A week after finding the CCAM cyst in Julie we received more bad news. The specialist warned us about the potential for fluid buildup . The cyst restricted blood flow through Julie’s heart causing the fluid buildup. The lack of blood flow could also impede brain development and possibly lead to death.
Here’s the update…
Bad news from the doctor. Little Julie has some fluid in her abdomen. Sarah will get a steriod shot today and tomorrow. Then we see the doc again Friday. We also got the closing paperwork for the Albuquerque house today. They want us to pay some cash and I have a couple questions before signing.
We hoped for Sarah to keep Julie inside her for as long as possible. Each week in the womb gave Julie higher odds at survival after birth.
Now we had to balance developmental time with heart restriction. We relied completely on God and the advice of our experts. We learned that Sarah’s specialist consulted regularly with a team of other experts. They would make the decision together if/when to deliver Julie.
We trusted God’s character to give us the grace to deal with each twist and turn. For five years we had tried to sell our house. After three realtors, one renter and a failed self-financed sale, we had a real buyer on the hook who offered us $20K below our mortgage. Given the housing crisis at the time, our bank agreed to a short sale.
While waiting for almost two months for the bank’s decision and the final paperwork to come through, a lawyer for the bank called my cell phone. She wanted my current address in order to send me the paperwork to initiate a foreclosure of my house – the same house the same bank had agreed to write off for $20K below my mortgage. I tried valiantly to explain the short sale. I explained it again to her supervisor. They wouldn’t hear it – they wanted to serve papers and needed my current address.
Humor helps in situations like this. Since a refined sense of humor eludes my grasp, I use whatever bizarre thought comes to mind.
This seemed strange to me. Although I had moved out of state, the mortgage company knew my new address for several years. I had kept up with my payments religiously. I heard others having the same problem and decided to duplicate their approach. My appeals for relief went nowhere until I missed a few payments. Then suddenly, instead of waiting for hours on hold, they started calling me. My popularity increased overnight. Who would have thought?
Anyway, the mortgage company knew all my contact information. I have spent months begging them to pay attention to me, but this lawyer didn’t know anything. Hum. Really? So, I agreed to have them serve me the papers. It was their right and it was the right thing to do, but I wouldn’t tell them my address. I spent 15 more minutes on the phone with them while Sarah laughed while listening in. I suggested that they come and find me and I would gladly receive the papers, but I wouldn’t help them. They would have to do their job themselves. Never heard from them again.
Although totally broke and in debt from years of double mortgage and rent payments, we still had to bring more than one thousand dollars to closing. The title company messed up their calculations and gave us only 24-hours notice of their mistake. Naturally, they took no responsibility (read any title insurance policy carefully for an example of charging money without actually taking responsibility for any mistakes). They reminded me that time had expired to make changes to the sales contract, press one for English, please hold for the next available associate, etc.
I had more important problems on my hands than mere money.
Fortunately, God gave me some creative ideas in-between doctors’ appointments for scratching the money together. I would have to carefully time future payments for months in order to keep up with our financial commitments.
We walked a tightrope with Julie, Sarah and our finances while the pace began to quicken with more appointments, new symptoms, and long hours at work.