March 3rd, 2002... In today's picture, Mikey is in his room in his pajamas, reading a book about Jonah. Mikey was an early reader. He loves to read, and for the last two years, he has read about anything he could get his hands on. He missed the last two days of school last week with strep throat. To look at him, you would never have known that he was sick. He always stays in a good mood. He just loves to smile and laugh. We just kept him out of school because the doc said he would be contagious until he had used the antibiotics for a few days, and we didn't want any of his classmates to get infected.
Thank You, Lord, for sending us Mikey. Thank You for looking out for him and keeping him safe. Thank You for Mikey's life, and the wonderful Christian witness that he has. God is good!
3-3-02 TEFRA Update: The Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility (TEFRA) program is the only way Mikey has to receive medical treatment now. He is being scheduled for a heart catheterization this spring, with life-saving open-heart surgery to follow. TEFRA is for critically ill, or terminally ill children. We can no longer purchase insurance because of Mikey's "pre-existing condition". Arkansas is CANCELLING the TEFRA program at the end of June, but...
There IS a tentative agreement now, for a medical wavier program to help many of the children affected by the cancellation of the TEFRA program. It looks like the eligibility requirements and coverage may change, and parents will have to pay a percentage of their total annual household income as a premium. The premium will just be another bill for us. If this agreement works out, and Mikey qualifies, we won't complain. We'll find a way to pay whatever the premium is, and thank God for answering our prayers.
Initially, the TEFRA program for critically ill children WAS NOT going be cut, because it is so vital, BUT.... the state got sued by another group who had their budget cut, putting TEFRA on the chopping block. Now, yet another group has filed a lawsuit against the state.. so that may upend this medical waiver agreement. Yet another problem, is that the governor was going to use some of the state's tobacco settlement money to help fund the new medical waivers, and now the attorney general has given a "non-binding" opinion that using the tobacco money would be illegal. Hmmmm... Well, we'll just continue to pray and believe that God will show our state government where their priorities should lie!
Thanks so much for all of your prayers. God has so mightily blessed our family! He ALWAYS rewards our faithfulness.
March 10th, 2002... In today's picture, you can see that Mikey got his little noggin' banged up a bit this week. Whilst playing a little "ring-around-the-rosie" with one of his girlfriends, one of them let go, and he wound up leaving some skin on the concrete. Ouch... that stings! He's looking a little better, now. When he fell, he fell flat-face-first, skinning his forehead, cheek, nose and upper lip. He even opened up his chest scar a little, from his heart surgery.
SPECIAL NOTE:
3-12 Baby Jacob: Jacob is the newborn we have all been praying for. Little Jacob took his last breath on earth today, and his first breath in Heaven. In his few days on earth, he helped put our lives in perspective... even those of us who never met him. He brought us together in prayer, and he reminded us how fragile life is. Whether we are 2 weeks old or 80 years old, we are never more than one breath away from eternity. Today, Jacob began eternity in Paradise. Our prayers are now with the family.. God send your Holy Spirit to comfort them.
Thank You, Lord, for sending us Mikey. Thank You for looking out for him and keeping him safe. Thank You for Mikey's life, and the wonderful Christian witness that he has. God is good!
March 17th, 2002... Mikey is getting his oxygen saturation and heart rate checked in today's picture, and his "numbers" are good! We still have a pulse-oximeter in the home that we use to monitor him. He has lost a few pounds, but he has been sick several times with viruses, strep throat, etc. lately, and hopefully he will quickly regain those pounds now. Mikey has some residual side effects from his heart condition which he has to deal with.. His teeth are almost dissolving from the powerful medicines, and he has slight clubbing of his hands and feet. He will have some surgery to remove some toenails in a few weeks.. His toes have been infected... another complication from his heart or poor circulation to his extremities. To Mikey, these are minor problems, and he doesn't let them bother him. And, as y'all can see, his nose is healing nicely! We're grateful that Mikey's health has been stable these last months.
God has blessed our family. God is good!
March 24th, 2002... Mikey had his 3rd quarter awards ceremony this week, and he's showing off some more awards. He got the Citizenship Award, behavior award, and good grades awards this time. He's very proud, as you can see in today's picture, and of course.. so are we! Mikey is helping me operate the spotlights for our church's big Easter drama. We presented the drama once saturday, and we'll present it twice today, so it'll be a full day for Mikey. And... Mikey is starting his SPRING BREAK now, for this whole week, so we're going to go offline for awhile and enjoy it with him. We'll come back online at the end of the week and be available to answer email again then.
While you are here, please sign Mikey's guestbook!
Thank you!
