A Breath of Fresh Air

In the past month I have experienced a wild turn of events. It is something that is best described as a Miracle.

To give you a bit of background, my life has been marked by sickness and major surgeries since childhood. Normal daily activities have been hard to keep up with. To say that pregnancy was hard on me would be an understatement. I have been carted from specialist to specialist most of my life. Most recently, I had been experiencing jaw & facial pain. It had gotten so bad that I was mostly living off of smoothies.

I went to a specialist for TMJ--Dr. Farrand Robson in Tacoma. He told me that TMJ was the least of my worries. Instead, the greater issue is that I have been "choking on my tongue" for pretty much my whole life.

He went on to explain that because I had too many teeth pulled in elementary school the natural boundaries for my tongue changed. As a result my tongue is going too far back in my mouth and depriving me of oxygen. He said that this accounts for my low blood-pressure, high heart-rate, cold/blue hands and feet, and "asthma".

That same day he fitted me for a retainer. This helps pull my tongue forward. I thought the doctor was crazy until he put this thing in my mouth...AND I BREATHED like I have never breathed before. I got really dizzy from all the oxygen! After a few minutes of wearing the retainer my hands started feeling weird. I looked down and they were turning pink and were warming up!! I went home and slept like I have NEVER slept before!

My doctor said that a lot of my other health problems will probably fade away because my body will not have to put so much effort into breathing. We are hopeful, but also realize this will take time.

This will be a three to four month process with the doctor, fitting and adjusting the retainer (AKA orthotic) as my mouth and body adjust to the changes.This process will cost $16,000, which is not covered by insurance. My doctor is writing a letter to let the insurance company know that this is medically necessary for me. I am also going to make an appeal for them to pay.

Dr. Robson's office has a payment plan, but it is too steep for us. We know that God definitely brought me this far and gave me an amazing new joy-- experiencing oxygen!! We know that He will provide for this somehow.

Please pray for provision, and please pray for us as we go through this 4-month adjustment.