Brothers and Sisters, Friends and Family,
First of all, I want to say to all of you who prayed and replied with encourage....you have added blessing to my soul. Your e-mails alone were enormously (is that a word?) uplifting. How can a person be down or discouraged when he is surrounded by such love? So let me tell you how God answered you all today. This will be lengthy, but I want to put the details in it so that you can see how much God was in it. I believe we can see God most in the details of our lives, it is just that usually we do not take the time to focus enough to see the trees, we just see the forest. In the trees we see the great care and love and grace that God personally puts into each and every one....
I had a telecon with work at 0800. It lasted until around 0850. I was shooting to leave the house at 0900, but I could not find my keys so it delayed me until 0910ish. Admittedly, I was a little tense because I wanted to get started on this adventure as soon as possible because I had no idea how long it would take. So I pull up to the gate at Ft. Campbell and realize that the temporary pass for our vehicle for Ft. Campbell only has my wife's name on it. It had a spot for additional drivers but it was blank. So I said a little prayer and acted normal. The gate guard looked at my i.d., looked at my pass, looked at my license plate #, and said....have a nice day. YES! First Angel's mission accomplished. Then I realize that I did not bring anything proving that I am ETSing, no leave form, no orders, just me and my military i.d. and my story. This was a really dumb move on my part. Thankfully, God is smarter than I am and adjusts accordingly (nobody get theological on me for that statement, just let me tell my story). So I walk into Blanchfield Army Hospital. I have no idea where I should go to find a doctor who will give me a referral to dermatology to have this excision done. I am standing in front of a poor excuse for a hospital directory trying to figure out where to go. You see...the night before my doctor at Ft. Meade called and advised me to go to the hospital here and get a doctor to give me a referral, so I was planning on walking into each clinic and seeing what happened. Que the next Angel....a random nice doctor "happened" to walk by just as I was standing there (back track a moment...remember I was standing there ten minutes later than I had wanted to be due to losing my keys). He stopped and asked me where I was trying to get to. That was a loaded question....I told him I had no idea where I wanted to go and I gave him a brief run down of my story. He started to look as confused as I did and then suggested I just go straight to dermatology and they could probably tell me exactly from who they would need the referral. Great idea! I told you God was smarter than I am. So I went to dermatology first, which turned out to be the key to unlock the door (second mission accomplished). I spoke with two ladies at the front desk. How should I describe them...well, let just say that one was very optimistic and one was...um...not so optimistic. The not so optimistic one said that I would just have to deal with VA because I did not have enough time to get the referral in and see the doctor because he had a meeting this afternoon and would be gone all day on Friday (which is my last day in the Army and last day of eligibility for tricare). The optimistic one looked up my record, saw that the results were atypical and that a larger excision was needed. She told me that if I went to La Pointe Medical Clinic on post I could try to get one of the Primary Care Doctors to see me and put in a referral. The other one said that they probably would not see me and reiterated that they could not see me before tomorrow. The tennis match between the two was almost amusing (it would have been quite hilarious, except that I was the ball). So the not so optimistic one eventually relinquished and wrote down my information and said that she would at least be watching for the referral if it came in (third angel's mission accomplished). So I headed to La Pointe, the problem was that I knew the not so lady was probably correct. But I knew all of you were praying so I walked into the clinic with courage and a smile and stepped into the ring, I mean up to the desk. She did not have one of those "I am very concerned about patients and will go out of my way to do whatever I can to make things happen" faces. I told her my story and she was very not so optimistic. She did not think I could be seen and did not think it would happen before tomorrow. I kept assuring her that if I could just get the referral I would be one step closer. She asked me to fill out a walk-in sick call slip and she would see what could be done. Then she gave it to a nurse and explained it to her. The nurse said that referrals take 72 hours to get to the specialty clinics (now, what computer system takes 72 hours to send a file to a location 3 miles away?). But I smiled and said (remember the key), "I have just come from dermatology and they said they are waiting right now for the referral." The nurses face changed from a frown to a slightly positive grin. SCORE! So she asked me to have a seat. 30 minutes or so passed and she came out to tell me that the doctor finished and sent my referral (man, these angels are on a ROLE). She said that I should make sure dermatology had my contact numbers and wait for them to call me. I had their phone number, but I thought it best to have a little more face time with them so I headed back to dermatology. I walk in and guess what, not so lady is not there, but the optimistic one was not either. But God placed another nice one in their place. She was very concerned about my situation, she looked at the referral and spoke with the derm nurse, and looked at the afternoon's schedule. She was hopeful, but she said I needed to call in about an hour and speak to the not so lady because she is the one who does the scheduling. That was a knife to the chest. But the derm nurse said that it would be entirely up to the doctor as to whether or not he could fit me in today. Again, he had a meeting this afternoon and was gone all day tomorrow. My time was running short. So I headed home at 1145. At 1235 I called the clinic and spoke with the not so lady, and she was still....not so. She said I would just have to go to the VA hospital in Nashville and get it done there. So I got the VA phone number and started to call them. It took several minutes to get through the automated phone tree and then I was automatedly (word?) told that they "were experiencing high call volume and that my hold time may be extended." So I am on hold for about ten minutes or so, all the while thinking about the fact that it will probably take several months to get into the VA system and actually be seen and hoping that my arm did not fall off by then. Finally, a ring, you know, the ring just before you get connected to someone. Great....ring, ring, ring, it did not stop. I must of sat there for two minutes listening to it ring, just my luck I wait all this time and then the system screws up...do I hang up, maybe just a few more rings....I hang up. MY phone rings....caller I.D. says it is a Ft. Campbell Hospital.....
