Donating blood is giving the gift of life. Not only is it
healthy for the donor, but it is many times the lifesaving agent for someone else.
No one has to attend medical school to know its importance and necessity for a
body’s proper function. The blood is the transportation agent that delivers
nutrients and oxygen from our brain to our toes, and everywhere in-between.
When Sophia was in the second grade, she got extremely sick because
she was sepsis. The blood that once was aiding her growth and health got infected
and instead of circulating life, it was transporting infection all over her body.
Fortunately, we got treatment quickly and after many days in the hospital, her
blood once again was doing its job of sustaining her life.
God was the first in the Bible to shed blood. After man
first sinned, “the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and
clothed them.” (Genesis 3: 21) He did not order them from Amazon; He was the
first to kill an animal. Fast forward to the New Testament and the story of the
prodigal son when the father said, “Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s
have a feast and celebrate.” (Luke 15:23)
Our Heavenly Father continued to make sacrifices for us
through the blood when he allowed His only Son to shed his perfect and innocent
blood for our sins. “…Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of
sins.” (Hebrews 9:22)
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh, precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus.
There is power and life in the blood, and when we accept
that Jesus’ blood was shed for us, we can share in His inheritance, like the prodigal
son did with his father’s wealth.
Yet apart from that blood, there is death, which leads me to
my current medical situation.
For those who may not have followed my story from the beginning,
it began with a terrible accident that fractured my talus bone, a well-hidden
bone inside the foot that is hard to break. Once broken, it is also hard to
heal.
The journey of the last 3½ years has been plagued with chronic
pain, surgeries, crutches, getting better, and regressing. There was a fear at
the accident that if surgery did not happen quickly, the blood would not properly
supply the bone with much needed life. I was transported for trauma surgery 100
miles away in hopes of healing.
It appears even with the many efforts of the last several years,
the talus bone has not received enough life-giving blood and has led to its
death and collapse. For the last four months, I have not been able to walk unassisted. My scooter and crutches have aided in my transportation around the house,
work and to doctors in three states trying diligently to find answers and
options for recovery.
With a few – but no good – options on the table, the hard decision
has been made for me to have an amputation. It has been a very difficult decision to
make, but sometimes the right decisions to make are the hard ones. I could either
continue to try and salvage my leg, or salvage my life, and I chose life! Next Wednesday,
March 23, I will have a left below the knee amputation in another state.
I have treasured all the love and support so many of you
have given me and my family over the past years. It has definitely been the worst
season of my life, but even in the midst of it, I have never felt a larger
outpouring of love.
My journey through this next trial will be hard and
difficult. But honestly, I’ve already done the hardest thing in my life by burying
my beautiful teenage daughter. I can do this. I WILL do this. And I will come
out the other side physically stronger, able to walk, climb, and run again, and continue
to give God the glory for the good in my story.
If you would like a closer look at my journey, I’ve started
a personal Instagram page that will chronical my story. I’m not sure exactly
what is in store for me or what this journey will look like, but I’m glad to
share my story with you.
Instagram: lyndasfisher
Remain close to Jesus who,
while He was without sin, shed his blood for you and me, so that we could have life!
*Photo: Matthew and me at the beach to put my left toes in the sand one last time.
