August 1: Forest of Pines, God's Greatest Creations, Cough

Now the point of all this is that there are a million nephrons in each human kidney.  I've got two million glomeruli, two million Henle's loops, and I made them all myself, without the least effort.  They're undoubtedly my finest work.  What an elaboration, what an extravagance!  The proximal segment of the tubule, for instance, "is composed of irregular cuboidal cells with characteristic brushlike striations (brush border) at the internal, luminal border."  Here are my own fringed necessities, a veritable forest of pines.

God is an extravagant creator.  That's Dillard's point here.  The Great Designer has placed within our bodies the ability to create this forest of pines that filters and absorbs nutrients in the kidneys, if I understand the biology correctly.  We humans don't have to think about the planting of this forest--the intricacies of connections and blood and oxygen.  Nope.  We simply have to walk around and be miraculous proof of God's generous plans.

Having worked in the health care industry in various capacities for the past 17 years, I have a passing knowledge of the intricacies of the human.  Enough to make me a little bit of a hypochondriac.  When I was working in a cardiology office, I became highly aware of my heart hammering in my chest.  Every cardiac hiccup and burp threw me into a panic, so much so that last year I had a stress test.  (It wasn't my first.  I've had three stress tests in the past ten years.  In my defense, I have a strong family history of heart issues.)

Currently, I have had a cough for the past couple months.  Not a bronchial bark.  It's a dry annoying hack that comes upon me at night sometimes.  And sometimes when I'm driving my car with the air conditioning running.  Sometimes when I'm sitting on the couch reading a book.  I also have a strong family history of asthma, as well.  Last winter, I caught bronchitis that lasted a good month and a half.  However, I know a person--non-smoker, healthy eater, lifelong runner--who was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.  So, I'm going to see the doctor on Thursday for my cough, more for peace of mind than anything else.  A simple chest x-ray will put my mind at ease.

The human body is one of God's greatest creations.  Infinitely complex.  Filled with forests of nephrons and miles and miles of nerves.  Dillard is right.  Me?  I'm a person with a dangerously tiny amount of medical knowledge.  I respect God's work.  Think the human form is an amazing thing, inside and out (although I prefer the outside).

I'm sure the doctor is going to attribute this stupid cough to asthma or allergies.  I'm confident that I don't have cancer or congestive heart failure.  When you work around doctors and nurses and sick people all day long, however, you tend to get a little hyper-sensitive to the workings of your own little vessel of bones, muscle, and skin.

Thank goodness God never called Saint Marty to minister to lepers.

Okay, I've used this one before, but it still makes me laugh.