Are you guys ready for this.......the not so lady says "hello, is this Staff Sergeant Chapman?" AND she does not sound "not so" anymore!!!! I say, "yes it is." She says, "What are you doing at 2:45pm today?" I caught on real quick, I said, "COMING in to the Dermatology clinic!" She said, "Yes. The Doctor's meeting was cancelled and he said he could help you out by seeing you today." (I commend that fifth angel who got the meeting cancelled. Great Work! You need a raise!) And now I know why I could not get through to VA as well. As Jade said, "God was holding me off, saying, hold on...I am working the issue, just be patient. Do not lose faith!"
Hallelujah! All of you out there who know anything about Army Medical care and the way it works can not deny this Miracle. I walked in cold turkey without being assigned to a unit, or clinic, or doctor on this post, I got a referral to a specialty clinic AND I got a same day a appointment for a surgical procedure at the clinic! That never happens! Until today! And NO ONE asked to see my orders! Which means that each and everyone of them took me at my word without having the paperwork to back it up. That never happens either, the Army is all about having the right paperwork in the right place at the right time, otherwise you are out of luck!
So I am now missing a big chunk of my skin. I will not tell you the details, but just know that they cut so deep that I have two sets of stitches, one set down in my skin which can not be seen, and one set for the surface of my skin. The biopsy results will be back in a couple of weeks. The Doc said that it does not seem to BE cancer, but it was something that could DEVELOP into cancer so that is why they removed it.
Sorry this story is so very long, but I hope you feel encouraged that God listens. And if you are one out there who doubts that God listens or maybe doubts He even exists, I hope that this may encourage you. God is alive and walking along side His children each and every day. We just have to take time to stop and look closely at the trees. If you do, I promise you will see Him.
I love you all! Truly, thanks so very much for your fellowship. It means everything on this earth to me and my family. God Bless!
First of all, I want to say to all of you who prayed and replied with encourage....you have added blessing to my soul. Your e-mails alone were enormously (is that a word?) uplifting. How can a person be down or discouraged when he is surrounded by such love? So let me tell you how God answered you all today. This will be lengthy, but I want to put the details in it so that you can see how much God was in it. I believe we can see God most in the details of our lives, it is just that usually we do not take the time to focus enough to see the trees, we just see the forest. In the trees we see the great care and love and grace that God personally puts into each and every one....
I had a telecon with work at 0800. It lasted until around 0850. I was shooting to leave the house at 0900, but I could not find my keys so it delayed me until 0910ish. Admittedly, I was a little tense because I wanted to get started on this adventure as soon as possible because I had no idea how long it would take. So I pull up to the gate at Ft. Campbell and realize that the temporary pass for our vehicle for Ft. Campbell only has my wife's name on it. It had a spot for additional drivers but it was blank. So I said a little prayer and acted normal. The gate guard looked at my i.d., looked at my pass, looked at my license plate #, and said....have a nice day. YES! First Angel's mission accomplished. Then I realize that I did not bring anything proving that I am ETSing, no leave form, no orders, just me and my military i.d. and my story. This was a really dumb move on my part. Thankfully, God is smarter than I am and adjusts accordingly (nobody get theological on me for that statement, just let me tell my story). So I walk into Blanchfield Army Hospital. I have no idea where I should go to find a doctor who will give me a referral to dermatology to have this excision done. I am standing in front of a poor excuse for a hospital directory trying to figure out where to go. You see...the night before my doctor at Ft. Meade called and advised me to go to the hospital here and get a doctor to give me a referral, so I was planning on walking into each clinic and seeing what happened. Que the next Angel....a random nice doctor "happened" to walk by just as I was standing there (back track a moment...remember I was standing there ten minutes later than I had wanted to be due to losing my keys). He stopped and asked me where I was trying to get to. That was a loaded question....I told him I had no idea where I wanted to go and I gave him a brief run down of my story. He started to look as confused as I did and then suggested I just go straight to dermatology and they could probably tell me exactly from who they would need the referral. Great idea! I told you God was smarter than I am. So I went to dermatology first, which turned out to be the key to unlock the door (second mission accomplished). I spoke with two ladies at the front desk. How should I describe them...well, let just say that one was very optimistic and one was...um...not so optimistic. The not so optimistic one said that I would just have to deal with VA because I did not have enough time to get the referral in and see the doctor because he had a meeting this afternoon and would be gone all day on Friday (which is my last day in the Army and last day of eligibility for tricare). The optimistic one looked up my record, saw that the results were atypical and that a larger excision was needed. She told me that if I went to La Pointe Medical Clinic on post I could try to get one of the Primary Care Doctors to see me and put in a referral. The other one said that they probably