Answered Prayers

So many are skeptical of whether or not God answers our prayers. The Bible says they are always answered, but the answers can be "Yes", "No", "Not yet", "Trust me". We have received a very AWESOME "Yes". I'll try to give you a quick recap.

Matt (along with several of his other family members) has a genetic bone disorder, called osteochondroma. For whatever reason, these usually grow on bones and/or joints and can cause pain and may or may not require surgery. Matt had surgery 10 years ago (in August) to remove a malignant osteochondroma from his left shoulder blade. The surgeon ended up having to remove 2/3 of his shoulder blade and since Matt is left handed, lost much strength in his shoulder as the muscles had to be reattached to the shoulder blade that was left and/or on scar tissue that formed. Matt went through his physical therapy and regained range of motion. This summer, he went back in for a scan and they found a soft tissue chondrosarcoma under some major muscles in his left shoulder again. The dr. determined that this was a reoccurrent growth and needed to be taken care of. The problem was that in order to have surgery done again, the surgeon was going to have to cut through a lot of muscle groups to get to the tumor. The limited function & mobility Matt has now in his left arm, would be significantly reduced. Matt asked if there was another option and the dr. introduced him to Cyberknife therapy, a kind of radiation treatment that is pinpointed the exact location. When it was proposed to our insurance company to approve Cyberkife therapy, they denied this request and said that it was an experimental form of treatment.

So Matt began an appeal process through his employer's insurance rep. He wrote a letter, his surgeon wrote a letter, the Cyberknife dr. wrote a letter, the insurance rep wrote a letter, and even the surgeon's office manager wrote a letter to the insurance company. The office manager's letter even included other cases where Coventry (our insurance company) covered this therapy for chondromas/sarcomas. The letters were sent in and we waited. Matt got a call from the claims manager at Coventry saying that the statute of limitations for appeals had expired, but they were going to resubmit it as a "reconsideration due to new information," to reopen the case. He was told that this would likely result in the original decision being upheld, but that it would, in effect, reopen the statute of limitations and allow him to formally and officially appeal the decision. Fortunately, the only change that had to be made was re-dating Matt's letter, as everything else was still in the file, so only the negative that was caused by the run-around was that the process took about a week longer overall. (Matt was also encouraged to hear that it wasn't an insurance company individual reviewing the appeal, but that the entire file would be sent to a "doctor of like specialty" that wasn't directly connected to the ins. comp and could contact either of the doctors who wrote the letters.) Matt was told that he would hear back in about 2 weeks.

As the days dragged on, the anxiety of even coming home every night wondering what was in the mail grew. So even though we had numerous friends and family members praying, there was still a sense of unease. When I tried to get Matt to talk to me about what he was feeling (you know, because guys are such feelers), the one thing he said to me was "I'm afraid I won't ever get a chance to play catch with our son." I cry every time I think about that. All my life I've been healthy, haven't broken a bone, haven't had surgeries, haven't had to think about moving my limbs. And now, my husband, my best friend in the whole world is telling me that he may not be able to play catch with our son. As I watch Matt do things, things that I don't even have to think about, like put deoderant on in the morning or reach out to get food from the drive thru or to grab the canister at the bank drive thru, I'm reminded what a hard time he has already. If he has to have surgery, who knows what other activities would be limited or completely removed.

So we prayed. And we waited. And yesterday, when the mail came, there was a letter in it from our insurance company. My heart started racing as soon as I saw the return address. But since it wasn't MY letter, I held it and continued praying that it was the decision we had all been praying for, but knowing that the decision had already been made and I needed to trust God and remember that His Will is perfect. Matt came home about an hour and a half later and I greeted him at the door, which isn't unusual, but I think he sensed something because I didn't want to stop hugging him. :) He asked what was up and nodded my head toward the letter that I put on the entertainment center. He gave a big sigh and said "Oh". He took a deep breath, said a quick prayer, and slowly opened it. I read over his shoulder..."has overturned their previous decision..." What!? I don't think either of us breathed for a few minutes, because as soon as we both read it twice, we realized that God has blessed us with another answer to prayer. Matt didn't have to have surgery!!! The insurance company had approved his radiation treatment!!! Praise the Lord!!