3주간 동안 왼쪽 대퇴골 골절 수술과 치료를 받았던 남외동 동천동강병원에서 남구에 있는 재활병원으로 8월 1일 금요일 오후 1시경 옮겨왔습니다. 퇴원 1주일 전만해도 재활병원으로 옮기는 것을 생각하면서도 이 곳을 대안으로 떠올려본 적이 없었습니다. 병원도 알고 있었고, 원장님 내외분도 잘 아는 사이였지만, 암환자 재활을 하는 곳이라고만 알았기 때문입니다. 그런데 어떤 집사님이, 마치 예언만 하고 사라진 구약 선지자처럼, 제니스병원을 추천하고 돌아갔습니다. 그래서 카톡을 보냈습니다. “장로님 잘 계시지요 지난 7월 11(금)일 자전거 사고로 왼쪽 대퇴골이 부러져서 바로 수술하고 손조롭게 회복 중입니다 뼈가 부러졌는데도 별다른 통증을 느끼지 못하는 은혜를 날마다 경험하고 있습니다 주치의가 주말쯤 퇴원을 말하길래 전동병상침대를 빌려서 집으로 갈까 생각하고 있었습니다. 그런데 오늘 오전에 문병 오신 분이 두 주간 정도 재활병원에 더 있다가 집으로 가면, 도움이 되겠다고 하시면서 제니스병원을 추천했습니다. 장로님 생각은 어떠신지요 두 분의 기도를 부탁합니다 감사합니다^^”
곧 바로 전화를 주셔서 퇴원하는대로 바로 여기로 옮기기로 했습니다. 병원에 도착해서 무엇보다 좋았던 것은 지하주차장을 사용할 수 있었던 일입니다. 동천강변 임시주차장에 차를 세웠을 때는 폭우가 내린다며 다른 곳으로 차를 옮기라는 전갈을 몇 차례씩 받았고, 결국 뒤에는 동천체육관 주차장에 차를 두고 10여 분을 걸어다니던 아내를 보면서 미안하던터이니 말입니다. 호캉스 시즌 1의 분위기는, 울산 시내에 뼈를 다친 환자들이 밀어닥쳐서 5인실 병실이 거의 야전병원 수준이었다면, 호캉스 시즌 2는 병원분위기라기보다는 호텔 분위기입니다. 깨끗하고 밝은 공간에 친절이 특색인 곳으로 옮기니 <고진감래>라는 사자성어가 저절로 생각이 났습니다.
병원장 장로님께서는 엄청 바쁜 분인데, 금요일 저녁에는 수술을 하다말고 잠깐 시간을 내어서 병실로, 토요일 오전에는 부인 윤 권사님이 찾아왔습니다. 우리가 서로 만난 것은 오래 되었지만 특별히 감동했던 것은 이전처럼 해맑은 관계로 만날 수 있었다는 사실입니다. 이전과는 달리 이번에는 병원장이고 환자이지만 상황에 따라서 표정이 바뀌는 관계가 아닌, 변함없는 성도의 교제를 나눌 수 있어서 특히 감사했습니다. 그리고 그 토요일 오전에는 충청도 서산에서 불편한 몸에 건강도 좋지 않은 동갑 친구부부가 달려왔습니다. 소식을 듣고 울며 기도만 하고 있을 수 없었던가 봅니다. 병실에서 면회는 제한되어 있으니 9층에 있는 카페테리아에서 만났습니다. 하긴 사고 소식을 듣고 눈물을 흘렸다는 사연은 처음이 아닙니다. 초등학생 혜리와 이얀, 오누이로부터 시작되었으니까요^^
호캉스 시즌 2가 시작되어 가장 감동스런 일은 그 토요일에 물리치료사를 만났을 때입니다. 물론 지난 번 병원에서 이미 하이워커도, 목발도 경험했지만, 굳어진 왼쪽 다리 근육을 펴는 일부터 차근차근 순차적으로 새로 가르쳐 주면서, 주말에 혼자서 해야 할 숙제까지 내어주었기 때문입니다. 사실 재활병원으로 옮겨와서도 많은 분들로부터 후한 호의를 받았지만, 한 편으로는 집으로 바로 가는 편이 어땠을까하는 생각이 스멀스멀 들기도 했기 때문입니다. 그런데 토요일의 첫 만남, 그리고 오늘 월요일 두 번째 만남으로 그런 생각은 싹 지워졌습니다. 오히려 바로 갔더라면 큰 실수를 할뻔했다는 생각이 찾아왔습니다. “네가 자기의 일에 능숙한 사람을 보았느냐 이러한 사람은 왕 앞에 설 것이요 천한 자 앞에 서지 아니하리라”(잠 22:29)
On Friday, August 1, around 1:00 PM, I was transferred from Dongcheon Donggang Hospital in Namoe-dong—where I had undergone surgery and treatment for a fractured left femur for three weeks—to a rehabilitation hospital in Nam-gu. Even just a week prior to discharge, while considering transferring to a rehabilitation hospital, I had never once thought of this place as an option. I knew the hospital and was well acquainted with the medical director and his wife, but I had assumed it was solely a rehabilitation facility for cancer patients. However, a certain deacon, like an Old Testament prophet who delivers a prophecy and departs, recommended Zenith Hospital before leaving. So, I sent a KakaoTalk message:
“Elder, I hope you are doing well. On Friday, July 11, I broke my left femur in a bicycle accident, underwent surgery immediately, and am recovering smoothly. I am experiencing the grace each day of feeling hardly any pain despite the broken bone. My attending physician mentioned discharge around the weekend, so I was considering renting an electric hospital bed and heading home. But this morning, a visitor suggested it would be helpful to spend about two weeks at a rehabilitation hospital before returning home, and recommended Zenith Hospital. What are your thoughts, Elder? I ask for prayers from both of you. Thank you. ^^”
