We won!!! Praising Him!

A few days ago, my status on facebook read, "If we win, we praise HIM. If we lose, we praise HIM." -Facing the Giants

I wrote this not necessarily for a particular area of our lives but to sum it all up together. No matter what...in EVERYTHING we will Praise HIM. Good or bad.

That quote was the perfect thing for this week. We've always praised HIM through the bad and we are being blessed with so many great things now...and praising HIM.

This morning I received a call from Evercare asking if I still wanted the medical records on Caleb that I had requested since our appeal was overturned in our favor. As soon as these words left the mouth of the person on the other side of the phone I gasped. I said, "Wait, our appeal? The one for RN's? It was overturned in our favor? So does that mean we win? We get our RN's?" She said, "Yes, I believe so. Is that the only appeal you made?" I said, "Yes, that is the only one but can you make sure that what you are telling me is right?" She said, "Sure" and put me on hold to double check. When she came back on the line she said, "yes, the appeal was decided in your favor so you will get RN's instead of LPNs." We are praising God and are so amazed by Him.

The odd thing about this is that I haven't even sent in my official appeal letter and supporting documents. I was working hard on editing the letter, gathering supporting letters from doctors and nurses, and more information from Caleb's history with the help from the wonderful people at Attention Plus (one of our nursing agencies) who were very active in helping us through this appeal. I did send in a letter saying that I wanted to appeal and that I was gathering more information and supporting documents and would be sending it in within the 30 days allotted. I also sent in a letter requesting documents on Caleb obtained that aided them in making this decision and saying that Attention Plus was assisting me and that I give them permission to view all documents.

It's amazing. That's all there is to it. The battle hadn't even really begun and we won? I was willing to take this all the way! I was ready to battle! Praise God for hearing our prayers and putting a stop to the storm. I feel like I can breathe again and the fresh air is so lovely. God is amazing. He always continues to amaze me and we are so undeserving of his blessings.

We want to continue to somehow help out other parents who are facing the same challenges and may think they do not have a fight or have no voice. We'd really like to share with them the steps we've taken in standing up for what Caleb deserves. But really, I believe that it is all thanks to lots of prayer and faith and trust in God. That was our foundation before starting this appeal. We said, "We're trusting in God. Whatever happens, whether in our favor or not, we will praise Him and trust that he still has a plan." We were at peace knowing that we would be okay either way.

It is official by the way! We received the letter today confirming that RN services for Caleb will be received! In the letter that Evercare sent, it says that based on the medical documents received, they have changed their decision! I don't know what documents they received but praise the LORD!

New Hope Oahu showed a video this past weekend before the message in which we were a part of. They did a wonderful job putting it together. Like I mentioned before, there are always attacks from the enemy before, during, and after we give a testimony. Always! Caleb has been sick for so long. He got really sick again the day before they came to video. But early in the morning that day and throughout the day he was perfectly fine. Later that night his fever came back, he was back on oxygen, and really was not doing well by Saturday morning. He's been battling sickness but is finally a lot better now! I was so tired from being up with Caleb so many nights and for all the extra care that came with him being sick for so long. We were being attacked, no doubt. Then came another big bang between Brandon and I. It's such a struggle but praise God that he is so faithful in speaking to us. We struggle through a lot everyday and Jesus understands. Satan really wants to separate us and we can easily recognize that. We often don't mind giving into that thought sometimes to be honest. But in reality that is just not an option. It is hard and it will continue to be a struggle. But we learn through it and that's what matters the most. God's shaping us into his big plan as we tread through this wilderness in our lives and in our marriage. I already look back at how far we come and can really say that it has been God all along. I'm excited to share the great news years ahead from now. I don't know how anyone could not see God through it all. It's just not possible without God. Marriage is hard period. It takes a lot of work and in our culture today it says to just give it up. Giving up would be easy. Just like giving up on life or any storms that we may go through. But giving up never gets us anywhere. Never. That's why we choose to never give up on our faith through any area of our lives no matter how hard it may get. There is ALWAYS a way through it....ALWAYS.

I took Caleb to an appointment with his neurologist yesterday. He's such a great doctor! He said that Caleb's last EEG showed no seizure activities. He then asked me if we wanted to start weaning him off of his phenobarbital med (seizure med). I said yes of course I do. He said that he thinks it's a really good choice to do so. So he cut his med in half and from there we will be weaning him down 1mL every month which means he will be off of it by the end of the year! We will be praying through it and trusting God that Caleb does not need this medicine and that he will never have a seizure for the rest of his life. (He's had three febrile seizures in the past when he got sick.) After he is completely off of this med he will have to have another EEG which is, as his dr. said, "the most important one." I also asked him about weaning him off of baclofen (used for spasticity) and he said we could when we want to and that it wouldn't be as hard as weaning him off the phenobarb. I'm so excited to get him off all his meds. I know they really aren't good for him. This will take an extra amount of faith and trust in God. But I'm ready....We are ready...

Thank you all for praying along with us through this journey of life. We're blessed to be walking alongside all of you till the end. God Bless you all!

Here is the link for the video which I've also posted on the side bar by the other videos: http://vimeo.com/12032444