Journal entry by Sherrie Willis —
I have to start with noting that today is a special day. My Grandmother, who has a very special place in our story of our faith, would be 100 years old today - I'm celebrating her life, because she has so much meaning in ours! ~
We got a call last week from the Mayo clinic. We were devastated. We had thought surely they were calling to start setting up appointments for John, so we were excited to get the call. Just the opposite ) = They said that they declined John's request for a Charity Care visit. That is a set of appointments with the specialists that he needs to see that are covered by financial aid through a certain account. The reason they decided is that he can see specialist closer to home for his issues. I explained that he already has, for YEARS and they are stumped!! Many of them will not accept his insurance!! There have only been 3 doctors at the UW that he has seen, Cardiology, Reuhmatology, and Sleep Specialty - that will accept his insurance. He needs several more, mainly Infectious Disease, and Neurology for his shingles and the severe pain. We are getting NOWHERE!! John had about lost all hope when he heard what she had to say. He just stopped her in the middle of her explanation and asked if it was alright if she continued the conversation with me. He couldn't take anymore of it. It had been a rough week all around, especially with him being hospitalized twice, and once with Dr. Geller experimenting with his pain meds, and him being in a lot of pain.
It has been a crazy month. On the 6th, I had to go in for a scope procedure to check on my chronic pancreatitis pain. Seems nothing changed, all is well. The same day, my sister had her breast cancer surgery - thank God, all went well there but her treatment continues, so we are remembering her in prayer as well.
While I was in for my procedure, John was a patient on the 4th floor, and around the corner, my niece, Tonya had been admitted to the ICU, unresponsive, in a diabetic coma.😰 Her Dr. absolutely believed she would NOT make it. We made a call out for prayer. I went to see her and my sister Mel and Tonya's mom, Tammy were there. I brought oil and anointed her forehead as instructed by the Bible in James chapter 5: "14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.…"🙏 🙏 🙏 Still amazed by God ~ we have been rejoicing by her complete recovery!!! She started waking the next day! No brain damage - no issues, even though her blood sugar was over 1000 when she was found. She was on a breathing tube, not breathing on her own, 2 IV lines in her neck, a nasogastric tube (down her nose to her stomach for drainage and then for feeding). I had a pic of all the meds she had going through the IV's because I couldn't believe there could be so many at once!! I don't like taking multiple PILLS at the same time!! ~ Needless to say, it was a hectic week! I was back and forth between the two hospital rooms, and home to take care of our dogs and our home. Jeff is very self sufficient, but I wish I could do more to take care of him and give him a break since he works so hard all day.
So, John was released on Friday, the 8th late in the evening. Dr. Geller wanted a specific MRI, but they had been so busy in imaging all day they weren't going to get him in. So, they set him up to come back for the scan. John still not feeling well, Jeff took him back for the scan, but there was a mix up, and the receptionist said they didn't have orders for him. We later found that MRI thought he was a no show because they were waiting for him. The receptionist should have called back to imaging to check, but did not. John said she seemed to just want to brush them off. He wouldn't have had an appointment time if there had been no orders. So - I had to get in touch with Dr. Geller and we had to start from the beginning, and wait longer.
Stress is one of the things that brings on shingles....and John having just gotten over them, had a relapse. He was back in the hospital with a new case of shingles - I don't know if this was number 30, or 31...maybe 32! Uhhhgggg! He was very upset about being trapped in there again, having just gotten out. Hooked up to the IV again, relying on nurses and others to meet his needs, losing his independence. Just not being home, in his own comfortable bed... that's bad enough.
