Welcome back to the Ultimate
Prescription. If you're just
00:00:01.36\00:00:02.70
joining us today we're talking
with Danny Shelton about bypass
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surgery and Dr. Marcum,
cardiologist here and director
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of HeartWise Ministries sharing
some insights as well on the
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story. Let's pick up kind of
where we left off Dr. Marcum.
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We've gone through
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symptoms. Genetic
disease that expresses itself.
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You know in some ways you lived
longer before you had a symptom
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than some of the
other people lived out.
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Oh most of them, yeah.
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And just thank goodness they had
Jesus because we know the next
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thing they know they're
not going to have heart disease
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anymore. So you've going through
the testing, the diagnosis, a
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difficult decision in a patient
that doesn't have symptoms.
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You're up to the bypass.
Your family's been with you.
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You found a peace that passes
all understanding and then what
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happens after that?
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Well what happens after
that (that you remember) yeah.
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I started to say that's probably
the least good part of it for
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people but it's a reality. I
woke up and I think I woke up
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sooner than I was on the
ventilator. I think the surgery
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is like five hours because
they did a quadruple and the
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ventilator was about six hours.
But I had reason to believe that
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about two hours or longer into
it I was awake enough because
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Yvonne came in with Jason the
son and they were talking and
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they said well he's going to be
here for a few more hours. But
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I can hear this and so you know.
Then Jason says, he calls me
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Pop, Pop I got to go and they
said to their surprise my thumb
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went up, I gave him a
thumbs up. To me I woke up but I
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but I couldn't open my eyes.
I didn't feel like I could move.
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Yet it wasn't a claustrophobic
feeling but that tube coming in
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and all that air coming in is
like when are they going to take
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this thing out? So that time
it felt like it was a long time
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but I was in no pain. There was
nothing that terrible about it.
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It was just like can you get
this ventilator out. I'm ready
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to get back to life. But when
I opened my eyes I didn't really
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think oh well I made it or I
didn't make it. It's like, okay,
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now what do we do next?
You know. But I thank the Lord.
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That's not an unusual experience
you experience all sorts of
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different feelings but luckily
they don't last for a long
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period of time. They're over and
you have lots of people around
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you to help get the
tubes out pretty quickly.
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And it's worth it. So anybody
thinking well I don't know, I'm
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worried about after and say you
may not be here if you don't so
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you have to decide, you
and your doctor and your family
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what you want to do.
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So they took the
tubes out rather quickly.
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Well about five hours
or something like that.
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That's rather
quickly. That's good.
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Okay, that's great. A friend of
my here in Thompsonville was in
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for I think the longest ever in
Carbondale, they said six days
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and nights he had a tube in and
came out. But he's doing fine
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now so Mr. McClenahan in the
local area. But they took the
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tubes out and then I was
awake, I was responsive and then
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everything was a go from there.
Now the doctor told me before,
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I said how long will I stay. My
brother was in 11 days and had
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to go back for a number of days.
He said I'll have you out in
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four days. And I said now how
do you know that. And he said
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well your arteries are
really good size, I can tell you
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exercise a lot and you know
we're going to do these bypasses
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but unless there's something
that we don't know about we're
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going to have you out of here
in about four days. And they
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did. I was so glad to get the
tubes out. The one thing that
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bothered me more than anything
was my shoulder. The shoulder
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pain, which I didn't expect. So
they told me later well they...
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They don't ask you
if you're comfortable.
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So my son-in-law Gregg, he's
a special duty nurse, cardiac
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nurse so he came up and they
let him stay in the room for a
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couple days and he really
helped me with it. A tremendous
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blessing. My daughter, of course
being here and Yvonne being
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there day and night. They
let them come in and really be
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there for me so it was all in
all for this type of thing was
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as good as or better that maybe
what I would expect. I'm so
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thankful to the doctors
in Carbondale University in
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Southern Illinois.
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Did you have much pain from
the actual incision where they
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got to the heart?
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I didn't. I was so surprised
about that because years ago
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they said they break your ribs.
