Johnny works at a county hospital. The hospital is doing some renovations and additions, without the money to afford it (sound familiar?). Not wanting to raise taxes to pay for it, they decided to cut the wages of the hardest working healthcare providers...the nurses. Johnny works anywhere from 3-5 nights of overtime per month. The new pay cuts reduced the nighttime differential by $1 and completely eliminated the incentive pay. (Incentive pay was what they paid nurses to work when they weren't originally scheduled to work- roughly $130/shift.) Without discussing too many details, we suffered a huge hit to our budget. We considered all our options and thought the best choice was to apply to the other hospital here. They offered him a job working days or nights, whichever he preferred. After much prayer and fasting, we decided for Johnny to take a day-shift and enroll in online classes for his Bachelor's degree. We felt confident that the timing was right and that we would reach our goal- for Johnny to go to graduate school.
I'm sure you can tell by the tone of this post, that things didn't go as planned. Remember a few weeks back when I was sick with mastitis? Well, that week, Johnny had had a fever too. It lasted about a week and was just over 100°F. He felt tired and had chills- nothing very unusual. We thought it was a virus and didn't worry about it. A few days after the fever left, he had red dots on his legs from his knees down. It wasn't really a rash- didn't itch or even blanch when you touched it. ("You have a rash?" Ratatouille. Haha) It was very odd, so he asked one of the doctors about it while he was at work. They were concerned too, so they had him get lab work done. He's actually had lab work done recently- our doctor is watching his cholesterol/triglycerides/glucose levels. On a side-note, Johnny has lost a lot of weight (not Biggest Loser "lot", but still...) and is no longer considered overweight for his height. His glucose levels are normal (no more diabetes) because he is eating healthy everyday! He's a better person- happier, not so many aches/pains. He has more energy and just feels better. Ah-mazing!
Back to my story... the morning Johnny was scheduled to sign the papers to take the new job, his lab results came back. He met with our doctor, who told him he might have lupus. Shocked? Yeah, we were/are too. We knew then that it wasn't the Lord's will for him to take the job at the other hospital. (I forgot to mention that lots of people from both hospitals told him not to take the job. Of course, I thought, "Who are you? Why should we listen to you?") In order for Johnny to be properly diagnosed or whatever, he would need to see a specialist in Tyler, and we would need our insurance. Had Johnny taken the new job, we would have had no insurance for at least 30 days, and could've been considered a "pre-existing condition".
In my heart, I knew he shouldn't take the job. I felt it, but I was so stubborn that I didn't want to admit it. I didn't want that to be the answer. I really wanted Johnny to be on a day schedule and be able to finish his degree and I thought that was the only way for it to happen. Several times Johnny said, "I just don't think I'm going to take that job." which totally bugged me! And even though he said that, he was still going through with it, until the lab results came back.
I should tell you, the lab results came back in 2 parts. The first result said he had a strep infection and was given an antibiotic. Amazingly enough, the antibiotic cleared up the rash! Now we're really confused.
Either Johnny has lupus (if in the mildest form possible) or he has something or nothing. Regardless, we feel certain that the Lord is aware of us and our needs and we have faith that all will be well. Johnny's got an appointment with a specialist Monday, August 22. Until then... we're finishing up the last of the bunk beds.
Our den is our work space...it's big and air conditioned.
It's in pieces, waiting to be stained later today.
This is from our recent trip to Vidor. Katherine had spent the night with my grandma and we were headed to my sister's pool. Grandma made us pancakes that morning. We love her!
