A Zebra Reunion and A Big Party

Party With a Purpose

Well the details are coming together for the big celebration/fundraiser for Haley. The date is August 31, and it will be from 4-8 pm. We will hold the event at our friends' farm in Mt. Crawford, Virginia. At this point we are planning a big celebration with food by our dear friends at Grilled Cheese Mania! Yum!! (More details to come.)

Right now we don't have an exact amount that we will owe for the medical treatment Haley had in Maryland. We do know that the hospital bill is just over $64,000. Of that, we have no idea what we will be responsible for. I called the insurance company the other day, and they said that they had denied the entire claim. My heart began to beat fast, and the woman on the phone said that they had requested more information from the hospital. I said, "So I don't need to panic?" and she said, "No, don't panic." I said, "Good, because that's more than our first house cost!!"  I keep reminding myself that God will provide for all our needs.

Any Helpers Out There?

We are still in need of a few folks to help with planning and behind-the-scenes work. If any of you are local and would like to volunteer, please send me a message on Face Book. We already have a nice group of folks who are committed to making this a smashing success, but we may need help erecting the giant tent on the day of the party, setting up, preparing food, doing publicity, and other things. So if you are gifted and so inclined, jump in! I can promise you we will have a great time!!

Update on Haley

Haley continues to make steady progress. She is continuing to go to physical therapy twice a week, and will soon add another day of pool therapy. She is getting stronger, and takes daily trips up the stairs to "visit" her new room. She loves it and just enjoys sitting on the bed and taking in the scenery. Right now, climbing the stairs still takes a lot of effort, so she will remain in the living room in the hospital bed for the time being.

Visit from a Fellow Zebra 

Last weekend, she had a visit from a new friend and fellow "zebra" named Sarah. They were both patients in the hospital in Maryland. Sarah had her surgery the day before Haley and they became fast friends. Sarah and her mom traveled from Vancouver, British Colombia, for a follow-up appointment with Dr. Henderson in Maryland. Haley and Sarah conspired to see if Sarah's mom, Sue, would drive down to our house in Virginia so the girls could visit. I thought to myself, "there's no way this lady is going to agree to drive 2 1/2 hours so they can see each other." I was wrong. They did  just that, arriving on Friday around 11:30 am.  They stayed until late Saturday night (actually 1 am Sunday morning). The girls had such a great time. They went for a drive on the Skyline Drive (Sue drove), and went to a Safari Park about an hour from here. They topped off their evening taking in a local production of Les Mis, starring our friend, Andrew. (It was Haley's third time seeing that production!)

Here's a picture of Haley and Sarah at the dinner table. Two zebra friends.

 It is so nice for Haley to have a friend who is her age who is going through much of the same things. And, she and Sarah have so many other things in common. When Sarah and Sue left, the girls hugged each other and said, "I love you" to one another. What a treat. Thanks go to Sue for making the sacrifice of driving all this way.  Here they are at  the Safari Park. Note the Zebra trash can!

For those of you who are wondering about the significance of "zebras", it is a term used for people with rare illnesses. You see, the saying comes from an adage that is taught to medical students during their training. They are told, "When you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras." This means that the vast majority of illnesses that doctors will see in practice are those common, ordinary things (horses) and much less likely to be the rare, strange illnesses they've studied in med school (zebras). Hence, anyone with a rare illness is considered a zebra. Many of them (like the lovely Sarah) have embraced this idea and collect all things zebra. Actually, I gave Sarah a zebra bag to go with her zebra purse, etc. In fact, if you look closely at her neck brace, you can see that she's decorated it with zebra stripes.

Here's one more shot of the two goofballs going to Walmart. They said that they got a lot of stares. A girl in a neck brace pushing another girl in a Wally-world wheelchair. I'm sure I would have stared too! haha