Sunday, August 6, 2017

The Spiritual Waiting Room for Medical Decisions


What a sustaining! I want to praise God for his grace in activating our CES waiver through Medicaid. This was nothing short of 2 years in the making. I have asked you frequently to pray for this. Many new benefits come from this for Anna and us. $10,000 for a home or van ramp modification, horseback therapy, music, massage, and housecleaning! We have a cleaning crew that helps us once a week. I didn’t know how badly we needed that until after their first visit. What a humbling thing they do. I’m so impressed with Medicaid to recognize the “stress of messes” and include housekeeping in their provision for Anna.

Anna has been tremendous in showing us patience and grace. She is full of effort which is so encouraging to us “keep on keeping on Anna”. She appreciates things so obviously, Anna can’t hide it when we address her one on one. It means so much to her. Two weeks ago she underwent a different kind of intensive therapy which was very encouraging to us as well. It was a trifecta of Speech, OT and PT. There was much to be said about the team they assembled for Anna. She was working on her drumming skills, Weight bearing on all fours, trying out communication devices, and tracking objects with her eyes.

Unfortunately, all summer long Anna has had a hard time sleeping every night. She hasn’t been falling asleep easily.  She wakes up coughing and needs repositioning usually 4 times in one night. She’s coughing right now and it I just don’t know what to do because previously she only acted like this when she was sick. This has led us to inventory what decisions and medications we have done that could be causing this hardship. We have found that the Flovent medication does cause side effects like what Anna is going through. So we are going to try and do without for a while and see.  

God is in control! He opens doors and answers prayers. We are not left alone in these decisions for Anna. But also, just because the medication is prescribed and we prayed about it doesn’t automatically mean that it is the way we should go. (This applies for all treatments that anyone recommends be it eastern, experimental, old wives tale.) What God would have for Anna isn’t as simple as obeying the medicine list. It’s a question of waiting a beat, then counting on guidance from Anna’s Maker. Being in step with God, knowing Anna, and remaining unified as her parents seem to be critical non-doctor factors that help the most. The Spirit has helped us see times in our past where our obedience to God and abiding in the faith was a distant second in our medical decisions for Anna. We acted in haste because we were told to, or because the waiting room was uncomfortable. Lately we have learned to read and collect all info, place our choices before the Lord and wait. 

Please Pray:
-A clear path and the appointed God-ordained time regarding the Nissen surgery, the eye surgery, and tooth pull (all needs to happen under general anesthesia).
-Should we even get the Nissen? This surgery is currently in the waiting room of medical decision right now as we wait for a Word from God. It’s not doctor recommended but it has helped many others.
-For the Lord’s will and grace to be at work for Anna’s betterment, that she can sleep through the night again and we can find the source of struggle; that peace would be covering it all.
-For Anna to be able to communicate yes/no choices using buttons or iPad.
-For Anna’s full healing with perfect vision, intelligent arm and leg movements, etc….
-For secretion management, increased swallowing and throat clearing ability; For no more saliva pooling in her throat while she sleeps.

Many thanks,
Nic, Lindsey, Anna, and Simon

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