how things work

I would like to share a thought about how God worked something out in the best interest for my family. It is something that I have been struggling with for over a year now and he has helped me work through it. It is one of those things where you know there is a plan, but you are not sure how or why you are suppose to handle the situation.

About a year ago, My Mother stated that she was feeling like she was following backwards, but not falling. Several test and Doctors later they said it was early stage Parkinson’s Disease. About the same time I was receiving phone calls from a head hunter regarding employment opportunities and I told her I could not think about doing anything until after the first of the year (2007). April 2007 I got another call and the timing and offer was something I could not refuse.

Summer 2007, my Mother started indicating that she might be ready to move out of her house because she was having a hard time doing some things around the house. She seemed to be getting exhausted easily. I tried to get her to go to the Doctor but she kept saying that she had an appointment soon and we would discuss it then.

October 2007 about 10 days before her scheduled Doctors appointment, my Mother informed me that she had gotten up one morning and started feeling that everything was spinning and that it kept happening everyday sometimes all day long. Within those 10 days before her scheduled doctor’s appointment, she had fallen a number of times because she was feeling dizzy or unsteady. Her scheduled doctor’s appointment finally arrives and it is on one of her bad days. She was sent for more rounds of seeing specialists and having more tests performed. After all tests were completed, they could not find anything wrong and said it was not heart, eyes, or inner ear related. They told her she should not be driving until they figure out what is wrong.

Here is where God comes into play: A few days after all this testing, I was in the break room at the new office and there was a thank you note posted on the refrigerator. CFP (my new employer) had donated some money to a Golf Tournament for one of our clients in California. Right there in that letter it said your funds will assist in purchasing VGN equipment that assists in determining the cause of dizziness or unsteadiness. I have been doing medical designs and designing around medical equipment for quite awhile and had never heard of this piece of equipment. I immediately called her Doctor and asked if he could refer us to whomever had this equipment to have this test completed on my mother. Finally, we are getting somewhere…there is hope. The primary Doctor sets my mother up with a specialist who is supposed to get her to the Vanderbilt Clinic where they locally do the VGN test. The specialist did not order the VGN, but at least we were able to make an appointment to get into the Vanderbilt Balance Disorders Clinic. I was reading the brochure about the tests and I read where they can do an assessment for risk of falling. I talked to the Doctor at the clinic and the first test indicated she did need further evaluation and agreed that it be recommended to get her back in and do a risk of falling assessment which would include a VGN test.

Guess what they find with the rest of the assessment? She has an inner ear problem and probably not Parkinson’s Disease. Now we are on a quest for good therapy to resolve the inner ear issues.

So here is how the plan worked out so far and how people do small things not knowing how big of a difference it might make in someone’s life.

I receive a call and get a new job at CFP Group; CEO at new job donates money; someone sends thank you note; CEO posts note on refrigerator at CFP; I read the thank you note and put two and two together and make calls; quality of life is improved for my mother and she gets some of her independence back. Now I am sending this to you because I feel the need to thank those who had a part in the plan without even knowing, and something tells me that I need to also send this because someone needs to know that God has a plan for their lives even if that person doesn’t know what it is. Just like I had to read a thank you note to have my plan worked out, who knows you might be a part of another plan where you need to forward this to someone who needs to know about the testing.

What I have to figure out now is why we spent 2 months trying to make assisted living arrangements to just be stopped in our tracks because insurance is acting like they will not pay. I know there is a lesson to be learned in this insurance situation. I just haven’t had time to follow up on finding someone to be an advocate for my family to work on the insurance issues. It will happen though. God has a plan.