The Beginning Journey

 THERE ARE SO MANY GOOD PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD

July 6, 2021

Today I am reminded that instead of focusing on the negativity going on around me I need to focus on the fact that goodness still outweighs the bad.

When I started the campaign funding for the boys I knew I had to believe that in order to succeed.  I had to reach out to people for help and that is so uncomfortable for me.  I would rather stick a pin in my eye than ask for money.  It is amazing, though, the courage you can find when it is your grandchildren that need the help to have a fair shot in life.  I remember the day Kami went to the boys school and found Kai curled up in a ball beneath the fire alarm because it happened to go off when he was going by it.  A kind little boy came to his aid that day but more often than not Autistic children are bullied.  It was days like that that made me determined.

I have been brought to tears by contributions that have been given to us by people we don't know and have never heard of.  You wonder who these good people are and what is their life story.  Have they gone through challenges that have made them sensitive to others needs?  I know for certain the challenges of my life have softened me.  They have made me less judgmental and more sensitive to when others are suffering.  They have made me more reliant on God's love and his supporting power.

Those close to me know this story of mine.  But I will repeat it here with the hope it will help somebody else.  From the time we moved to Redmond, WA until five years ago, I had a total of 24 surgeries during those years.  At one point I was so exhausted I would have to use every ounce of strength I had to get ready and go to work.  Then after work I would go lay down and rarely get up again until morning.  After 11 years of this and a miracle I saw a show on the program "20/20" that gave me the answer.  I contacted a neurosurgeon in Chicago that had been on the program.  He discovered I had a condition named "Arnold Chiari Malformation."  It was a neurological condition where the bottom of my brain was dropping out of my skull and putting pressure on the spinal cord.  Richard said he would often wake up in the night and listen to see if I was still breathing he was so sure he was going to lose me.  I did suffer short term memory loss which has made for some interesting situations.  But thanks to Dr. Heffez I am still alive.  I figured that was about as much pain as I should have to suffer but apparently I was a tough nut to crack because God decided I needed more.  I had cancer twice and multiple surgeries after that but I can honestly look back and say I appreciate the lessons I learned from that.

In 2018 I was really sick again and didn't know what the problem was.  I finally told God one day I was just done with it.  I had been blessed with a great husband, good children, and an abundance of grandchildren I adored.  I explained I just couldn't go on being so sick. I begged him to come get me that day.  And I told him to hurry up about it and take me before Richard came home because he would save me and I didn't want to be saved.  At this point I was in line at Kneader's.  I had been talking to Maile on the phone and she commanded me (yep she didn't ask, she "commanded" me) to get in line and get something to eat.  I had lost 8 pounds in 10 days.  Well short story is I ended up talking to the lady in the car in front of me and she gave me her husband's card and told me she thought I needed to make an appointment with him.  She explained that he was a Chiropractor but not a bone cruncher chiropractor but had studied and adapted different modalities.  I got back in the car, cried and cried, and still told God to come get me.  I told him if he had more work for me to do I would do it but I needed some kind of message from him.  I told God if he wanted me to keep going let somebody in this long line of cars pay for my lunch.  Guess what?  When I pulled up to the window a cute girl with a big smile leaned out and said, "Well I guess it is your lucky day because that nice lady in front of you paid for your lunch!"  I just looked up and said, "Well God I guess I had better buck up and try one more time."  I went to that doctor and he knew exactly what to do for me. It was a few months after that we were called to serve a volunteer mission for our church at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  I would have missed one of the happiest times of my life if I had given up.  

I also know I had to live for these special grandsons.  Their parents have all they can do to take care of their sons.  I am the one who needs to be their special advocate.  That is why I have researched for 10 years trying to find ways to help them.  When I researched Stem Cell Therapy I had a really good feeling about it.

There are those who have been critical of my efforts.  There are those who are critical that I would consider going anywhere but to Panama because that is where they took their child and it worked.  We can't afford Panama and we feel so blessed to have found an equally good alternative for half the price of Panama.  There are those who are critical that I would believe in a treatment that has yet to be accepted by the FDA in the United States.  I have gotten to that point where I just don't care.

All these challenges in life is what has given me the determination to never give up.  And I won't.  

Thank you once again to every person that has contributed and been so generous with us.  We are 1/3 of the way there!  It is to me like climbing Mt. Everest; but we will reach the top!

A big thank you and my love to all of you.