Since deciding to begin with a couple older blogs that I had wrote, I should probably update a little since the first blog I had posted was in February of 2010 when Chad was so sick. That was such a miserable time for us not knowing what was wrong with him and why he couldn't walk or even sit up on his own. He was in constant pain from being flat on his back for months and of course sick from all the nausea. After seeing several neurologists, ENT's and internal specialists and having test after test ran on Chad we finally were blessed with a diagnosis that Chad has Meniere's Disease. This can be a debilitating disease, and it in fact was for Chad for 3 months. It is a disease that attacks your inner ear so of course your balance and equilibrium are affected. By the time Chad was diagnosed, some major damage had been done to his hearing. He was barely left with 5% of hearing in his right ear. We were told at the time that even with a hearing aid he would never be able to hear out of that ear again. After learning about things that trigger Meniere's attacks, including sodium, caffeine, stress & allergies we had a lot of changing to do in our diet and lifestyle to get Chad back to being healthy again. Before the disease hit him he was a healthy 200 pounds and by the time of diagnosis in late March of 2010 he weighed only 160 pounds. They also put him on medication to help flush the sodium from his system which he is still on today to help prevent another severe attack from happening. Right before Chad got sick he had taken a new position in his company where he would have to go out to oilfield locations to do jobs. This of course took him away from our family. He would leave the house about 4am and come home most nights after 8pm. We justified it by the large raise he was getting by taking this job. While Chad struggled emotionally with being stuck in bed day after day for months not being able to work to provide for our family, I could see him struggling spiritually as well. Of course the kids were confused and upset because their Daddy wasn't able to do anything at all, so one night we all sat down and read the book of Job. It helped us all to not feel so bad or even forgotten about. From then on, we praised God for allowing Chad to have had the good paying job that he had the month before he had gotten sick because that alone carried us through those 3 months financially. We also praised Him for allowing me to be home to take care of Chad. One day while the kids were at school and I had gotten Chad comfortable on the couch in the living room, I was doing my normal daily cleaning around the house and Chad asked if I would come sit and talk with him for a little bit. He began to cry while telling me about how he felt he had forced himself into the new job and all the while he had felt the Holy Spirit telling him it wasn't such a great idea for him to be away from his family. He told me he felt like God was urging him to be more involved in our new church, something more than the pre-school Sunday school teacher he had been in the early years of our marriage. I told him he should definitely let our Pastor know his feelings and pray about it. Ironically, Brother John, text me one afternoon a few days later asking if there was any possible way I could get Chad to church the next Sunday afternoon because they were wanting to have him there while they lifted him up in prayer. On Sunday when church was over I gathered up the kids from running around the church yard with their friends as usual. We picked up something for lunch then went home to start getting Chad dressed and ready to go up to the church. There was a small group of people there that afternoon to pray for Chad. I know it had to have touched his heart just as much as it did mine to have others praying for not only a diagnosis but also healing for him. Once people were filing out heading home for the evening Chad was able to speak with Brother John about the pull he had been feeling on his heart. By the time we left late that afternoon, Chad had a sparkle in his eye and was moving just a tad faster than he had been, as he carried out the packet of Teen Sunday School material to the car. On the way home he explained that apparently the Pastor and his family had been praying for it to be placed on some one's heart to work with the youth and they felt that Chad was perfect for the Youth Pastor position. Chad felt the burden on his heart had been lifted and he once again not only had a purpose in life but also felt like he was one step closer to being back to doing things according to God's will instead of his own. A couple weeks went by and finally we received a call with Chad's diagnosis and treatment plan and within no time he was feeling much better. Chad still has quarterly checkups for his Meniere's Disease to see if it has progressed or staying about the the same. Earlier this year we were called in to the audiologists office to hear some amazing news about a new hearing aid that might possibly help Chad. We were quickly discouraged once we found out the price was nearly $4,000.00. The lady was more than helpful and gave us a brochure on the D.A.R.S. group (Department of Assistive & Rehabilitative Services) and explained we should contact them since Chad was still employed and that they may be able to fund the hearing aid for him. In June they approved Chad for the hearing aid at no cost and in September Chad received the hearing aid and 80% of his hearing back, Praise the Lord!
Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Your spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness. ~Psalm 143:10
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