It is approximately three months since I was discharged from hospital on the 24th June, 2015, so I am writing this with the benefit of experience since that date.

Earlier I had described being discharged from hospital with anti viral tablets, painkillers, eye drops and ear drops. The EYE DROPS were a precautionary measure because the virus missed entering my eye by a fraction and the evidence of this near miss can be seen from the scar left at the right hand corner of my right eye after the scab fell off. To me, Satan intended as much painful damage as possible and it was God who stopped him. Had Satan not been restrained by God, the result for me does not bear thinking about; I would probably have needed a corneal transplant. I have to thank God for his protection, and the fact that I can still write, bearing in mind I need my glasses to both read and write, with otherwise healthy pain free eyes.

I also have to thank God that I can have pain free sleep at night and pain free times for eating my meals. The rest of the time I can cope with the waves of pain in my ear and on my face. I say ‘waves’ because there are calm periods during the day. This is not the time to disguise the type of pain Satan can administer and when I recently told my doctor how my ear and face felt, he said he would refer me to an ENT Specialist (ear, nose and throat) I had earlier seen an ENT doctor, who looked in my ear with a special camera and then said she could not see a foreign object in my ear (canal). The virus has also rendered me deaf in the right ear.

Satan is very active during my prayer periods, especially during the rosary, and at other times. First of all, I do not know what the inner ear looks like; I can only describe the feeling. Sometimes I feel that a giant mass is building up in my ear waiting to explode; at regular intervals I feel that there is a foreign object in the ear canal rolling about; other times the apple of my cheek feels like it is being stabbed. Painkillers are not effective for me. I usually have to use an ice block from the freezer to get some relief. During July/August I had a few sessions with an Acupuncturist, who stuck needles over the right hand side of my face. A relief from the usual! Eventually, I realised I was wasting my time and money. Not a reflection on the Acupuncturist, who was anxious to achieve success. Needless to say, I didn’t tell him that he was not dealing with Mother Nature!

I’m just glad that in my prayers over a considerable period of time before I got shingles, I had given my Free Will to God to do with as he would. Remember, God would not want me as a witness, under such circumstances, without my free will being involved. I’m in God’s hands now.

Many of us have heard Heaven described as Paradise. How has Hell been described? A young girl called Anneliese, who died many years ago, could describe Hell if she was writing this: ‘Hell is a place of utter despair. The Souls in Hell would gladly kill themselves just to get away from Satan. Alas, they are unable to do this because they are already dead’.

AT YOUR SERVICE, DEAR LORD, NOW AND FOREVER.
RMF 20th September, 2015.