Listening
I just got finished listening to a story on NPR about a family in Maine. They have a young daughter with cystic fibrosis. I remember reading a story about a little girl with this disease when I was about thirteen. The story was from the father's point of view...it told of the constant pain she was in and how it was so hard for him to see his daughter suffer. The story was a look into her brave spirit. I remember crying so hard my body shook because of the compassion and grief I felt for the girl and her dad. She died around the age of thirteen.
The story I just listened to said the treatment for cystic fibrosis has dramatically improved over the past twenty years. Now, the average life expectancy for someone with CF is 37! BUT, the medicines can cost $20,000 to $30,000 a year! (Not to mention the hospital stays and doctor visits!)
The story focused on a family (married couple with four children) who had a young daughter with the disease. He was a foreman in charge of a crew laying natural gas pipeline and had recently gotten a promotion and raise. This raise elevated his income to just above a qualifying income for Medicaid. He was baffled! The income wasn't enough to pay for the treatments, hospital visits, etc without Medicaid and his insurance only covered part of the cost. He talked to the agency and they suggested cutting down his work hours or getting a divorce (so his wife's part-time income could qualify for Medicaid).
The dad was breaking down in tears and I was too. What a government we have...Where has the common sense gone? Children should be cared for first! If they were born into this world with a disease, they should be helped. When an adult abuses their body (with smoking, over-eating, lack of exercise) and gets diabetes, heart disease, cancer, "back problems"...they should be last on "the list." COMMON SENSE!
I am heart-broken for this family. What a decision to be faced with...they love their child and just want to help control the ravages of her disease.
The government should reward for work! This dad appears to be trying his absolute best to provide for his family and he is given a slap in the face. It really makes my stomach turn...
But I can look forward to this day (talked about in Isaiah) and say a prayer of blessing for that family in Maine and suffering children everywhere...
Isaiah 35 "The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon, they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God. Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear, your God will come, he will come with vengeance, with divine retribution he will come to save you. THEN WILL THE EYES OF THE BLIND BE OPENED AND THE EARS OF THE DEAF UNSTOPPED. THEN WILL THE LAME LEAP LIKE A DEER, AND THE MUTE TONGUE SHOUT FOR JOY. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow. And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord will return. THEY WILL ENTER ZION WITH SINGING; EVERLASTING JOY WILL CROWN THEIR HEADS. GLADNESS AND JOY WILL OVERTAKE THEM, AND SORROW AND SIGHING WILL FLEE AWAY!"
