Advent Journey
Update from Tim,
Wednesday, December 10, 2025
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.”
Isaiah 9:2
Yesterday Gabriel visited and transported me to a place where I saw a great light. Literally.
Ok. Gabriel wasn’t an Angel sent from God. He is a Transportation Tech at Endeavor Edwards Naperville Hospital Critical Neuro Intensive Care Unit.
Gabriel pushes people like me around in giant wheeled hospital beds through the labyrinth of this vast institution.
In my case it was from Room 6609 down to the basement for another CT scan of my brain.
The aforementioned “great light “ came from X-Rays generated by a Siemens CT Scanner. Computed Tomography is a technique in which an X-Ray tube is spun around the central axis of the area being scanned. In my case, the brain.
I doubt that the author of Isaiah 9 had x-rays in mind but it works for me because the scan shows no funky anomalies in my skull beyond the mysterious bleeding detected last week which placed me in the valley of the shadow of death, so to speak.
Once scanned, Gabriel dutifully returned me back to my room where my medical team assembled to give us an interpretation of the data.
Basically, they are telling us not to worry too much about the numerous episodes of random numbness that appear frequently throughout the day on the left side of my body and mysteriously disappear as quickly as they come.
According to the neurosurgeon it is likely just a response to my body absorbing the blood left over from the hemorrhage that occurred between the skull and my brain.
When the residue is flushed away through the spinal fluid the brain responds to the unusual activity with an unpleasant nudge.
I’m sure that I got all that completely wrong, but let’s not let science get in the way of a good story.
I’m also on Depacon, a new to me anti seizure medication designed to treat epilepsy which may help control the numbness episodes. Whatever works.
Bottom line, more waiting and watching ahead.
Back to angles, they appeared in a steady parade throughout the day. Friends, colleagues, important figures responsible for my early life formation, my pastor toting the sacrament, and of course family.
My nurse pronounced it “kind of ballsy” for this many people, often unannounced, to appear in a Critical Neuro Intensive Care Unit to visit a patient.
I loved it. I’m embarrassed by it. I’m concerned for my twenty neighbors on the floor, most of whom are in far worse shape, and spend the day with no visits.
Mary in Luke’s Gospel didn’t ask for or expect a visit by the Angel Gabriel. Neither did I anticipate the visitation. A great light, indeed.