Heart Surgen

Have you ever been injured? Not just hurt or banged up, but really injured? The kind of injury that makes you put your active life on hold. This past winter I was playing basketball when a reoccurring injury happened to me again. I dislocated my patella after having rebounded the ball. (And it was an amazing rebound, if I do say so myself.) I have dislocated my patella in varying degrees of severity about four times since I was a freshman in high school. Every time this happens to me I wind up laying on the ground writhing in pain, and it is not uncommon for me to scream and yell (sometimes cry) like a girl. This time was no different in that respect. Just as it had in the past, along with the pain came some internal damage to the knee joint. This time doctors were confident that with some physical therapy to strengthen the muscles I would be good to go in a few months. After a few months of intense therapy, it did look like my leg was back to normal. I had full range of motion and my muscles looked pretty even. I’ll admit that it looked good from the outside. However, deep inside I could tell something wasn’t right. Something else was hindering a full recovery. The doctor finally agreed with me and took a look inside and found some areas that needed cleaned up.

It dawned on me the other day that I, along with most men, treat my failings and short comings in life the same way. When we stumble in our walk or fall into a sin, we often  assume a few exercises is all we’ll need to make our behavior stronger. We’re men, after all, we can tough it out and will ourselves back to better behavior. The problem I have found with this attitude and approach is that even if we are able to change and function in a “good enough” manner, we are still damaged and injured people on the inside. No matter how good we get on the outside we will always be held back by the issues under the surface.

To fully fix the root of my knee injury, I needed a surgeon to dig in and clean up the inside of my knee. I had arthroscopic surgery to remove a couple large pieces of cartilage, repair the torn meniscus and perform a lateral release of the patella. The knee joint swelled to nearly three centimeters larger in diameter. I was in intense pain and needed major pain killers to function.  However, I could tell immediately that the joint was much smoother and my knee was moving correctly. In the long run, I will be much better off for having a trusted doctor go inside my joint and clean the garbage out.

Similarly, to fully fix the damage in our hearts, we need someone willing to dig into our lives and hold us accountable. My problem, like most men, is finding that true friend to share life with. However, it is vital to my overall health as a father, husband, employee and man. I hope you are looking for this accountability in your life, too.