Meeting the Deductible

January 23. Our family met the deductible for our health insurance for the entire year on January 23rd. Yup, you read that correctly. 23 days in and we paid the entire $3000 of our high deductible health insurance plan. This is a small part of our new normal. It is part of my husband being chronically ill. He met half of that deductible, the individual max on January 2nd, the day he refilled his medications for the first time this year. Our daughter met the other half in an ER visit after an incident at a birthday party over the weekend.

I know we are not alone. This is the reality of SO many families. We have been blessed with financial aid, my husband's workplace covering some of the deductible and a stable and well paid job. Other's are not so lucky. Other's have mounting debt or worse, have to go without medications or treatments that they desperately need.

Don't worry, I'm not about to get political. This experience, this process of learning what it is like to live with someone who is chronically ill, it has made me grateful. I'm so grateful that he is approaching a place of healthy again. I'm so grateful that we live in a place and are in a position where we can get him the treatment that he needs to remain healthy. I'm so grateful for his attitude and leadership through all of this. I'm also grateful that it has caused us to become prepared. Chronic illness has caused us to have conversations that we wouldn't have otherwise had, to appreciate good moments were we are all healthy and able to enjoy life together. We no longer take things for granted.

We have done things or are in the process of doing things that everyone should do and having conversations that everyone should have with their spouse, children and loved ones. I hope you are never in this position. I do hope that our experience will cause you to take some steps. Some of the things chronic illness has caused us to do are:

1. All the legal things: Because of the nature of my husbands career, we already had a Will in place. This has caused us to take a second look at what would happen in the event that something would happen to one or both or us. We are starting the process of establishing a trust. We have taken a second look at our life insurance policies. We have started a legacy box (more on this to come).
2.   All the financial things: We have been on the Dave Ramseyish plan for many years. The result of being faced with the challenges that have come with this diagnosis, is that we are more determined than ever to get our financial house in order. We are debt free again and so determined to stay there. We are building a strong and healthy emergency fund, possibly larger than the 3-6 months suggested, because our medical expenses would add up more quickly than others. We will be paying off our house years ahead of schedule. We have made sure that each of us knows where all the passwords and documents are.
3. All the dreaming: His diagnosis is life long and serious, but not terminal. It will make            life much more complicated, but not shorter. I think this caused us to take a long hard look at priorities. It has caused us to have conversations about dreams. Dreams that we didn't previously talk about because we were stuck in the hear and now. Because some of these dreams will be more complicated to execute, we have to talk about them much further in advance. We are talking about things both short term and long term that we might have never talked about. Dreams that would have never left our hearts are being planned for and steps taken toward bringing them to fruition.
4.  All the Health Things: We are taking such better care of our bodies. We are working out both together and on our own. We are being careful about what we are putting in our bodies and eating to fuel our bodies instead of cope with our circumstances. We have both lost inches and pounds. We are capable of more than we ever dreamed our bodies could do. Our kids have noticed and have joined us. Our entire family has been transformed by the changes we have made in our fitness and nutrition.
5. All the Spiritual Things: Most importantly, this has made our faith and trust in Jesus stronger.  It has put action to our faith as we have come to rely on God to do what only he can do. The lows of this journey have refined us into a simple and pure trust in Jesus that has emboldened us to take on things in His name that we might not have otherwise. It has given not self-confidence, but His confidence.