My First Major Illness

In 1962, when I was a Junior in High School, I had symptoms of my first major illness. Sometime in the school year I started passing a lot of blood in my urine. We were living in Ten Broeck at the time and I was going to Eastern High School (which is in Jefferson County and a far eastern suburb of Louisville, KY)

I remember that my Dad and Mom (Pa and Lady) would take me to downtown Louisville after school one day each week to visit a kidney doctor, and I'd take blood and urine tests. Initially he told my parents that it was possible that I had kidney cancer. As I look back, I can imagine how hard that must have been on Pa and Lady. I was Pa's favorite son and Lady's joy (she always told us that the happiest day of her life was when she gave birth to me). Now, they had to face the fact that I may have cancer (and soon die). Of course I knew nothing of this. I just had to rest after school each day and take these tests once a week (I felt fine).

Eventually the doctor said it was nephritis (kidney infection) and all I could do was continue to rest after school. I didn't change my diet, just exercised less. After a while (I think one or two months), I returned to “normal”, and played baseball that Spring and Summer.

So, to me, this illness was no big deal (just a minor slowdown). But looking back on that with the eyes of a parent, it is much different. I now see the stress I put Pa and Lady through because of all the illnesses and other problems in my life (while being their “special son”).

Pa became a Christian in 1965 (and Lady started walking close to the Lord then). However, the bulk of my health and other problems lay ahead. For me, my illnesses have been learning experiences to help me grow closer to Christ. But what agony my parents must have suffered to see their special son go through illness.(and not have any control over the situation)! However, I can testify that my problems made them stronger as individuals (and as a couple). I now see that God planned this for our good (Romans 8:28). However, I now see that the dark valleys that I went through were much harder for Pa and Lady than me.

None of my four living children have had any major health problems that I can remember. So, I haven't had to wait as one them suffered through a major health problem. Even the death of my oldest son, Bo, happened so quickly (in a car wreck) that I just reacted to it.

I know that the same Holy Spirit that walked with me through each of my traumatic experiences was with Pa and Lady, His fruit includes love, joy, peace, patience, faithfulness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). I guess what they did was turn me over to the Lord and stand on the truth of His Word. The hard times that all three of us went through has been a tool that burned the truth of God's Word into our lives.