would not see me and reiterated that they could not see me before tomorrow. The tennis match between the two was almost amusing (it would have been quite hilarious, except that I was the ball). So the not so optimistic one eventually relinquished and wrote down my information and said that she would at least be watching for the referral if it came in (third angel's mission accomplished). So I headed to La Pointe, the problem was that I knew the not so lady was probably correct. But I knew all of you were praying so I walked into the clinic with courage and a smile and stepped into the ring, I mean up to the desk. She did not have one of those "I am very concerned about patients and will go out of my way to do whatever I can to make things happen" faces. I told her my story and she was very not so optimistic. She did not think I could be seen and did not think it would happen before tomorrow. I kept assuring her that if I could just get the referral I would be one step closer. She asked me to fill out a walk-in sick call slip and she would see what could be done. Then she gave it to a nurse and explained it to her. The nurse said that referrals take 72 hours to get to the specialty clinics (now, what computer system takes 72 hours to send a file to a location 3 miles away?). But I smiled and said (remember the key), "I have just come from dermatology and they said they are waiting right now for the referral." The nurses face changed from a frown to a slightly positive grin. SCORE! So she asked me to have a seat. 30 minutes or so passed and she came out to tell me that the doctor finished and sent my referral (man, these angels are on a ROLE). She said that I should make sure dermatology had my contact numbers and wait for them to call me. I had their phone number, but I thought it best to have a little more face time with them so I headed back to dermatology. I walk in and guess what, not so lady is not there, but the optimistic one was not either. But God placed another nice one in their place. She was very concerned about my situation, she looked at the referral and spoke with the derm nurse, and looked at the afternoon's schedule. She was hopeful, but she said I needed to call in about an hour and speak to the not so lady because she is the one who does the scheduling. That was a knife to the chest. But the derm nurse said that it would be entirely up to the doctor as to whether or not he could fit me in today. Again, he had a meeting this afternoon and was gone all day tomorrow. My time was running short. So I headed home at 1145. At 1235 I called the clinic and spoke with the not so lady, and she was still....not so. She said I would just have to go to the VA hospital in Nashville and get it done there. So I got the VA phone number and started to call them. It took several minutes to get through the automated phone tree and then I was automatedly (word?) told that they "were experiencing high call volume and that my hold time may be extended." So I am on hold for about ten minutes or so, all the while thinking about the fact that it will probably take several months to get into the VA system and actually be seen and hoping that my arm did not fall off by then. Finally, a ring, you know, the ring just before you get connected to someone. Great....ring, ring, ring, it did not stop. I must of sat there for two minutes listening to it ring, just my luck I wait all this time and then the system screws up...do I hang up, maybe just a few more rings....I hang up. MY phone rings....caller I.D. says it is a Ft. Campbell Hospital.....
Are you guys ready for this.......the not so lady says "hello, is this Staff Sergeant Chapman?" AND she does not sound "not so" anymore!!!! I say, "yes it is." She says, "What are you doing at 2:45pm today?" I caught on real quick, I said, "COMING in to the Dermatology clinic!" She said, "Yes. The Doctor's meeting was cancelled and he said he could help you out by seeing you today." (I commend that fifth angel who got the meeting cancelled. Great Work! You need a raise!) And now I know why I could not get through to VA as well. As Jade said, "God was holding me off, saying, hold on...I am working the issue, just be patient. Do not lose faith!"
Hallelujah! All of you out there who know anything about Army Medical care and the way it works can not deny this Miracle. I walked in cold turkey without being assigned to a unit, or clinic, or doctor on this post, I got a referral to a specialty clinic AND I got a same day a appointment for a surgical procedure at the clinic! That never happens! Until today! And NO ONE asked to see my orders! Which means that each and everyone of them took me at my word without having the paperwork to back it up. That never happens either, the Army is all about having the right paperwork in the right place at the right time, otherwise you are out of luck!
So I am now missing a big chunk of my skin. I will not tell you the details, but just know that they cut so deep that I have two sets of stitches, one set down in my skin which can not be seen, and one set for the surface of my skin. The biopsy results will be back in a couple of weeks. The Doc said that it does not seem to BE cancer, but it was something that could DEVELOP into cancer so that is why they removed it.
Sorry this story is so very long, but I hope you feel encouraged that God listens. And if you are one out there who doubts that God listens or maybe doubts He even exists, I hope that this may encourage you. God is alive and walking along side His children each and every day. We just have to take time to stop and look closely at the trees. If you do, I promise you will see Him.
I love you all! Truly, thanks so very much for your fellowship. It means everything on this earth to me and my family. God Bless!
--
His, emman
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