Wow! Am I ever behind on blogging! So much has happened since my last post. Actually, the very day of my last post we received a call that BW’s grandmother had passed away. While we are certain that she is enjoying the presence of our Savior now with a new body and new mind, we were very sad to hear this news. What a blessing that BW’s professors were gracious to postpone his assignments so he could be with his mom that very day.
I came up with the 4 kids (5 hour drive) two days later to celebrate BW’s 35th birthday. I don’t know why but I am so amazed at how God sustained me through that week. I had moments of that overwhelming feeling, but was able to pray through it and seek additional prayers from my Christian sisters for strength, endurance and patience. The funeral was a wonderful celebration of Grandma’s life and we were blessed to be a blessing as we served during that weekend.
Unfortunately, Sunday night, CJ fell off a Razor scooter and hurt her arm. That night, we decided to wait a night to see if it was just a bad sprain. Monday morning, we decided to drive home and see how it was. Once we arrived home, I just didn’t like that how she was holding it and we began to call around for Urgent Cares. We found one open and took X-rays that confirmed it was broken. Our next step was to find an orthopedic specialist who would cast it.
Normally, this wouldn’t pose a problem except that BW and I recently signed our kids up for Medi-Cal. When I found out it was broken, I began to do a search on the internet for doctors who would take Medi-Cal. Unfortunately, what popped up was numerous articles and studies that showed that Orthopedic specialists are not taking Medi-Cal patients anymore because of the low rate of reimbursement. The stats were that less than 20% of all orthopedists accept Medi-Cal. Then the studies/articles went on to show that this posed a problem of children waiting up to 10 days to get appointments, leading in some cases to permanent disfigurement. Honestly, I started flipping out. BW arrived home with CJ and I was in tears, but couldn’t tell him why in front of CJ. Finally, I got him alone and was able to tell him what I had found out. He was so calm (what a blessing!) and said that we WOULD get her an appointment the next day, even if we had to pay out of pocket for it.
The next morning, after making a few phone calls, we decided to forget about using the Medi-Cal and just get her seen. In God’s providence we were able to get her an appointment with a doctor that we later found is one of the top 5 pediatric orthopedic specialists in the country! He told us that it was good we hadn’t waited because the break was close to protruding the skin (ugh!) and needed to be re-set. CJ was extremely brave during this whole ordeal – God must have given her peace because she is generally the kind of girl that freaks out when she scrapes her knee! She was given a florescent yellow cast up to her elbow that day and is well on the road to recovery.
Since it was her right hand, I assumed that we would be taking some weeks off of school, but the next morning she was asking for her assignments. I explained that with the trip(and the fact that I had to lead a bible study that night and host a bridal shower that weekend) we were just going to take a couple days off.
Although we know that God didn’t make her break her arm(and have had these discussions with her), we have had many great conversations with her about how God might use this for good. First, she is unable to suck her fingers when she sleeps, a habit we have been trying to break for quite a while. This was really hard the first few nights, but now she is sleeping just fine without it. She is learning to be grateful for the fact that her body is generally healthy and that is not the case for everyone. She is having to learn to deal with frustration. We are praying for quick healing and that she will learn the lessons God wants her to through this trial in her short life.
-J | 
