The Rest of the Story

Isaiah 41:10 

So do not fear, for I am with you; 

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

So most of you know bits and pieces of what has been going on lately via Facebook. Here's a more complete picture.

The past month has been filled with making scheduling modifications with our work schedules; juggling my work schedule by finding people to cover for me and changing meetings; postponing and rescheduling Anellah's speech therapy; physical therapy; early intervention sessions, and other appointments (she has about 4 per week); and making other arrangements around Anellah's schedule. I also struggled with coming to terms with the fact that Anellah needs to have surgery and just kept thinking, "She has gone through so much before the age of three, what's the rest of her life going to look like? Will she be able to live a 'normal' life? Will she ever be able to care for a family of her own?" After some much needed quiet time with God at a Women's Retreat I was able to come to terms with these questions. I was READY for the surgery and READY for it to be over!!

Yesterday Daniel took Anellah to her "last" appointment prior to surgery- an MRI under anesthesia and a pre-op appointment. They were expected to be done by 11:30am. Due to ANOTHER error by their scheduling coordinator (I'd given her feedback before about scheduling problems she had caused) Anellah and Daniel were stuck at the hospital for 9 hours and Anellah had to be poked for blood 10 times. Finally, however, they were allowed to leave and told, "see you Monday." That was our first time discovering the surgery had been changed to Monday rather than Tuesday. After they left her bloodwork was reviewed and one of her thyroid levels was abnormally elevated. We were asked to return to the hospital to have the blood drawn AGAIN and if the level was accurate rather than a lab error, the surgery would be postponed.

This morning Anellah and I returned to the hospital to have her blood drawn again. This afternoon I received a call that her thyroid level was at a dangerous place and the surgery would not be performed until further notice. Basically I was devastated and overwhelmed.

But God DOES give strength to the weary, right? And He doesn't give us more than we can handle? So many times I have felt like if He gives me one more trial it will be too much but it's amazing how much more we can stretch than we think we can!

We are so thankful that Anellah is a good sport. Through everything she is happy and smiley. She is still learning and growing despite the fact that she shouldn't be able to based on her thyroid levels being so off and her brain being out of room to grow. But maybe that's one of the miracles God is performing in her life.

Here's an example of Anellah's attitude.