My Odyssey Blog

The lessons keep getting harder - Miracle # two

Mark's miracle (lesson) # two 

Have you ever noticed that when your life starts to get out of control, your morals and or ethics start to be sacrificed in the name of “a better life”, when you feel you need more and more worldly possessions & riches, “Sex Drugs and Rock and Roll”, when you are on the edge and don’t know it, something or someone, some event, in my place I believe God hits you like a Mac truck and says STOP! In my life it has happened three times. I guess I am a bit denser than most. You may already have read about my broken neck. That didn’t work.

God had to try again.

A “simple” shoulder surgery

 Years ago after undergoing a year of steroid injections and therapy to treat a sore shoulder my doctors decided that it was time for more drastic action. They decided to do a relatively common place Rotator Cuff repair. It was going to just be an overnight process and I was supposed to go home the next morning for what would be a brief recovery period. It should be noted here that the two most painful joint operations that take the longest to heal are the knee and the shoulder (I have had both) because they do not have their own blood supply.

That afternoon they took me to surgery and when they opened me up they were in for a surprise. The damage and needed repairs were far more extensive than they expected.

They did a major rotator repair, removed part of my clavicle and did a major cleanup and reconstruction. After a lengthy procedure the doctors met with my parents they exclaimed “no wonder he has been in so much pain for so long. We had no idea”. Despite everything they did when I awoke that night I did not feel too bad. I went home the next afternoon feeling positive about the repair and figuring I could go back to work in a week or two.

The unexpected

God had not yet finished his lesson

Within twenty four hours my pain had become unbearable and I spiked a fever of 104.

I was rushed back to the emergency room. Everybody expected the worse, a life threatening infection.

In order to determine this in a hurry the doctor, without the use of any anesthetic began removing the staples from the large incision on my shoulder. Next he took a 6 inch swab and began probing deep inside the wound, over and over again searching for infection. The pain was so intense that my wife had to place her body over mine to hold me down and keep me from taking a swing at the doctor which I had every intention of doing. The test showed that I was suffering from a hospital born Staph infection. I was rushed through the admission process and prepared for emergency surgery to re-open the wound, clean out the infection and flush it with antibiotics.

Thirty six hours later I still had a fever; my shoulder was red and hot. The surgical procedure was repeated and my blood was pumped full of the strongest antibiotics they could use.  My blood had to be tested constantly to test for liver failure and the potential breakdown of my immune system. I was receiving the maximum dosage of morphine to no effect. Believe it or not this process was repeated three more times. Five major surgeries in seven days and I was slipping away. I remember watching four doctors, the top specialist in infectious disease and my parents standing around my bed looking distressed and confused. They had no idea how to stop the infection and save my life.

Faith takes over

I made the decision after lots of meditation and prayer to put myself completely in god’s hands. I told the doctors to turn off the morphine and they cut off all the antibiotics and waited. Within twelve hours the fever broke. I felt like a new person. Two days later I returned home to begin a long and painful rehabilitation. My shoulder was frozen and my arm was locked in place against my chest. It took two months of therapy and another surgery to break my shoulder free before I could move my arm. I returned to work two months after my “simple surgery”.

Today my shoulder is perfectly normal. God still had some teaching to do and three years later another health crisis took two years out of my life but that is a story for another time.

I tell these stories not for sympathy or to get attention. I simply want to prove to you that no matter how severe your problems, no matter how hopeless you feel or how much physical and emotional pain you are living with you can overcome anything with faith, prayer, positive thought, determination and a belief in yourself. Once again I returned to work after a major trauma and broke all the records. Many of them were mine that had stood for 10 years.

I am no better, stronger, skilled or smarter than anybody reading this. I focused on my goals, put everything else out of my mind and gave 100% everyday for the six months following my return. I never used the word “can’t”. If I was told that something could not be done I just went out and did it. If you apply the same effort and attitude you can be in a new job in just 8 weeks.

Mark Warren

 

So you think you have it rough - My First Miracle

In May of 1986 My Company moved me from New Jersey to start a new division in Ohio. Two months later they decided to pull the plug and close Ohio. I started interviewing and found agreat job. I accepted the offer on July 26^th 1986. To celebrate I went to my favorite pub and had a few very strong Vodka & Grapefruits “Greyhounds”. About 4:00 I started for home only 1.5 miles away. It was a simple short drive through the “S” turns on Case rd. by Don Scott Air Field but something went horribly wrong.

