Cleaning Out the Bowels and Our Bank Account

Odd title for a post I know, but it'll make sense in a few minutes. I promise.

So in my last post I mentioned that Alicia hadn't pooped in almost 3 days. Nurses and doctors suspected that she was adjusting to the move and her new surroundings. It's kind of funny how that would affect one's bowel movements, but I guess kids are strange like that.

Well, yesterday morning, we went and she still hadn't pooped, and it was the beginning of day 3 of constipation, which Linda and I were a little concerned about because she used to go like 3 or 4 times a day. But when we spoke to the nurse she didn't seem too concerned. Alicia wasn't bloated or spitting up, so she said that meant that she was digesting well. And said that they'd observe her for the rest of the day, if she still hadn't pooped by the end of the day they would look into doing something.

Well, that night we went back to the SBR and there was good news. She pooped! And according to the night nurse, it was a doozy. It was the day nurse who actually received Alicia's wonderful gift, and well, apparantly it was quite massive and stinky. Makes sense, it's been building up for 2 1/2 days. =)

So that's the whole cleaning out the bowels part.

What about cleaning out our bank account. Well, before I go into the story, I must write a disclaimer, this in no way shape or form is me writing to ask for money. Many, many of you have already blessed us with gifts that will more than cover our costs. I'm only sharing the story because I think it's amusing, and also I am AMAZED once again at God's provision and planning.

So I decided to let Linda do Kangaroo Care yesterday, since I had done it the two days before. While Linda was doing Kangaroo Care, out of curiosity, I decided to go and check how much our hospital bill was up to that point. So I headed downstairs to the registration counter and waited my turn. When I got to the counter, I handed the clerk Alicia's insurance card and asked her to check how much our bill was.

A few clicks later, she looked up and said, "Your bill so far is $57,437NT." I was like, "OK. But how much is our self-pay portion." She looked at me and said, "That is your self-pay portion." You can imagine my shock. Last time I checked a couple of months ago, our self-pay portion was only $1000NT or $2000NT. So I asked her to print out an itemized bill.

Well, there it was in black and white, "$57,437 self pay." I was shocked, that is until I looked over at our total bill. Try and guess how much it is. Just try. I don't think I've ever seen this many numbers on a bill before.

Our total, as of yesterday, was $1,671,288. Yes, you read that right. Over one MILLION dollars. Granted that's Taiwanese Dollars, but still! Keep in mind that we're not out of the hospital yet. So that number is just going to go up. It kind of puts the $57,437 in perspective, eh? Now you understand the whole, "Clearing Out Our Bank Account" part of the title? ;)

I have to say though, one really has to really appreciate, at least I do, the Taiwanese Health Care system. I mean, Alicia's been in the hospital for over three months, and we are paying less than 4% of the entire hospital bill. Seriously!

Her incubator, NICU/SBR stay, her checkups, her surgeries, all covered by insurance. Thank you, Lord! I can only imagine what it would cost us to go through this in the States.

So what exactly is the $50,000? There was some self-pay medication, some supplies like diapers, etc..., and some other minor things. I still need to check with the doctors about which medications they gave to Alicia and why they were so expensive, but still overall, I'm just grateful.

God is truly amazing. Can we all agree on that? I mean, I can't get over it.

We'll see how much our total bill is in the end, but you know what? I'm not worried. Our God is Jehovah-Jireh, the great provider! He has more than supplied our needs in the past and will continue to do so for the rest of eternity.

One verse that he's been reminding Linda and I of over and over again is Matthew 7:11.
"If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

We cling to that promise, and I hope that you will too. God is a good God. He's a good Father. He loves us more than we could ever imagine or comprehend. Are you living in that truth today?