[BlindTlk] Never Give Up

[pmdonahue2 at gmail.com]

Good afternoon everyone,

	Over the past few days we've received numerous messages from someone who seems to be giving upon life. If I was in this situation I would ask for folks to lift me up in prayer. There's averse of scripture that speaks directly to someone in this situation. It's found in the book of Ecclesiastes that admonishes one to never give up as long as you have breath in you and are still in this World. Here it is:
  Ecclesiastes 9:4:
There is hope, however for anyone who is among the living. For even a live dog is better than a dead lion.

	As long as you're alive you could still receive a healing one way or other. This is a time to activate one's faith when death seems to be looming.

	I know about this first-hand as I was almost taken out three times in 2019 and 2020. In 2019 I was diagnosed with an infection in my right leg the results of limfedema. I came very close to loosing that leg. Thanks to talented health care professionals and refusing to believe that my life was coming to an end I'm here to write this message. One PICC Line and lots of antibiotic's later I still have my leg. That was just the warm-up act.

	In November of 2019 I was rushed to Northeast Baptist Hospital due to being short of breath a condition that had been developing for a very long time. The doctors determined that I was over medicated for high blood pressure and wasn't receiving addequate oxygen when I slept again something that was going on for years but was never diagnosed. Had these conditions been discovered when I was much younger many of the situations I delt with over the years particularly those that had a bad outcome for me would had a more positive outcome. I'll be reminded of one such incident on July 3, 2021 the 20th anniversary of what I still call to this day my, "National convention from Hell.) Thanks to a long over due diagnosis of my sleep apnea and oxygen deficiency life is much better. I must now sleep connected to both an oxygen concentrator and a bipap machine to insure my airway stays clear and I receive sufficient oxygen. Situations like the one I referred to above had never happened again praise God!

	But the Devil wasn't done with me yet. Shortly after New Years in 2020 I began feeling tired and lost my appetite. Everything tasted terrible except to some meal bars and meal replacement shakes we eat and drink. People these kept me alive during this time until the hospital was able to get me eating again. This time it was discovered that the infection in my leg spread into my kidneys. Add a stomach flu into the mix and I would have been in Davie Jones's locker but I refused to believe death was calling. Lots of talented health professionals, medication, and three agonizing nights with a yurinary catheter in me I live to tell this tail too.

	All of this reaffirmed to me that even live dogs can still make their mark in life. God wasn't through with me yet and decided to keep me on this Earth for a while longer. 

	I was able to escape the hospital shortly before COVID-19 began running rampant Worldwide. Neither Mary or myself contracted COVID-19and we're very thankful for that. We received our first Pfizer Vaccination two weeks ago and will receive the booster next Friday.

	I would like to ask everyone to keep Mary and I in your prayers for our continued good health and however much time we have left on this Earth. A week from this Monday I'll be undergoing a surgical procedure to address a blood flow issue in my right leg the same leg that was infected in 2019. I have a vein in the leg that has a traffic jam going on. Blood is trying to flow through it in both directions when it should only flow one way. I'm reminded of this whenever I get cramps in that leg. The procedure is called Radio frequency Ablation. Put simply the affected vein will be fried to shut it down. Blood will be redirected through other veins and will flow properly. I had this procedure done on my left leg in 2019 and felt the right leg should be done to prevent future infections resulting from lymphedema. I had my share of blisters on both legs and don't wish it on anyone. My right leg looked like something from a horror movie due to the blistering being so bad. There's no trace of this mayhem now. This is why I opted to have the Radio Frequency Ablation done on the right leg to be sure it stays that way.

	Throughout this whole ordeal I could have convinced myself that life was over and I would never achieve something of significance. Others who have come and gone before us played their part in making life better for those of us who are still here in the blindness community and beyond. They're now dead lions but those of us who remain are the live dogs who still have a chance to achieve greatness and make our wildest dreams come true. As long as you have life in you things can still turn around. We'll keep you in our prayers and thoughts. All the best for a wonderful 2021.

Peter Donahue