fallin’ And Callin’
2020 What’s Inside You?
Think Of Me And Smile
2019 Impeaching The Idiot In The Oval Office
2018 My Religion
Day 22: Step And Hang
2017 Adrift In The Oval Office
Regrets – The Donald Failed The Test
2016 Just Ask “The Donald”
2015 Did You Pass On It?
2014 Even When It Ain’t, It Is
2013 Still Happens
2012 Possessing Eternity
2011 I Thought We Were Talking About Afghanistan

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The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God.  Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be.
    —    Anne Frank
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On This Day In:
2021 Or Internet Access To My Blog
Jumpin’ Sticks
2020 The Spirit Of A Fighter, The Heart Of A Saint
Corporate Cults
2019 Most Hire
Just The Three Of Us
2018 Sounds Like #45’s White House
2017 Have We Started Winning Yet?
2016 Still Springy
2015 Well Concealed
2014 The History Of Warriors
2013 A Cult Of Ignorance
2012 Counting Valor
Understanding Faith
2011 I Can Hear You Now
2010 Inception

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I would say that I don’t know how we got through that first shaky week of this third pandemic-impacted school year, hugging our kids and checking to make sure their masks were secure before they left each morning, except that I do know:  We had no choice.  We still don’t.  Though we’re grateful to their teachers and glad that our kids are once again learning alongside their peers, the worry persists, an undercurrent to which we’ve been forced to adapt as we settle into routines both familiar and new.
Each week brings more pediatric infections, more student quarantines.  Each day, I’m conscious of the fact that I’m allowing my children to assume a risk from which I, working at home, am protected, and this feels hopelessly backward.  I read every update to the school COVID-19 guidelines so I know what to expect after the inevitable exposure, but I can’t tell my kids what they have long wanted to know:  When will things go back to the way they remember?
Over the past 18 months, a common refrain has been that this pandemic should compel all of us to recognize our interdependence, the inescapable fact that we will not address this or any of the other grave threats we’re facing without collective action.  This is a lesson that I expect many of our children are also learning, though the cost and the danger to them feels too high.  I know I don’t want my kids to conclude that they are or forever will be powerless, or that there is no one who will fight with and for them.  There are many things I still have to hope for to get through each day, and while our children’s survival and health top the list, I also want them to retain their faith in themselves and in their ability to look forward to something better than this — to find, as they so often do, their own reasons to hope.
    —     Nicole Chung
From:  “The View Essay: Parenting – Did I point my kids to the wrong North Star?
Appearing in:  Time Magazine;  11/18 Oct 2021
Also online at:  https://time.com/6102019/covid-19-hope-for-kids/
The online version appears as:  “There’s No End in Sight for COVID-19. What Do We Tell Our Kids Now?
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On This Day In:
2021 The Rush Is On
Another Rerun
2020 It Is Still About Sharing And Cheering
2019 Sounds Like #LyingDonald
2018 Start Building
2017 Woof! Woof!
2016 Cast Out
2015 Small Pieces
Happy Father’s Day!
2014 Uncertain Work
2013 Unpatriotic And Servile
2012 What Price Freedom?
2011 Particular Importance
Three From Bette…

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Your life as a Christian should make non believers question their disbelief in God.
    —    Dietrich Bonhoeffer
You will know them by what they do.  Thorn bushes do not bear grapes, and briers do not bear figs.
    —    Matthew 7:16
From:  “The Bible” (Good News Translation)
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On This Day In:
2022 Do Good Works
2021 We Like To Believe So, Anyway
More SoCal Sounds
2020 I’m Older Now
2019 Why #45 (#LazyDonald) Was Destined To Be A Failed Presidency
2018 Easter In Liverpool
Star Guides To Destiny
Growl
2017 Decisions
2016 Along The Path
2015 Make Mine Rare, Please
2014 Passion Flooding
2013 On Purpose
2012 Sans Gall Bladder, Day 4
How Did You Spend Your Day?
2011 It’s Hammerin’ Time!!
Convenient Auxiliaries

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I have no faith, only a suitcaseful of beliefs that sustain me.  Life’s meaning has always eluded me and I guess always will.  But I love it just the same.
    —    E. B. White
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On This Day In:
2022 Just The Same
2021 Starting Young
I Hear It, Too
2020 My Thoughts On #LyingDonald’s Corona Briefings
2019 As I Recall
2018 Effective Violence And A Government At Risk
2017 Playing The Same Music
2016 Survival Instinct
2015 Tears
2014 Bourne Again (4)
2013 God’s Protection
2012 Happy Easter!!
Edge, Class, Clash, And Flight
The Value Of Bureaucracies
2011 Logic Cuts

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I believe in you and me.  I’m like Albert Schweitzer and Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein in that I have a respect for life – in any form.  I believe in nature, in the birds, the sea, the sky, in everything I can see or that there is real evidence for.  If these things are what you mean by God, then I believe in God.  But I don’t believe in a personal God to whom I look for comfort or for a natural on the next roll of the dice.
    ––     Frank Sinatra
[Can one draw comfort from believing in “God” without looking directly for it (God’s comfort)?  I seem to be able to.  Inshallah…    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2022 If That’s What You Mean
2021 Awakening The Glow
I Remember
2020 Golden Eagle
Like #45: Incompetent Donald
2019 #45: Who Lost By Three Million Votes
2018 Torn Between Two Loves
A Girl And A Boy
2017 I Think They Are Starting To…
2016 Living There
2015 Bookin’ West
Beyond My Reach
You Never Call Anymore…
2014 Winning?
2013 Still Inventing
2012 Motivated
2011 Waiting In Line At Starbuck’s

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Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance.
    —    Samuel Johnson
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On This Day In:
2022 Prayers For Ukraine
2021 Be Your Own Hero
Another Frog King
2020 Still Trying To…
2019 Press Freedom
2018 Or Loyalty To An Unqualified And Incompetent President
2017 A Bad Sale
2016 Be Happy!
2015 Are You Feeling Cold?
2014 Never Asked
2013 In Praise Of Change
2012 John Carter Of Mars
Circular
2011 How Much And When

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