I don’t really have a question. I’m looking for another perspective or just your opinion.
A woman I work with (who doesn’t take very good care of herself-bad diet, smoker, no exercise, etc) has been in and out of the hospital recently. She had an ovarian cyst which ruptured causing extreme pain. She got it taken care of, but her doctor told her one of her larger cysts could have ruptured and caused many more problems. She said it was a "blessing"?!
Yesterday I was watching an interview with Kevin Everett, the Buffalo Bills player who suffered the spinal cord injury and is making a good recovery. He is just starting to walk on his own and can freely move his arms. Again, he said he has been "blessed" and he "thanks God" for his recovery and his life. Why? Isn’t the reason he is alive and walking because of the quick medical response and the huge advances science has made in the field of spinal cord injuries? I don’t get it.
When I get sick and a doctor cures me, I give credit to the doctor. I haven’t been ill for a long time, for which I credit a relatively healthy lifestyle. When I fractured my ankle years ago, I knew it was my fault for the way I landed while rebounding in basketball. When the ankle healed, I knew it was because of the medical advice/attention I received. I take blame when I am at fault and try to give credit where credit is due. Is it just me (and a few others)?
Linda, why do you assume I view everything "in the negative"? That’s a fairly bizarre statement. Negative things happen. People who say "well, it could have been worse" are kidding themselves and delusional. Of course it could have been worse! I could get sick at any point in time. I try to prevent it. How is that a negative thing?
Bourbon, I understand what you are saying, but that is generally not true. People have an easy time SAYING they will change (you know, the alcoholic who wakes up and promises to never drink again….), but people rarely change. I look beyond words to actions, which is where I have a hard time understanding why people simply pay lip service to their God. The woman I work with was going to talk more to me, but she was on her way out the door for her smoke break. Go figure. Kevin Everett got injured making a dangerous play in a dangerous sport. If he is able to fully recover quickly, what do you think he’ll do? I’m guessing play football. That’s what happens.
Again, for those of you who insist that "God spared" their lives…..would both people not have (more than likely) died without prompt medical attention? Would that be considered God not sparing their lives?
To the point of our medical advances being a "blessing", I see your point,b but that does not seem to me to be what the two people were referring to when they said they were blessed. Neither of them said anything about the blessing being the medical advances or the doctor’s care. They simply referenced God. You may view our technological advances as being allowed by God, I simply don’t see the point of that. Again, that’s just me.
Joseph, what was the miracle? Could you define that term? It seems that there is a perfectly rational explanation for both injuries and recoveries. I hardly consider that to be a miracle. I would think there would be many more Saints, according to the Catholic Church, if using medical techniques/treatments to help someone was considered a miracle.
Ecterbob (hi, by the way), I am with you until a point. You say you shouldn’t thank the insurance comany because they did not heal you. Agreed. The doctors and nurses did. Thank them. Why the need to take it any further? Isn’t that it. You were sick. The doctor helped you. Say thanks to the doctor and be grateful that you have good insurance to pay for it!
Padme, I’m not going to pretend. If I did, I might as well pretend invisible fairies had a hand in it.
Wilder, I think you need to seek a different doctor. I have never met one (not to say they aren’t out there) who couldn’t offer a reasonable explanation for why I was sick/injured.
As far as the insistence many of you have that "what’s the big deal, they just wanted to thank God for the ability and availability of their doctor’s and for the possibility of the treatment", neither person in my scenarios said anything to that affect. Again, they simply thanked God,. You are inferring what you want, but it is not necessaily true. They both had ample opportunity to express their gratitude to God for allowing/helping such things as their treatment, but neither did. They both stopped short of doing so.
Obviously I completely disagree with most of you, but I thank you for your input, as I do have a better understanding.
Laura, doctors and medical professionals know full well why those things occur. The chances of someone recovering from a spinal cord injury, such as that suffered by Everett, depend a great deal on the quickness of the response. It is well documented and known. Many medical professionals at the time of the incident explained this point. If he had been in a car wreck and sat there for half an hour before receiving treatment, his chances for recovery would have greatly diminished. He was hurt on a football field with medical professionals standing by. They knew immediately what the scenario was and were able to take the appropriate precautions within minutes to greatly increase his odds of recovery. I don’t think you give the medical community nearly enough credit.
Doctors understand a great deal (perhaps not everything) about transplant patients and whether they will "take to" a particular organ. The medical community, so far as I know, did not give up trying to understand and say "only God knows why this works/doesn’t work". They seek the answers and have gained a much greater understanding. the odds of a person having a successful transplant have greatly increased in the past several decades. Are you inplying God just decided to make them more successful recently?
Ecterbob…ture enough and simply put. Thanks! 
Vittoria, right on point.
Barak, Young, again you are missing vital information. I picked the Kevin Everett story on purpose because doctors DID know exactly what it took to greatly increase his chances of a full recovery. Mny of you are quick to say "yeah, well some people don’t recover from those injuries". No kidding. That’s exactly the point. Some don’t recover AND THERE IS A MEDICAL EXPLANATION! Simply because Sportscenter kept repeating how he could have been paralyzed or that some doctors say "he may never walk again" does not play to the truth of the situation. Medical professionals explained the type of injury, what kind of treatment and how quickly the treatment would be needed in order to increase his odds of recovering. He got those things. It’s not some "medical mystery" beyond our comprehension.
Apaarently this is a large part of why I am an atheist. I seek answers and reasons for why things are. I am not content to see something, declare it miraculous, throw up my hands and thank God. These people should be glad the doctor’s did not do that, too. If the medical coommunity were to simply accept that some things are beyond their control and understanding, I can guarantee you one thing - Kevin Everett would not be walking today. It is only because of advances in medicine, years studying this type of injury, etc. that doctor’s knew what to do. Many of you thank God for the ability of doctors to understand such things. I do not (which is obviously where we differ) simply because I see no reason to.
Thanks again for all of the thoughtful answers.
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