I'm logging this story here because I don't want to forget. This morning I was thinking to myself that right now it seems as if there are a list of things we've been praying about forever and the answers are slow in coming. Sometimes I worry about my kids' faith because I fear they don't see enough answered prayers and I fall short of making them aware of the workings of God that happen everyday that we don't acknowledge. Every breath, every provision, everything we have and are is a gift. That in and of itself is an answer to our prayers for provision and health everyday. Over this past year there has been heart ache and I've struggled to tell my kids that someone they loved died despite our prayers of healing. I was afraid they would think less of God, put less trust in him, and have less faith in prayer. Maybe it was more that I was experiencing those things rather than them because their childlike faith seemed unscathed. So, this is the summary of our long story with details I'll leave out because I don't want to type that much. This is a testimony to God answering a prayer that I didn't really even have hope that an answer would come. Today this worry is something no longer on my list and at the beginning of the week I hadn't even considered that a possibility. I thought this issue would be on my plate for a long time to come depending on how we chose to go forward, but God heard our prayer and the answer came quickly and admittedly, unexpectedly. I've been convicted of having little faith this week. That is for certain.
Thirteen months ago all of us except for Tom had fallen victim to the stomach flu. It was a virus like no other stomach flu we've had go through the house. I don't get the stomach flu (knock on wood). I've never spent the night on the bathroom floor until this virus came calling. Poor Sage had it the worst. After two days of throwing up he wasn't keeping down water and was dehydrated. Urgent Care sent us to the Emergency Room. We checked in a few minutes before 8 o'clock in the evening and it wasn't until 3:30 AM that Sage finally had an IV in his arm. At 5:30 AM we were admitted to Children's Hospital for monitoring. The doctor told me that Sage's blood sugar was too low and he needed to be monitored so he didn't fall into some kind of hypoglycemic episode and not wake up. That's a scary thought so we sat in the hospital for another 12 hours before getting the all clear to go home. So the major problem was that my tiny five year old was allowed to sit in the ER untreated with seriously low blood sugar for 7 hours before being treated. If his blood sugar was that low he was in danger hours before we were admitted to the hospital. And the truth of the matter is had we been treated right away we arguably could have avoided a hospital stay. The first answered prayer in all of this that I don't want to forget is this...The hospital was making judgement calls based on old blood work. God knew Sage's blood sugar was low. I sat in the ER and prayed over that child for hours. At one point Sage looked up at me and said, "I'm hungry." So I had Jimmy John's deliver food. Thankfully, their service was as fast as advertised. Sage ate half a sandwich and drank almost a bottle of water. Then I begged the lady at the Check In desk to give me Zofran, an anit-nausea medicine to make sure Sage kept his food down. I truly believe that God intervened when the hospital didn't and Sage didn't suffer something worse than just needing fluids. Sage's initial bloodwork didn't reflect he had eaten because the hospital didn't recheck is labs.
Minus the rest of the details and fast forward to after our release and Tom and I decided we needed to hold the hospital accountable for their neglect. The short story is the hospital never responded to the requests we made and sent to several people via certified mail. Thus we filed a complaint with the state which led to an investigation with inconclusive findings. We were notified of this at the end of July. We never heard from the hospital aside from the initial bill which we refused to pay. Fast forward an entire year later and the hospital came calling wanting their money even though they have never communicated with us as to the status of our bill. At this point the hospital was still failing to communicate with us when they said they would be following through. It was stressing me out and we were at a crossroads. Ideally we had asked for an apology, a review of their practices, and a write off of the remainder of our bill that insurance didn't pay. They responded to nothing. Our choices were A) pay the bill and be done and forget ever receiving an apology. B) Hire a lawyer. Last Sunday night Tom and I were given the name of a Christian who practiced medical law. We were considering asking for a consultation with him to discuss our options. We didn't think the hospital would ever apologize because that would admit wrong doing and open them up for a lawsuit. At this point I was assuming their silence was a result of playing their cards right so as not to open themselves up for more trouble. C) Be passive aggressive and pay $10 a month for year and years. As we considered this, I was awaiting, but not expecting a phone call from the hospital. They told me they would be calling again after escalating our matter but in the past a promise for a call back had never been full filled.
Tom and I prayed about this with our small group on Sunday night. The whole thing was just starting to stress me out and I already have zero faith in the medical community that serves our area. The whole extablishment just makes me anxious. Anyway, I specifically told our small group that I would like an apology and write off of our bill. I told them I figured there was no way that was going to happen but that's what we prayed for. I assumed that by today Tom and I would either be still waiting for a phone call or deciding if we were going to hire a lawyer or pay them and be done with it. Paying them was something I just couldn't do. It felt like I was affirming their negligence in treatment of Sage. It felt like there was no justice or admittance of wrong doing. So, we prayed for an apology. And as I write this I am still in awe. The hospital called me on Monday afternoon and apologized and wrote our balance to zero. The whole thing stopped me in my tracks. It was just such an unbelievable outcome after a year of being left in limbo. It was only and clearly an act of God. The answer came so quickly after we prayed that I'm still just amazed. I keep telling the boys what happened so in their little hearts they have record of God's answer to prayer. I have to add that the day after the apology the billing department called again wanting their money. I had to ask them to communicate with so-and-so in their other department to get an updated balance statement. God does miracles but the departments at this hospital still can't communicate with each other. That would be asking too much.
