Checking in

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: It’s Tuesday the 6th of August. Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Lindsay Mast.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. You have no doubt missed the voice of our friend and colleague Mary Reichard the last several days. I’ll cut straight to it: She is facing a serious health challenge involving her heart. We’ve been in touch by phone and Mary’s now in the hospital in St. Louis getting the best care possible. But we have to expect that she’s going to need to be away for a bit.

But Mary being Mary, she wanted to stay in touch with you, so I did encourage her to keep a diary, knowing you’d be interested.

So she did one better. And before she was admitted on Monday afternoon, she made this recording for you. And let’s listen to it now.

MARY REICHARD: I’m part of a club I never wanted to be in, one with membership of more than 20 million people! That’s the group of Americans with coronary artery disease. The most common type of heart disease, and notably the leading cause of death in the United States.

I just got that diagnosis last week. And thank the Lord for my husband, who is my advocate! Because after a bunch of tests the hospital told me to go home just to see what might happen, even though I had a terrible calcium score—recommend you get one—even worse family history, and pain in my chest, neck, and jaw going on for several weeks.

My husband just wasn’t going to have it. He’d seen me on the floor in pain enough times that he insisted on another test, an angiogram. I think staff did it mainly to placate him. But guess what? The angiogram came back with news of major blockage of the left anterior descending artery, a diagnosis also known as “the widow maker.”

So, for the next few weeks, I am going to be away from here to focus on my health. I plan to keep a diary of sorts to share with my fellow club members what I’m learning. You know I’ve wanted to be on the medical health beat for awhile now, but Nick kept saying, No, he wanted me to do that legal stuff. Well, lookie here, I’m finally getting my way!

Most importantly, I’m living with the faith that I can be a believer in the promises of Jesus Christ, with or without a disease. He’s got me, He’s got you, and it’ll be alright, no matter what. Psalm 46, verse 10, my favorite: Be still, and know that I am God.

I’ll check in with you later. Bye for now.

EICHER: Get well, Mary. We’re praying for you. 

MASTAnd we know we’re not alone in that!

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