Friday, February 4, 2011

MIND BOGGLING INTERVENTION

                               MIND BOGGLING INTERVENTION

     We were both weak kneed and breathless from God's latest miracle in our behalf. It had actually taken our breath away. That's pretty rare for Steve and me. Both of us rarely are speechless at the same time and also weak from an awesome happening. The story is worthy of telling.
     Steve was down to his last four shots of Fragmin, the prepared blood thinner shots that he is supposed to administer at least until the next MD Anderson tests. He called the local pharmacy which has been very efficient in providing his various meds. The local oncologist prefers that particular pharmacy because they are efficient and cheaper, in some instances.
     Steve called the local pharmacist, who said they would call him back when the shots were available, since they have to procure them from a supply house. MD Anderson had provided the shots the first month, and the local pharmacy had provided them for him the next month free of charge because Steve had met his deductible that our insurance requires.
     Later the pharmacist called and said they had located some shots for him. I heard Steve exclaim, "Nine hundred dollars? Do you mean that that amount is the amount of my co-pay after the insurance pays their amount? " The answer was yes, that it was the amount we had to pay for a month's supply of shots. We began to know why the local oncologist had earlier remarked that MD Anderson had certainly prescribed expensive shots.
     Steve told the pharmacist to hold off on ordering them until he could talk to his doctor. Nine hundred dollars a month was a shocking amount to have to pay for the blood thinning shots. In fact, it was mind boggling.
     We discussed the possibility of his calling Angie, the MD Anderson oncology nurse, and have her discuss with the doctor what other comparable med would do the same job.
     After recovering from the shock, Steve came up with a better idea. He recalled a past occasion the previous month when Angie, from MD Anderson, had located some shots at a mail order pharmacy after the local pharmacy couldn't find any shots at their supply houses. The mail order pharmacy supplies another medication for Steve, but they needed a doctor's prescription for the Fragmin, so Angie had phoned in the Houston doctor's prescription. In the interim, the local pharmacy had phoned us and said they had located the shots. Steve then phoned Angie again, thanked her for her help and told her the local pharmacy could then provide the shots. That problem was solved
      There we were again the next month, having a problem with the same med, but this time the problem was the ridiculously high cost. Steve scrolled through his old phone messages and found the number of the mail order pharmacy he and Angie had previously contacted, dialed it, and spoke to the person who answered. Of course he explained his predicament, that he needed the Fragmin and that it was horribly expensive locally.
     He listened for a moment and then I heard Steve calmly ask her a question, "You mean the cost will be $70 for a three month supply?" He asked again because the information was almost unbelievable. "You mean I only have to pay $70 and you will ship me a three month supply of the shots by overnight UPS?"
     The answer was, "Yes." Praise God, it was true.
     Instead of the three month supply costing $2,700 we have to pay $70, and they will ship it to our door. If he had gotten it locally it would have cost $900 a month. Now it costs $23 for a month's supply of shots from the mail order pharmacy.
     When we sat down together and talked about God's efficient direction of the whole situation and the fact that the orchestration of the past two months set the entire situation up, we were amazed. Steve wouldn't have known who to call if the local pharmacy had not had a problem locating the shots the previous month, which precipitated Steve calling Angie at MD Anderson, who called the mail order pharmacy and gave a prescription to them. Even though Steve didn't have to use the mail order pharmacy the previous month, they still had the open ended prescription that Angie had phoned in. Nobody but God could have arranged that scenario.
     We walked around for several days with boggled minds. In fact, we were so in awe of God's intervention in the situation that we could hardly talk. It was like getting a huge raise. Really, it was just part of the benefits of being a child of God.
      How sweet it is to be loved by Him!

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