I guess they don't break the
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ribs anymore? Is that it?
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They open the sternum up
so they can work on the heart.
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But they wire it back. I still
feel that wire I think at times
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and when I pull. It's been a
year or 15 months or whatever
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when I pull a door open I feel
some pulling here. But as far
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as really pain, that wasn't the
most of it. Once they get those
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other drain tubes and
stuff out you're doing better.
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Yeah and we've talked before, no
one likes to have a lot of tubes
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in them. But one is sometimes
the heart has electrical
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instability and that's why
we usually have pacer wires in
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there and after they touch the
lungs and the parts of the heart
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there's inflammation and you
know that fluid goes somewhere
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so we don't want it in you.
That's why we have the drainage
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tube until in the chest until
that gets better. So lots of
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that. But the pain that I've
talked to patients where that
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they notice the most is when
they do the bypass surgery, the
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surgeon has to get you in a
good position to operate and
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sometimes you have to do some
contortions and they don't ask
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you hey does it hurt when I put
that shoulder way back there?
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People do have a lot of
different things when they come
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out like that.
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Well I was just, I mean just
for hours they were rubbing my
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shoulder and putting stuff on it
and I'm thinking you know I've
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got all this cut open there and
they, you got all these tubes
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and that's not really bothering
me. It's this here. It's like
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you have a muscle spasm that's
constant. But once that went
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away of course there's you know
uncomfortable and they give you
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medication. You know I've never
tried to be the bravest when it
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comes to hurting. It's like
okay if you can help me, give me
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something you know and they did.
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But it sounds like the medicines
that made you forget weren't so
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potent for you.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah. No I
remembered quite a bit of it but
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praise the Lord. I would
encourage people. Hey we're here
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a short time and while
we're here as you said we're all
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getting older and that's a fact
of life. We're none of us going
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to live forever. Only when Jesus
comes back whether we're in
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the grave sleeping or there.
So it's all good news. It's good
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news. It's not how long you
live on this earth. But while
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we're here let's be happy, let's
be productive, let's tell the
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world about Jesus.
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So how did you feel on the day
that you left the intensive care
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and finally got to the
floor. Because knowing you, you
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probably said well four days,
I might want to leave a little
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sooner.
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Well actually the first day when
they got me up, I was walking.
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They wanted to see if I could
walk. So I walked and I said...
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They said well we're going
to just go to this corner, and I
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said has anybody else gone
farther than that? I'm very
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competitive you know...
So they said well you know
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that's probably enough for today
I said can I just go a little
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bit farther so I feel like I've
accomplished something? So I
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came back. So the next day they
said now there's this big area
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to go around. So I did it but I
said but I want to do it twice.
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Has anybody done it twice?
Well not that we know of. We
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don't know but in general no. I
said that's all I need to know.
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So I did my rounds twice. So
every day when I'd get up I'd
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want to go you know... And I
push myself whether it's playing
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sports or building a house, like
I'm doing for Jason right now or
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whatever or wanting to get the
gospel to the world you know.
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So I try to use some balance but
I'm always... My dad always said
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whatever you do, do with
all your might. That's biblical.
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I'm encouraged to hear that
the active lifestyle that you've
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lived all your life helped you
recover faster. You know because
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we can't do much with our
genetics but I'm trying to stay
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active and healthy, it
can help out in the situation.
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Now frequently patients have
some problems with sleeping at
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night and maybe even going to
the bathroom, a bowel movement.
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Did you have of those problems?
That's sort of a natural thing.
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Yeah, I did. And the night thing
You dread the night because you
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can't sleep and then your
mind gets to thinking more than
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during the day. After four days
they sent me home but they sent
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people to my house every day.
You know, they encourage, they
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dress the wounds. They do
everything. They'd get me up,
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exercise me in the house and see
how far I can walk and all these
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things. But at night I have a
recliner made by the Amish and
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it's really comfortable, kind
of rocks back a little bit and
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that's basically where I slept.