This time while he was in, I was making a trip to get some groceries, and then was going to go see him, and with all that was going on, we didn't need ONE more thing added!! God apparently believed we could be proven stronger though. I was making a turn, and hit in the back tire area of my car and given a bit of a jolt by a speeding driver! It could have been so much worse if it had been just a split second sooner I could have been very badly injured. The back tire and axle area took the most of the hit, and pushed me out of the path.😇 😇 Any sooner and I'd been hit right in the side of the car. We all walked away ~ praise the Lord!! The worst part is that our car was totaled. We had very low miles on it and it was in great condition. Insurance only pays fair market value, so we had a great loss on it ) = We were talking about using it as a trade in soon. We only drove it to the store and doctors appointments. The furthest it went was our trip to Mayo. We never even took the plastic off the carpets that the dealership had on them! 😕
Sunday, after all the stress, we just decided to have a lazy day at home. We heard from Dr. Geller who said John's MRI confirmed he has Trigeminal Neuralgia. He also said he once had a female patient who said she birthed 2 children and passed a kidney stone, yet the Trigeminal Neuralgia she had was the worst pain ever! It is also know as the "Suicide Condition" because many people who have it can not live with the awful pain. 😭 So - not only does John have that constant pain, but then he has it aggravated by shingles and made worse! When he is in the hospital, they treat him with an antiviral for shingles and give him pain management for the nerve pain.
John has been dismissed since my accident. We had both come down with a virus - thinking we picked something up while spending so much time at the hospital, where sick people go.... we try hard to avoid -😷 using the hand sanitizers and all. Mine came and went quickly - a high fever, body aches - I sweat it out over night and was fine in a couple days. John's has lasted longer, with vomiting, and a lingering cough. He is finally showing some improvement. I'm hoping we can walk out in the sunshine today!!
So, we still need prayer - pray that God will get us into the best car we can get - one that will get us to all the appointments safely. We will need to find one soon. The rental car goes back today. We are not going to pay for one, and wait for their insurance to pay us back, we just can't do that right now. We of course need John to be covered in prayer - always!!! We desperately need Him to make a way for John to get to Mayo clinic - that is what his many doctors have recommended. The financial aspect is the issue. We will appeal the Charity Care decision, and Dr. Geller is also working with a colleague to get John the appointments he needs. We don't know as of yet. The past 3 plus years have been draining in so many ways!
I want to close giving God all the glory. If not for knowing that He has filtered every bit of this through His great love for us, I can't begin to imagine where I would be, or where WE would be!! And again - thank you all so much for your prayer support and your love!! It means SO MUCH to us!! I can never put those feelings into words. <3
Much love and appreciation on behalf of my family,
God bless ~
Sherrie
https://www.gofundme.com/johnwillis?
We got a call last week from the Mayo clinic. We were devastated. We had thought surely they were calling to start setting up appointments for John, so we were excited to get the call. Just the opposite ) = They said that they declined John's request for a Charity Care visit. That is a set of appointments with the specialists that he needs to see that are covered by financial aid through a certain account. The reason they decided is that he can see specialist closer to home for his issues. I explained that he already has, for YEARS and they are stumped!! Many of them will not accept his insurance!! There have only been 3 doctors at the UW that he has seen, Cardiology, Reuhmatology, and Sleep Specialty - that will accept his insurance. He needs several more, mainly Infectious Disease, and Neurology for his shingles and the severe pain. We are getting NOWHERE!! John had about lost all hope when he heard what she had to say. He just stopped her in the middle of her explanation and asked if it was alright if she continued the conversation with me. He couldn't take anymore of it. It had been a rough week all around, especially with him being hospitalized twice, and once with Dr. Geller experimenting with his pain meds, and him being in a lot of pain.
It has been a crazy month. On the 6th, I had to go in for a scope procedure to check on my chronic pancreatitis pain. Seems nothing changed, all is well. The same day, my sister had her breast cancer surgery - thank God, all went well there but her treatment continues, so we are remembering her in prayer as well.
While I was in for my procedure, John was a patient on the 4th floor, and around the corner, my niece, Tonya had been admitted to the ICU, unresponsive, in a diabetic coma.😰 Her Dr. absolutely believed she would NOT make it. We made a call out for prayer. I went to see her and my sister Mel and Tonya's mom, Tammy were there. I brought oil and anointed her forehead as instructed by the Bible in James chapter 5: "14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.…"🙏 🙏 🙏 Still amazed by God ~ we have been rejoicing by her complete recovery!!! She started waking the next day! No brain damage - no issues, even though her blood sugar was over 1000 when she was found. She was on a breathing tube, not breathing on her own, 2 IV lines in her neck, a nasogastric tube (down her nose to her stomach for drainage and then for feeding). I had a pic of all the meds she had going through the IV's because I couldn't believe there could be so many at once!! I don't like taking multiple PILLS at the same time!! ~ Needless to say, it was a hectic week! I was back and forth between the two hospital rooms, and home to take care of our dogs and our home. Jeff is very self sufficient, but I wish I could do more to take care of him and give him a break since he works so hard all day.
