TV Stars - woot woot!

At this moment, I am so overwhelmed with joy, I am bursting.  FINALLY, action in Arizona for our very sick  16 year old granddaughter.  Channel 3 in Phoenix interviewed our daughter and our granddaughter about her sickness.  It just aired.  Their financial situation is teetering on the top of a cliff, about to fall over.  This news story on TV will help! 

Background:  Our precious DJ, 16, has been diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis.  She has been in and out of the hospital since August - for weeks and weeks.  She has had to make major changes in her life, including dropping some of her AP classes in High School because it was too much to keep up with from the amount of days she was too sick to go to school, or in the hospital.  She is never without pain - it is her shadow, 24/7.  Some days it is bearable, some days it is not.  Her medicine to keep her living and not going into acute liver failure is beyond expensive.  One medicine is $400 a month - ONE medicine.  That doesn't count all the others she is on.  At this point, I bet their medical bills are close to half a million dollars or more.

DJ will have to have a liver transplant eventually, but the doctors and family are hoping that DJ can be stabilized so she can get through High School with some quality of life - before that has to happen.   She just got home Tuesday from another round in the hospital.  The medical costs are staggering.  Both her mom and dad have been off work so much, neither have any leave left.  They both have lost a lot of money in their paychecks because they have been off with DJ so much.  That alone has cut deeply into their finances.  There are no savings, because 4 years ago, her dad, Danny, had cancer, and the medical bills from that round completely wiped them out! 

But the reason for writing this blog post is that I am in shock as to how this all came about.  This would not have happened today, but for a determined 16 year old who has been through hell and back.  Today, their family in AZ was having a garage sale to raise money for expenses for our granddaughter, DJ.  When DJ (aka Danielle)  woke up this morning, she decided to call Channel 3 - a major TV station in Phoenix - and ask them if they could say something about the garage sale on TV - explained a little about what it was for.  The man politely said that it sounded interesting and that they would think about it.  I am not sure even DJ knows just why she called them, but she is gaining a voice and is becoming very active about her disease, hoping that what she is going through, will eventually help someone else.

In the middle of the morning, with the garage sale going on full swing, 3 TV vans pulled up to their house, with cameras, etc.  Of course, DJ and mom about fell out of their chairs.  The reporter introduced himself, and asked if he could interview them for the 5 o'clock news.  What cracked me up was that DJ's comment when she first saw the news vans was, "Oh crap, I look awful."  Typical teenager!  :)

April (our daughter) said the reporter was amazing, asked wonderful questions, and at one point, when April started crying, so did he.  The segment just aired on TV - with a comment at the end that anyone could donate to the fund by contacting any Bank of America.

Our family, including theirs, is pretty private about what is going on in our lives, and would rather die than ask for help.  For DJ to call the station and ask them to air the location of the garage sale shocked all of us - our family just doesn't do that.

Rather than ask for money, they just posted flyers about the sale, and were selling everything they could to raise money.  Somehow, I believe that a higher power led DJ to call the TV station today, and then sent the reporters to their home.

Their circle of family, friends, collegues, teachers and church friends have kept them in groceries, gift cards, and prayers.  But even more than the gifts, is the wonderful, caring comments they continue to receive that gives them strength to face another day.  It is the love that surrounds them that gives them hope.  It is April's principal and co teachers that do anything and everything to help them, including doing her lesson plans if needed so April can be at the hospital with DJ.  It is the people at Danny's work that give, and gave so very very much when he had cancer and couldn't work for a year.  They are amazing, amazing, amazing!

It is humbling that when the family was in crisis mode for food or money, it seemed to arrive.  Now with the money they get from this garage sale,  they can pay for dental work that needs finishing for DJ - that the dental office was nasty about. They asked for $1,000 up front before even treating her, and Danny said he would be lucky to be able to give them $10.  Danny said that for a moment, it looked like they were not going to fix DJ's  broken tooth and root canal so she wouldn't be in pain, but finally relented.  That was a really, really good thing, because if they had refused service, I think Danny would have gone postal.  Any other money they get, will allow them to pay on regular living epenses as well as the other medical bills that pile up daily. 

So again, heart is filled with joy, tears are in my eyes, and the financial crisis that was eating me from inside out is temporarily helped so I can breathe again, and so can they. 

They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar as with eagle's wings; they will run and not grow weary; walk and not grow faint.    Isaiah 40:31


Peace and love to all.