I did get a hospital bed because
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raising up by myself and even
with Yvonne there to help me is
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not the easiest thing, so we had
a hospital bed so I would raise
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myself into a position where
I didn't always have to wake her
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at night for the first
several nights at home.
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Now there might be some that
are undergoing bypass and after
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they've recovered you know those
days in the hospital are there
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any tips that you sort of would
like to pass on the things that
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might help someone else that's
in that waiting period. You know
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they feel a little bit better
before they go home. Any tips
00:09:02.60\00:09:05.37
that you might have of things
that they can do or ways that
00:09:05.41\00:09:08.14
they can think?
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Well just be positive. The Lord
brought you through it. He has
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a purpose for your life and so
each of one of us, what's God's
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plan for my life. He brought
me through this. He must have
00:09:17.85\00:09:19.75
something special he wants
me to do because I'm no more
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important than anybody else.
But he's willing to use anyone
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who's willing to be used.
Mine is study, continue to read,
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continue to pray, stay close to
Jesus and the other things, the
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things of earth will grow
strangely dim in the light of
00:09:34.67\00:09:37.14
His glory and grace.
00:09:37.17\00:09:38.74
Yeah and we're going to talk
about that in our next program
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about how your spiritual outlook
and how you use this illness to
00:09:41.38\00:09:46.01
actually come closer to God. God
can use our illnesses to bring
00:09:46.05\00:09:49.95
us closer to Him and to
see things. Now some people He
00:09:49.98\00:09:52.19
chooses to heal right away,
you know. Some people He heals
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through modern medicine and time
Paul He never healed until he's
00:09:55.56\00:09:58.99
going to get to heaven so this
has been very interesting, but
00:09:59.03\00:10:02.36
the pain gradually got better
you gradually started going to
00:10:02.40\00:10:05.03
the bathroom again
but it took some time.
00:10:05.07\00:10:06.40
Oh it did. Yeah it takes time,
I don't know, several days for
00:10:06.43\00:10:09.87
before you can go to the
bathroom. I mean, you know...
00:10:09.90\00:10:12.31
You just got to be patient but
it does. Things start working
00:10:12.34\00:10:15.24
again. That's
right. Without too much
00:10:15.28\00:10:16.61
detail it does start working
again, but you're thankful for
00:10:16.64\00:10:20.02
that, but again the night thing,
you know, that was the worst
00:10:20.05\00:10:23.28
part but you think more.
You have more time to think, you
00:10:23.32\00:10:27.59
know. In the day you're busy,
at night so I had a hard time
00:10:27.62\00:10:30.93
sleeping, but you know the
Lord's blessed and over a period
00:10:30.96\00:10:34.20
of time within 30 days, I mean
I was driving my car and then
00:10:34.23\00:10:37.83
going to Walmart and doing
whatever. No heavy lifting but
00:10:37.87\00:10:42.00
it wasn't long after that you
know I gave it some time. They
00:10:42.04\00:10:45.74
told me don't do it too soon.
But I've been exercising and I
00:10:45.77\00:10:50.31
feel great. You
know, praise the Lord.
00:10:50.35\00:10:51.68
We're starting to get down to
the end of the program, but Dr.
00:10:51.71\00:10:54.02
Marcum I'd like for you to share
a biblical prescription with our
00:10:54.05\00:10:56.38
audience. Yeah. Our
biblical prescription.
00:10:56.42\00:10:58.75
A biblical prescription is
things that God gives us that
00:10:58.79\00:11:02.22
never changes, that changes our
physiology and there's evidence
00:11:02.26\00:11:05.13
behind that, that when we
incorporate this into our lives
00:11:05.16\00:11:07.66
we can slow down some of the
aging of our genetics. So we'd
00:11:07.70\00:11:11.07
like to share Hebrews
4:9 and that text says...
00:11:11.10\00:11:16.04
So science has shown that when
we rest we slow down genetic
00:11:21.48\00:11:26.51
aging. If you broke your arm
you wouldn't keep throwing fast
00:11:26.55\00:11:29.58
balls. If you've had surgery
that splits the sternum open
00:11:29.62\00:11:34.06
you wouldn't build houses,
right? You'd give it a time to
00:11:34.09\00:11:36.49
rest. But now we know the
opposite of stress chemistry on
00:11:36.52\00:11:40.30
the body is rest chemistry.