So, John was released on Friday, the 8th late in the evening. Dr. Geller wanted a specific MRI, but they had been so busy in imaging all day they weren't going to get him in. So, they set him up to come back for the scan. John still not feeling well, Jeff took him back for the scan, but there was a mix up, and the receptionist said they didn't have orders for him. We later found that MRI thought he was a no show because they were waiting for him. The receptionist should have called back to imaging to check, but did not. John said she seemed to just want to brush them off. He wouldn't have had an appointment time if there had been no orders. So - I had to get in touch with Dr. Geller and we had to start from the beginning, and wait longer.
Stress is one of the things that brings on shingles....and John having just gotten over them, had a relapse. He was back in the hospital with a new case of shingles - I don't know if this was number 30, or 31...maybe 32! Uhhhgggg! He was very upset about being trapped in there again, having just gotten out. Hooked up to the IV again, relying on nurses and others to meet his needs, losing his independence. Just not being home, in his own comfortable bed... that's bad enough.
This time while he was in, I was making a trip to get some groceries, and then was going to go see him, and with all that was going on, we didn't need ONE more thing added!! God apparently believed we could be proven stronger though. I was making a turn, and hit in the back tire area of my car and given a bit of a jolt by a speeding driver! It could have been so much worse if it had been just a split second sooner I could have been very badly injured. The back tire and axle area took the most of the hit, and pushed me out of the path.😇 😇 Any sooner and I'd been hit right in the side of the car. We all walked away ~ praise the Lord!! The worst part is that our car was totaled. We had very low miles on it and it was in great condition. Insurance only pays fair market value, so we had a great loss on it ) = We were talking about using it as a trade in soon. We only drove it to the store and doctors appointments. The furthest it went was our trip to Mayo. We never even took the plastic off the carpets that the dealership had on them! 😕
Sunday, after all the stress, we just decided to have a lazy day at home. We heard from Dr. Geller who said John's MRI confirmed he has Trigeminal Neuralgia. He also said he once had a female patient who said she birthed 2 children and passed a kidney stone, yet the Trigeminal Neuralgia she had was the worst pain ever! It is also know as the "Suicide Condition" because many people who have it can not live with the awful pain. 😭 So - not only does John have that constant pain, but then he has it aggravated by shingles and made worse! When he is in the hospital, they treat him with an antiviral for shingles and give him pain management for the nerve pain.
John has been dismissed since my accident. We had both come down with a virus - thinking we picked something up while spending so much time at the hospital, where sick people go.... we try hard to avoid -😷 using the hand sanitizers and all. Mine came and went quickly - a high fever, body aches - I sweat it out over night and was fine in a couple days. John's has lasted longer, with vomiting, and a lingering cough. He is finally showing some improvement. I'm hoping we can walk out in the sunshine today!!
So, we still need prayer - pray that God will get us into the best car we can get - one that will get us to all the appointments safely. We will need to find one soon. The rental car goes back today. We are not going to pay for one, and wait for their insurance to pay us back, we just can't do that right now. We of course need John to be covered in prayer - always!!! We desperately need Him to make a way for John to get to Mayo clinic - that is what his many doctors have recommended. The financial aspect is the issue. We will appeal the Charity Care decision, and Dr. Geller is also working with a colleague to get John the appointments he needs. We don't know as of yet. The past 3 plus years have been draining in so many ways!
I want to close giving God all the glory. If not for knowing that He has filtered every bit of this through His great love for us, I can't begin to imagine where I would be, or where WE would be!! And again - thank you all so much for your prayer support and your love!! It means SO MUCH to us!! I can never put those feelings into words. <3
Much love and appreciation on behalf of my family,
God bless ~
Sherrie
https://www.gofundme.com/johnwillis?
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