Groundhog Day

Kate and I found out today that the surgery date is most likely going to be pushed back to Feb. 21st.  It is starting to feel like Ground Hog Day the movie, we keep getting told dates and then they keep getting moved back.

This is frustrating for Kate and for many reasons which you will find out as the story continues.  The problem with this is that Kate has a show on March 2^nd that she has to be back to Florida for, and most likely I won’t be able to leave North Carolina until March 4^th.  We are currently waiting for the Insurance Company again! They have to approve me as the donor; legally they have 15 business days to respond, and they told the coordinator they weren’t in a hurry.

If you could please lift this up in prayer for us we would really appreciate it so that they make their decision sooner, it is possible if they make the decision by the 8^th we can still do the surgery on the 14^th. 

After a long day with some frustrating news Kate and I decided to ride our bikes up to target to blow off a little steam.  You’re wondering what could happen on a 1 mile bike ride to a store that could possibly be interesting?

A)     Bike Crash

B)      Flat Tire

C)      Shoe Lace gets caught in the chain

D)     Weird walking fat guy try to fake punch you on the sidewalk.

That is correct option D, we were riding up the sidewalk and this guy is walking towards us, I kind of figured he would get out of the way and let us go by.  He figured he would stare us down and then throw a fake punch while saying an incoherent word.  Not sure how I stayed on the bike while trying to block it but we just kept on riding, I figured there was nothing good that could come out of circling back to figure out what that was all about.  The rest of the ride their and back home was uneventful thankfully. 

Back to the story: July/August 2011

When we left the story I had been cleared again to donate by a hematologist who determined my low iron level was acceptable and my enlarged spleen was only misshapen.  UNC told us they would submit me in front of the board at the next available meeting.  This was in July/August of 2011.  We didn’t hear anything back from the hospital which wasn’t a large concern because we were hoping to the surgery in January anyway, but when we finally went to check in we were told the donation was on hold.

It turns out that Ashley’s insurance was denying her, and saying they would not pay for her to get a kidney.  Even now this makes my blood boil, check that it makes me twice as mad now as when I first heard this because I understand more what Ashley has had to go through.  To know you are going to need a kidney, find someone who is willing to donate and is an actual match, and is actually healthy enough to donate, only to have an insurance company say they aren’t going to pay for it.

They were basically telling her that her life was not worth the money they would have to spend, what a terrible thing to say, yet alone to have to hear.  Ashley I am so sorry that you had to hear that and go through that, and I just want to let you know that you are worth it. 

We spent the next several months in a holding pattern while Ashley had to hire attorneys so that the insurance company would cover the transplant.  This was a time where we were praying a lot and we had asked for a lot of prayer from all of you.  I just want to take this time to thank you for all of your prayer because on Dec. 6^th, 4 months later as the case was about to go to trial the insurance company dropped the case, and the surgery would be covered, it was a very exciting day and this put Kate and I back on the clock.