 The city had re-paved the road that day. They left a 4-6 inch edge on the berm. Fooling with my radio going way to fast (After all I was driving a powerful sports car) my right front wheel slipped over the edge. Because of the drinks my reactions were slow and confused. Instead of the car easing back on the road it continued to the right and out of control. First it rolled then the front end dug into the ground and the car flipped end over end, through the airport fence and into the airport. I have no Idea how many times the car rolled and flipped but since they found me 75 ft from the car and every piece of sheet metal was destroyed I assume it was a rather violent crash.

 My first memory was of being arrested by a State Trooper in the ER for DUI. My next memory is being forced into a sitting position by a very ignorant X-Ray tech., Feeling my spine pop and my legs go numb. (She was fired promptly after almost killing me).

My next memory is feeling the doctor put screws into both sides of my head and hang weights from the screws.

 My parents and I were told that I had a badly broken neck. It was so bad that my spinal cord was actually outside the spinal column and was surrounded by broken bones from crushed and dislocated vertebrate.

I should not have made it to the hospital, I might not make it through the night and if I did I would probably never walk.

 I spent several days in that position waiting to “stabilize” in preparation for some very major spinal reconstructive surgery.The plan was to remove the shattered 5^th cervical vertebrate, take bone from my hip and fuse #4 to #6. The next step would be to wire #3 back together and reposition #4 which was dislocated

 

 The Operation

 

  I should point out that at this stage of my life I was not a very spiritual or religious person. I had left my Catholic heritage behind me and did not replace it with anything. I never Gave God thanks. If I prayed it was only to ask for stuff. I never cracked the cover of the Bible I was 35 years old with very little faith. I was certainly not deserving of any special favors or miracles from God.

 After three days the morning of the big event finally arrived. I had been informed of all the possible outcomes and they were not positive. I knew that when I closed my eyes in the O.R. I might never open them again; if I did I knew that I might find myself paralyzed.

I was scared to death, very depressed and had very little hope. While my parents tried not to let me see it they were suffering the same feelings. It was the darkest moment of our lives.

 At that moment, just before they took me away a Priest walked into my room. I had not requested him. He just showed up. I was so down I really was not in the mood for him but what could it hurt. My family left us alone and he began to pray with me. I confessed my sins(A pretty long list).I received final absolution / Last rights, Holy Communion, a final blessing; he held my hand and left me in Gods care.

When he left my family returned and they were shocked and amazed. They told me that I was a completely different person.I looked different, I was smiling, and my mood was up and positive. I had no fear of death, the outcome of the surgery, pain or what the rest of my life would be like.

All of the sudden I had faith. I knew without doubt that I could do nothing about what was about to happen. I could not in any way control my circumstances so why worry about it. I was in God’s hands and accepted His will no matter what that might be. I learned that day that the only things we need to worry about are those we control.

 It took a team of the best Neuro and orthopedic surgeons to put me back together during a very long and complicated surgery. There is no doubt that there was another presence in that room guiding their hands because absolutely nobody thought I would come out of the procedure unscathed.

Obviously I remember nothing about the surgery. The first thing I remember is waking up in intensive care. My parents and surgeons were there and the doctors immediately checked for feeling in my feet and legs. I could feel what they were doing. I moved my toes, then my feet and finally my legs. Everyone was surprised. Nobody expected this. Almost everybody with injuries like mine and many with far less severe neck injuries dies or ends up a Para or quadriplegic. Nobody walks away to a normal life. My family. My doctors and I knew this was miraculous.

 I was not done yet. I still had to go through the application of a Halo brace which meant having four screws placed in my head while wide awake. The brace was attached to an upper body cast which I would be stuck in for three months (summertime heat !?). There would be a lot more pain and work but two weeks after surgery I walked out of the hospital under my own power.

I finally started my new job four months late. In the first year I broke every record in the company’s 25 year history. I didn’t just break them; I destroyed them in stunning fashion. If I could come back from so much trauma and achieve what I did anybody reading this can do the same. Stop complaining to yourself about how hard things are. If you do not believe in yourself and your abilities who else will? Make up your mind to get the job you want or overachieve at the one you have and “just do it”. The word “can’t” needs to be erased from your mind. If you put in the work and take the time to learn you can do anything you want and do it well. If you are unemployed I promise that if you learn to do it correctly you will be in the job you want two months from today. Hire a coach or research everything on your own. All you need to know to conduct the perfect job search exist someplace on the web. Go find it and get it done.