Divine Intervention Part II
I received an update from my friend April in Bonners Ferry and I am going to provide it right here, right now. Please read the post “Divine Intervention” to get Part I of April’s story. You can also check out the link to RuralNorthwest - News. Here is more of April’s own words as she stands at the edge of Miracle.
Dan, I thought that another letter from me might help some of the people who think I am getting a free hand out because of who I am married to. I am my own individual. I usually get introduced as.. “This is Jack’s wife, or this is the prosecutors wife. ” This happened all the time during his campaign for judge. It also happened on the ruralnorthwest web site. I was introduced as ” Prosecutor’s wife being Angel MedFlighted out.” It is like I do not have my own identity. I do. I am April Douglas. I am the wife of Jack Douglas. I had independence etc, but life’s course changed mine. So, I feel it would do me well to write a letter to those who think I am getting a “win fall” because of whom I married. Not true. Jack never even knew of all the research I did until it was over. That is the God’s honest truth. Most people do not know that there are two sites, yours, and the rural northwest site in which I was interviewed.
Let me know if this update will help.
Dear Dan,
I cannot thank you enough for helping me out by putting my story on your web site, (www.bashfuldan.com. The other site I was interviewed. That is www.ruralnorthwest.com.) If I can only help one person, I will feel triumphant. Today is an extremely painful day. I am holding the tears at bay, but have not been to successful. Just trying to sit on this chair is a challenge. But, I feel I must tell you the appreciation I have for the people who have left positive comments and support for me. Believe it or not, that gives me strength like I have never experienced.
When my daughter came up this past weekend from CDA, and brought my 2 year old granddaughter for a visit, I knew that I would have a few extremely painful days after, but the price was worth every ounce of joy. I was able to spend two wonderful hours trying to keep up with her enormous energy. We sat in the shade and ate an ice-cream cone while watching the cars on the highway go by. Zoom, Zoom. She laughed and giggled with me while trying to get the big 18 wheelers to honk their horns while she demonstrated the traditional arm movements to acquire a response. We walked and discussed the neighbor’s beautiful garden, watched the birds and nature. My granddaughter absorbed all the new things around my house in wonderment. What a joy. Then the most precious moment came when she was wearing my light blue baseball cap that accentuated her bright blue eyes. She grabbed me around the neck and squeezed me and said, “love you Nana.” I cried. It is beloved moments like this, that are very few in my life. I absorbed every ounce of love through every fiber in my body that day in order to remember when I have painful days like today. I use these dear times as a distraction to comfort my soul to get through the day. Yes, tears coursed down my cheeks today because of physical pain, but in tandem, they coursed down my cheeks because of the love I was able to share with my daughter and granddaughter.
Most people do not realize the small quiet moments that can steal the pain and bring forth the joy. I have to be able to capture everyone of those precious moments because they are so far and few between.
I am thankful for what I am about to face, but it came with work and effort on my part. I was not handed all the money to pay for the Mayo Clinic and the ride over. I had to pay all my deductibles and co-pay’s just like everyone else in the county that carries county insurance. In addition, I did months and months of research on my condition. I was finally able to find a doctor at Drexel University in PA. Dr. Robert Schwartzman helped me understand my disease and offered hope. No one else had done that for me. We communicated often and he also sent me every case study he had, in hopes for a cure for what ales me. He left the decisionn up to me for the next step. This is how I was able to get my medical insurance involved. I sent all the information to my case manager at Blue Cross/Blue Shield and basically begged for help. I was having doctor after doctor unable, or afraid to attempt anything with me. I am not like the average person. I have a rare blood type, a rare auto-immune disease, as well as a fairly rare condition in my blood that causes it to clot. I have 29 drug allergies, and some are anaphyalatic reactions that I have suffered. I also experienced a rare arterio-venous malformation, or aneurysm in my heart and lung that nearly ripped me from the grasp of my two young daughters. I was only 31 years old when I went through the surgery. I was 25 when it was discovered, but I was never told I had it. Therefore, I have not been handed any special privileges, I worked and proved to everyone I could, and I would fight to get well. I have the resiliency to do it. Now, my dream is close and I am scared. I am not afraid of death. I am not afraid of the doctors. I am scared of the pain I may feel. I am tired of hurting, and I am “sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
Thank you Dan. I am honored to call you my friend. Thank you to anyone who reads my story and will carry the true message in their hearts. ” If you want it bad enough, you will fight for it with integrity.”
Best Wishes to you and your family,
April Douglas.
God bless you Dan, for championing April’s cause. Most folks don’t know how much Dan does for the communities in the three northern counties. Up here in Bonners Ferry, Dan has always been willing to attend events and be a part of them … all for no charge. As past President of the Bonners Ferry CHamber of Commerce three years running, I knew I could always count on Dan for advice and assistance. I don’t know of a finer friend.
Now April is fighting the fight of her (our) life and we are desperately trying to get her well. This is something I have assisted her with as much as I could, but April lined up help from Blue Cross, the Mayo Clinic and Angel Med Flight on her own. God bless them all. I believe in God and I believe He sees and knows full well what we do and what we fail to do. My belief is that God has helped April and has carried both of us through some dark valleys of pain. It can be a life of despair for the sick spouse, but also for the spouse trying to support her (or him as the case may be) and it has often felt like my own siege battle to the finish, though April has by far paid the harshest price and the heaviest price. God bless her. As far as I view it, this is our personal “Battle of Stalingrad” and it has to be a fight to the finish.
Dan, April and I love you and Christine, Anna, Betsy and Ray and all of the others who care so much. You’re a better man than I am, Dan. We love you all. We also respect you.
One of the blessings that has come from six years of “hell,” has been the many true spirits and loyal friends we have made. God’s angels seem to be everywhere. There are genuine heroes and heroines out there, folks … people who actually care what happens to others. To you I tip my hat in praise.
If I have spared April some of the blows by helping her, then I am honored to have been chosen for the task. Now I would like her to get her health back. She misses out on life too much. Thank God for Jeremy Freer of Angel Med Flight. In a world dominated by greed and selfishness, they restore one’s faith.
April is what I would call “stoic” most of the time. She often does not tell me when she is hurting or she waits a day or more until the pain is way out of control and she is literally crying and rocking back and forth in bed, and then we have to rush her to the hospital ER once again. There are at least five hospitals I am intimately familiar with in north Idaho and eastern Washington because of this. I feel very bad that my wife suffers so.
I urge people to check out the information on Dan’s site and also Ruralnorthwest.com, wherein it talks about the “prosecutor’s wife” which April surely is.
I am also gratified that people have rallied to support April with kind words, many devoted prayers and some even with money. Going to the Mayo Clinic and having to be there for possibly weeks or months will no doubt be expensive and we are not rich. Cards of prayer and/or support can always reach April at P.O. Box 3136, Bonners Ferry, Idaho 83805.
I have been very humbled by all of this concern for her. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Dan, to you we owe a lot. You have championed April and you have been a true and loyal friend. God bless you.
To all of the people who have stopped me on the streets of Bonners Ferry or in stores, thank you for caring. I can see the concern in your eyes. Your love is a blessing to us. It truly is.
Thank you one and all.
Your Friend,
Jack Douglas
Boundary County Prosecuting Attorney