He called me right back, and we decided that I would transfer here as soon as I was discharged. Upon arriving at the hospital, what pleased me most was being able to use the underground parking garage. When parking in the temporary lot by the Dongcheon River, we had received notices several times to move the car due to torrential rains; eventually, my wife had to park at the Dongcheon Gymnasium lot and walk back and forth for about ten minutes each time, which made me feel so sorry for her. If the atmosphere of 'Hocance Season 1' felt almost like a field hospital in a five-bed room overcrowded with bone-fracture patients pouring in from all over Ulsan, 'Hocance Season 2' feels more like a hotel than a hospital. Settling into a clean, bright space where kindness is the hallmark, the four-character idiom Gojingamlae (sweetness follows bitterness) naturally came to mind.
The elder who serves as hospital director is an exceedingly busy man, yet on Friday evening he briefly stepped away from surgeries to visit my room, and on Saturday morning his wife, Senior Deaconess Yoon, paid a visit as well. Though we have known each other for a long time, what moved me deeply was being able to meet with the same bright, genuine relationship as before. Unlike in ordinary settings where one is now a hospital director and the other a patient—a dynamic where expressions often change depending on circumstances—it was a true blessing to share an unchanging fellowship of saints. Moreover, on that Saturday morning, a couple who are my lifelong friends of the same age rushed all the way from Seosan in Chungcheong Province, despite their own frail health and physical discomfort. Hearing the news, they simply couldn't just sit, weep, and pray from afar. Since ward visits are restricted, we met in the cafeteria on the ninth floor. Indeed, hearing about tears being shed upon news of my accident was nothing new; it had already begun with young Hyeri and Ian, the brother and sister in elementary school. ^^
The most moving part of beginning Hocance Season 2 was meeting the physical therapist on Saturday. Of course, at the previous hospital, I had already practiced with a high walker and crutches, but here, the therapist methodically taught me anew from the ground up—starting with stretching the stiff muscles of my left leg—and even assigned me homework to practice on my own over the weekend. To be honest, even after moving to the rehabilitation hospital and receiving generous kindness from so many people, a quiet lingering thought kept creeping in: Wouldn't it have been better to just go straight home? Yet through that first encounter on Saturday and our second session today, Monday, those doubts vanished completely. Instead, I realized that going straight home might have been a grave mistake.
“Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.” (Proverbs 22:29)
Op Vrydag 1 Augustus, omstreeks 13:00, is ek oorgeplaas vanaf die Dongcheon Donggang-hospitaal in Namoe-dong—waar ek drie weke lank behandeling en 'n operasie vir 'n gebreekte linkerdybeen ondergaan het—na 'n rehabilitasiehospitaal in Nam-gu. Skaars 'n week voor my ontslag, terwyl ek reeds aan 'n rehabilitasiehospitaal gedink het, het hierdie plek nooit as 'n moontlikheid by my opgekom nie. Ek het die hospitaal geken en was goed bevriend met die direkteur en sy eggenote, maar ek het gemeen dit is uitsluitlik 'n rehabilitasiesentrum vir kankerpasiënte. Toe kom daar egter 'n sekere diaken verby wat, soos 'n Ou-Testamentiese profeet wat 'n profesie uitspreek en weer verdwyn, Zenith-hospitaal aanbeveel het. Ek het toe 'n KakaoTalk-boodskap gestur:
“Ouderling, ek hoop dit gaan goed met u. Op Vrydag 11 Julie het ek my linkerdybeen in 'n fietsongeluk gebreek; ek is dadelik geopereer en herstel voorspoedig. Ten spyte van die beenbreuk ervaar ek daagliks die genade om skaars enige pyn te voel. My behandelende geneesheer het gemeld dat ek teen die naweek ontslaan kan word, so ek het oorweeg om 'n elektriese hospitaalbed te huur en huis toe te gaan. Maar vanoggend het 'n besoeker voorgestel dat dit baie nuttig sou wees om eers sowat twee weke in 'n rehabilitasiehospitaal deur te bring voor ek huiswaarts keer, en Zenith-hospitaal aanbeveel. Wat dink u daarvan, Ouderling? Ek vra u albei om voorbidding. Baie dankie. ^^”
Hy het my dadelik teruggebel, en ons het ooreengekom dat ek dadelik na my ontslag hierheen sou verskuif. Toe ons by die hospitaal aankom, was die grootste verligting dat ons van die ondergrondse parkeerterrein gebruik kon maak. Toe die motor nog op die tydelike parkeerterrein langs die Dongcheon-rivier gestaan het, het ons herhaaldelik waarskuwings gekry om die voertuig te verskuif weens swaar reënbuie. Op die ou end moes my vrou die motor by die Dongcheon-gimnasium parkeer en telkens tien minute ver stap; my hart was seer om haar so te sien swoeg. Waar die atmosfeer van 'Hocance Seisoen 1' in 'n vyfbedsaal vol beenbreukpasiënte uit die hele Ulsan byna soos 'n veldhospitaal gevoel het, voel 'Hocance Seisoen 2' meer soos 'n hotel as 'n hospitaal. In so 'n skoon, helder omgewing waar vriendelikheid vooropstaan, het die ou spreekwoord Gojingamlae—soetigheid volg op bitterheid—vanself in my gemoed opgekom.
Die hospitaaldirekteur, wat ook 'n ouderling is, is 'n besonder besige man, tog het hy Vrydagaand tussen operasies deur 'n oomblik afgestaan om by my siekbed in te loer, en Saterdagoggend het sy vrou, Senior Diakones Yoon, kom kuier. Al ken ons mekaar al baie lank, was ek veral diep geraak deur die feit dat ons mekaar met dieselfde ongekunstelde, hartlike band as vantevore kon ontmoet. Anders as die formele verhouding van direkteur en pasiënt waar gesindhede dikwels wissel na gelang van omstandighede, was dit 'n voorreg om 'n standvastige gemeenskap van die gelowiges te ervaar. Boonop het 'n getroude vriendepaar van my eie ouderdom daardie Saterdagoggend die lang pad vanaf Seosan in Chungcheong-provinsie aangepak, ten spyte van hul eie wankele gesondheid en liggaamlike kwale. Toe hulle van my ongeluk hoor, kon hulle dit blykbaar nie oor hul harte kry om net van ver af te huil en bid nie. Omdat saalbesoeke beperk is, het ons in die kafeteria op die negende verdieping byeengekom. Om die waarheid te sê, was dit nie die eerste keer dat iemand trane gestort het oor my ongeluk nie; dit het immers al begin by die laerskoolboetie en -sussie, Hyeri en Ian. ^^
Die kosbaarste oomblik sedert die begin van Hocance Seisoen 2 was toe ek die fisioterapeut die Saterdag ontmoet het. Natuurlik het ek in die vorige hospitaal reeds met 'n loopraam en krukke geoefen, maar hier het die terapeut my stelselmatig van vooraf begin touwysmaak—om te begin by die strek van my stywe linkerbeenspiere—en selfs vir my naweekoefeninge gegee om op my eie te doen. Om die waarheid te sê, selfs nadat ek na die rehabilitasiehospitaal oorgeplaas is en soveel welwillendheid ontvang het, het daar telkens 'n twyfelgedagte by my opgekom: Sou dit nie maar beter gewees het om reguit huis toe te gaan nie? Maar met daardie eerste ontmoeting op Saterdag, en vandag se tweede sessie op Maandag, is al daardie twyfel heeltemal uitgewis. Inteendeel, ek het besef dat dit 'n reusefout sou gewees het as ek dadelik huis toe gegaan het.
“Sien jy 'n man wat vaardig is in sy werk? Voor konings sal hy staan; hy sal nie voor geringes staan nie.” (Spreuke 22:29)