A Prayer Before Back Surgery

A prayer for anyone preparing for spinal surgery, and for the loved ones who wait.

Makor HaChayim (Source of Life),

Soon, I will place my body in the hands of healers,

Trusting their wisdom, their skill, their steady hands.

I am hopeful, God, but I am frightened too.

This is no small surgery.

And beneath my courage lives a quiet fear

Of what might happen, of what might not heal.

Please, God, stay close.

God, You created my spine

To support me, to steady me,

To bend without breaking,

To carry me through the burdens and blessings of life.

Now, where two bones meet,

Where pain has settled deep,

May healing begin.

As the surgeons replace what has worn away,

Help me release some of what weighs me down.

As they restore the space between my vertebrae,

Make room within me for renewed hope.

And as they work to strengthen my back,

Remind me that I need not carry everything alone.

Rofei HaCholim (Healer of the Sick),

Guide the hands that operate,

Guard the nerves that carry feeling and movement,

Protect the delicate pathways of my body.

And watch over my husband, too,

Who must wait while others care for me,

Whose worry comes from loving me so deeply.

Steady his heart when he cannot steady mine,

And let us soon hold each other again,

With this frightening day behind us.

And when I rise again,

May I stand a little taller,

Walk a little easier,

And return to the ordinary joys I have missed.

For even the strongest spine sometimes needs support,

And even those who carry so much

Deserve, sometimes, to be carried.

Baruch Atah Adonai, Rofei HaCholim.

Blessed are You, Adonai, Healer of the Sick.