That may seem obvious, but it is important to understand and embrace. What I mean by that is they know what they know until they know something different. The dogma for the longest time was that adult brains couldn’t generate any new brain cells or connections. You just use what you were born with. Now neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to form and reorganize synaptic connections, especially in response to learning or experience or following injury) is a generally accepted concept in the medical community. It also frustrates me to no end when I hear about a doctor telling a patient that there is no hope. They are going to die or their health issue will never get any better. Says who? I understand that their medical education, and maybe even their experience, leads them to believe that. But what doctors are sure of one day may vary greatly from what they know a short time later. Discoveries and new treatments are coming every day. And what about God?
I have many personal examples in my own life where doctors, or experts in their fields, said one thing and I showed them something entirely different. Let’s begin at the very beginning. While I was still in utero the doctors told my mother I was going to be a boy (because of my heartrate) and that there was a good chance I would be born with Down Syndrome (because of my mother’s age). Neither is true. During my birth there came a point where the doctors no longer believed they could save both my mother and me (I was breech, the labor had gone on for many hours, and I was too far along to perform a C-section). They visited my father, in the waiting room, and asked him which one he wanted them to save. He chose my mother, but we both made it through alive and well.
Fast forward to much later in my life. I was driving to work on a wet and windy road, one winter day, and hit a patch of black ice at 45-50 mph. My SUV hit a utility pole head on. The engine was pushed all the way to the dashboard. I was in shock and sore but was able to get out of the vehicle. When the EMTs arrived, they looked into the vehicle and then asked me what happened to the driver. When I said I was the driver they couldn’t believe I was conscious (at best) or alive. After being ambulanced to the ER and thoroughly checked out, a friend took me to the lot where my car had been towed. The older gentleman who owned the lot approached us with a very somber look on his face and said “may I ask if the driver survived the crash?” When I replied I was the driver he said “lady, you have an angel on your shoulder.” I believe he was right.
And then there was the cancer journey. I already described many of the things that happened in earlier posts, but some bear repeating in relation to this topic. When I visited my first Oncologist, she said she thought I had stage 4 multiple myeloma and probably wouldn’t see Christmas. I did not have multiple myeloma and that was in 2012, six Christmases ago. When the biopsy determined I had Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma, I was told it was a very rare and aggressive type of cancer and there really was not enough data to determine a survival rate, but it wasn’t high. In fact, the likelihood of recurrence was greatest in the first 2-3 years. Although it hasn’t been an easy journey, I’m still here 5 ½ years later with no recurrence.
Those are only a few of many examples I could tell you about, but I think you get my point. Don’t let the doctors, or other so-called “experts,” steal your hope. They only know what they know. They certainly didn’t know me and they didn’t know my God. I believe I will be here until God calls me home and only He knows when that will be. So, when a well-meaning “expert” tells you something about you and your life, smile politely and remember they only know what they know. Tomorrow they may know something totally different. And never, ever let them steal your hope!!