There's physical rest that we
00:11:40.33\00:11:44.33
can do, there's mental rest,
now there's social rest, you
00:11:44.37\00:11:48.90
know all these cell phones and
social media. But we're talking
00:11:48.94\00:11:52.17
spiritual rest in this text.
There remains, therefore, a rest
00:11:52.21\00:11:56.08
for the people of God. When
we worship, when we're with God
00:11:56.11\00:12:00.82
that gives us a peace like
you experienced. So you were
00:12:00.85\00:12:04.55
experiencing this rest
before surgery. It helped you
00:12:04.59\00:12:07.72
get through some of the times
after surgery. God was with you
00:12:07.76\00:12:11.13
every step of the way and
for patients that I take care of
00:12:11.16\00:12:14.86
Nick and Danny that don't
have this spiritual aspect their
00:12:14.90\00:12:18.83
recovery is never quite as
good because when God's with us
00:12:18.87\00:12:23.20
give us that rest, that
peace inside, that turns down
00:12:23.24\00:12:26.41
adrenaline and cortisol and all
those, we heal better. We start
00:12:26.44\00:12:30.08
to sleep better sooner, things
start to work better because
00:12:30.11\00:12:33.31
some of the stress chemistry
that's turned on from just being
00:12:33.35\00:12:36.28
afraid is turned off. So God
has given us, and it's a gift,
00:12:36.32\00:12:39.99
there's nothing that we do. God
gives us this when we turn our
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hearts over to
Him. Pretty powerful.
00:12:44.26\00:12:45.89
Yeah. Thank you Dr. Marcum. I
always appreciate the biblical
00:12:45.93\00:12:48.00
prescriptions. And Danny thank
you for sharing your story. I
00:12:48.03\00:12:50.97
think you know people can be
encouraged and maybe this makes
00:12:51.00\00:12:53.97
it not quite so scary for
folks that have to go through
00:12:54.00\00:12:56.04
something similar. Yeah. Well
thank you for joining us today.
00:12:56.07\00:12:58.97
If you have questions on
what we've discussed, visit our
00:12:59.01\00:13:01.51
website HeartWiseMinistries.org
or you can go on there and put
00:13:01.54\00:13:04.91
your prayer request and pray
for others as well. Thanks for
00:13:04.95\00:13:08.15
joining us and Dr. Marcum
will close the program in prayer
00:13:08.18\00:13:10.49
in just a moment.
00:13:10.52\00:13:13.69
¤ ¤
00:13:13.72\00:13:18.19
Despite all the world throws at
us, God has given us this rest
00:13:18.23\00:13:21.26
we can depend on. We've heard
about how this can help improve
00:13:21.30\00:13:24.30
our health both today and
for eternity. Let's pray for one
00:13:24.33\00:13:28.50
another. Father God, we've heard
a wonderful story. There might
00:13:28.54\00:13:33.04
be some out there that need
to hear this that will give them
00:13:33.07\00:13:35.24
hope. But we also want all
of us to feel this rest that we
00:13:35.28\00:13:39.28
have with you today. Thank you
for being our God, our Savior
00:13:39.31\00:13:42.55
and our healer. Amen. If you
might have questions about heart
00:13:42.58\00:13:47.79
disease, bypass or get
ahold of us go to our website at
00:13:47.82\00:13:52.23
HeartWiseMinistries.org. We
specially have a prayer page
00:13:52.26\00:13:56.50
there that we would like to
pray for you and be with you and
00:13:56.53\00:13:59.90
comfort you because we're all
here in the body of Christ to
00:13:59.93\00:14:02.64
help and encourage each other.
So I'm Dr. James Marcum wishing
00:14:02.67\00:14:07.11
you the best of health.
00:14:07.14\00:14:10.51
¤ ¤
00:14:10.55\00:14:32.60