There are more layers to this story. There are layers within my heart that need refined. It's hard not to hate. It's hard to want success for people who don't respond to the smallest of their patients. It's hard to live in a small community because our paths overlap in ways I wish they didn't and in ways I can't write about. Anyway, this is just one of those stories in the course of our life that builds our faith. I'll look back someday and count this as a time when we saw the hand of God move and it'll give me confidence. And above all, Sage is here and with us. He's recovered. Dehydration seems so minor, and I thought it was. I didn't know what I didn't know but God's hand was on Sage when I couldn't trust the hospital to intervene. It wasn't until I was able to look back on all the events and see how God worked. Today I'm truly humbled by His response to our need and to our hearts. To Him be the praise!
Thirteen months ago all of us except for Tom had fallen victim to the stomach flu. It was a virus like no other stomach flu we've had go through the house. I don't get the stomach flu (knock on wood). I've never spent the night on the bathroom floor until this virus came calling. Poor Sage had it the worst. After two days of throwing up he wasn't keeping down water and was dehydrated. Urgent Care sent us to the Emergency Room. We checked in a few minutes before 8 o'clock in the evening and it wasn't until 3:30 AM that Sage finally had an IV in his arm. At 5:30 AM we were admitted to Children's Hospital for monitoring. The doctor told me that Sage's blood sugar was too low and he needed to be monitored so he didn't fall into some kind of hypoglycemic episode and not wake up. That's a scary thought so we sat in the hospital for another 12 hours before getting the all clear to go home. So the major problem was that my tiny five year old was allowed to sit in the ER untreated with seriously low blood sugar for 7 hours before being treated. If his blood sugar was that low he was in danger hours before we were admitted to the hospital. And the truth of the matter is had we been treated right away we arguably could have avoided a hospital stay. The first answered prayer in all of this that I don't want to forget is this...The hospital was making judgement calls based on old blood work. God knew Sage's blood sugar was low. I sat in the ER and prayed over that child for hours. At one point Sage looked up at me and said, "I'm hungry." So I had Jimmy John's deliver food. Thankfully, their service was as fast as advertised. Sage ate half a sandwich and drank almost a bottle of water. Then I begged the lady at the Check In desk to give me Zofran, an anit-nausea medicine to make sure Sage kept his food down. I truly believe that God intervened when the hospital didn't and Sage didn't suffer something worse than just needing fluids. Sage's initial bloodwork didn't reflect he had eaten because the hospital didn't recheck is labs.
Minus the rest of the details and fast forward to after our release and Tom and I decided we needed to hold the hospital accountable for their neglect. The short story is the hospital never responded to the requests we made and sent to several people via certified mail. Thus we filed a complaint with the state which led to an investigation with inconclusive findings. We were notified of this at the end of July. We never heard from the hospital aside from the initial bill which we refused to pay. Fast forward an entire year later and the hospital came calling wanting their money even though they have never communicated with us as to the status of our bill. At this point the hospital was still failing to communicate with us when they said they would be following through. It was stressing me out and we were at a crossroads. Ideally we had asked for an apology, a review of their practices, and a write off of the remainder of our bill that insurance didn't pay. They responded to nothing. Our choices were A) pay the bill and be done and forget ever receiving an apology. B) Hire a lawyer. Last Sunday night Tom and I were given the name of a Christian who practiced medical law. We were considering asking for a consultation with him to discuss our options. We didn't think the hospital would ever apologize because that would admit wrong doing and open them up for a lawsuit. At this point I was assuming their silence was a result of playing their cards right so as not to open themselves up for more trouble. C) Be passive aggressive and pay $10 a month for year and years. As we considered this, I was awaiting, but not expecting a phone call from the hospital. They told me they would be calling again after escalating our matter but in the past a promise for a call back had never been full filled.
Tom and I prayed about this with our small group on Sunday night. The whole thing was just starting to stress me out and I already have zero faith in the medical community that serves our area. The whole extablishment just makes me anxious. Anyway, I specifically told our small group that I would like an apology and write off of our bill. I told them I figured there was no way that was going to happen but that's what we prayed for. I assumed that by today Tom and I would either be still waiting for a phone call or deciding if we were going to hire a lawyer or pay them and be done with it. Paying them was something I just couldn't do. It felt like I was affirming their negligence in treatment of Sage. It felt like there was no justice or admittance of wrong doing. So, we prayed for an apology. And as I write this I am still in awe. The hospital called me on Monday afternoon and apologized and wrote our balance to zero. The whole thing stopped me in my tracks. It was just such an unbelievable outcome after a year of being left in limbo. It was only and clearly an act of God. The answer came so quickly after we prayed that I'm still just amazed. I keep telling the boys what happened so in their little hearts they have record of God's answer to prayer. I have to add that the day after the apology the billing department called again wanting their money. I had to ask them to communicate with so-and-so in their other department to get an updated balance statement. God does miracles but the departments at this hospital still can't communicate with each other. That would be asking too much.
There are more layers to this story. There are layers within my heart that need refined. It's hard not to hate. It's hard to want success for people who don't respond to the smallest of their patients. It's hard to live in a small community because our paths overlap in ways I wish they didn't and in ways I can't write about. Anyway, this is just one of those stories in the course of our life that builds our faith. I'll look back someday and count this as a time when we saw the hand of God move and it'll give me confidence. And above all, Sage is here and with us. He's recovered. Dehydration seems so minor, and I thought it was. I didn't know what I didn't know but God's hand was on Sage when I couldn't trust the hospital to intervene. It wasn't until I was able to look back on all the events and see how God worked. Today I'm truly humbled by His response to our need and to our hearts. To Him be the praise!
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| The difference a year makes! God is sooo good!!! |
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