Today is an ordinary Tuesday. It started with a preschool drop off, then the nurse came to work with Maddie; I'm off on Tuesdays, so dishes and laundry await me. There's nothing special about today. But, that is what is so special. This is my first REGULAR Tuesday in a long time. Maddie is fine, better than fine actually, her respiratory functioning is better than it's been in a year. I'm not worried about her right now, and that absent feeling is odd to adjust to.
I'm sitting at the dining room table, next to the Christmas tree we decorated as a family. These ordinary moments are everything to me. Today I have a lot of thank you cards to write. And as I do this, I am smiling. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. Madelyn's diaphragm condition was only diagnosed one month ago, surgery happened two weeks ago, a week in the ICU, and now we're back to "normal".
What I am most thankful for is everyone who has supported us. I say this cliche "it takes a village" quite often, which probably lessens it impact, but it is true. The week before Madelyn's surgery, Greg lost his job. Greg carried our health insurance. As some may know, health insurance dictates your medical care, although we'd love to believe that isn't true, it is. Madelyn sees a ton of specialists in the Twin Cities, her surgery was planned and scheduled, there was absolutely no way as her parents that we would allow any hiccup with insurance to jeopardize her treatment plan. So, we immediately converted Greg's health insurance to a COBRA policy, which allows you to keep your exact same health insurance your employer provided, but at a MUCH higher cost (to the tune of $1900/month, and we had 1.5 months to quickly cover). Was Maddie's respiratory functioning worth this? Absolutely, yes. But, was this something we had budgeted for, while also taking into account the loss of an income? Absolutely, no.
Enter some very special friends. They'll of course remain nameless, because like the compassionate and upstanding people they are, they help to help, not for recognition. They know who they are, and they hopefully know how much we love them. These friends reached out to other friends and colleagues of ours. They also reached out to a local community organizer. Mind you, all of this happened without us knowing. A few days before we left for the Twin Cities for surgery, we were overwhelmed with financial support. So much support that we were able to pay our COBRA premiums from the gifts, not from our family budget. We went into that surgery week as Madelyn's parents, 100% focused on her care, not worrying about the large bill that awaited us. That feeling is indescribable.
To have people in your life that offer support and give without being asked is overwhelming. Our only hope is that Greg and I can give back to our village in the same way. Thank you for the texts to check in on us, the prayers sent up to God for Madelyn's recovery, the hospital care packages, the secret elves who decorated our house, the friends who sent us their hard-earned money during the holiday season when there's plenty of gifts to buy for their own family, the grandparents who rearranged their schedule to have Ava, the other family members who froze us a Thanksgiving meal so we could celebrate when we got back home, and thank you for reminding us how GOOD people are.
You all have such a special place in our heart. And when I think of each of you, I smile.
