| Sources |
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 30 Apr 2002.
Nina Mae Davis McCarter obituary
- [S23] Atchley Funeral Home, (http://www.atchleyfuneralhome.com/), 25 Dec 2006.
Sheila Kay McGill obituary
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 12 Jan 2009.
Stan Voit: Jim McGill's Christmas diversion
It was, to put it simply, a scary ordeal, a potentially life-threatening attack that required immediate attention. But for Jim McGill, the timing of his pain and the swiftness of his surgery was a sign that maybe God was taking his mind off a sad Christmas season two years ago.
McGill, the membership coordinator for the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce, is fine now after an abdominal pain sent him to the ER and led to surgery a few days later to remove an intestinal blockage. At 58 it was his first time ever to undergo surgery or even to be treated in a hospital. This happened in early December, and he couldn't help but think back to Christmas season 2006 when hospitals and grief were a daily way of life.
That's when his beloved wife of only five years, Sheila, was in the final stages of battling cancer.
It had been the perfect pairing of two really good, faithful people. They'd met in the Kmart parking lot in the summer of 2001 to go together for a meal in Knoxville. They were married less than two months later and their lives together were a constant honeymoon. They took a cruise, went to New York, celebrated her 50th birthday and attended church every Sunday at First Baptist Pigeon Forge.
When she was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2006, their time together was finite. He was by her side every day, into December, up to and through Christmas. She mostly slept, but when she was awake they could visit and talk a little and express their love for each other. That Christmas of 2006 Jim put up a Christmas tree she could see and they could experience some of the joy they always felt for each other and their Savior.
Sheila died early in 2007. McGill somehow got through Christmas that year. As Christmas 2008 approached, he must have wondered how he'd survive it without Sheila. Then came what he calls the big surprise.
He was sleeping the night of Dec. 7 when he awoke at 1:30 in a lot of abdominal pain. He tried to wait it out, but at 5 a.m. he drove himself to Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Center, where an ER doctor diagnosed an intestinal blockage and sent him by ambulance to Fort Sanders in Knoxville.
Turns out the small intestine had overlapped itself and was causing the obstruction. Doctors in Knoxville said McGill could wait a few days and see if the blockage cleared by itself or have surgery to fix it. He opted for the surgery. David Goode, the administrator of First Baptist Church in Sevierville, sat with him before the surgery and was there when McGill woke up and was returned to his room.
The surgery was successful. The blockage was cleared. There was no trace of cancer. While his recovery has been slow and he still can't work a full day, he's gonna be fine.
But McGill can't help but think the pain and the blockage and the surgery were all part of God's great plan for him this Christmas, to get his attention off the loss of Sheila and on his own predicament.
"I'm a guy who tries to figure out why things happen," he said. "I kind of wonder if this didn't happen to divert my mind out of what happened in 2006, This sure kept me busy. But I feel like this was a diversion to keep my mind on something else."
If so, it worked. He still thinks often of his loss. And before he was put to sleep for surgery, he thought to himself, it would be OK if I wake up in heaven or if I wake up back on Earth.
"I know," he said to himself, "the Lord will take care of me."
Indeed, he has.
? Stan Voit is editor of The Mountain Press. His column appears each Sunday. He can be reached at 428-0748, ext. 217, or e-mail to svoit@themountainpress.com.
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
MCGILL, JIMMY WAYNE MCCARTER, MARY JANE 1972-10-17
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
MCGILL JIMMY W SHEILA K MORTON SEVIER 08-31-2001 50847
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
MCGILL, JIMMY WAYNE WEBBER, SHEILA KAY 2001-08-31
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