Our Journey
This blog is a way that I can share a bit of the journey that we have traveled as the Laughlin family. The details are as I remember them, which means that this is totally a Becky view and does not represent the viewpoint of all Laughlins including Joy, Dick or Beth. Yes, I just gave you a disclaimer in the first paragraph of my blog. But it's mine so I can do that, so there. 😉
November 9, 2004 we received a phone call that shook up our entire world. Dick Laughlin, the patriarch of our little four family was diagnosed with primary amyloidosis and given 12-24 months to live. Amyloidosis is an illness where the body creates too much protein and deposits it into major organs. At the time Dad was diagnosed there were only 500 known cases in the US (remember, these are details as I remember them, so Google may not support aforementioned detail, but the gist of it is IT WAS RARE). The doctor that originally diagnosed him was Dr. Bertner, a nephrologist (read Kidney Doctor). The God detail here? Dr. Bertner had just learned about amyloidosis in a seminar just a few weeks prior to seeing Dad. He connected Mom and Dad with Boston Research Medical Center in (shocker here) BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. Now that is not very close to Olympia, WA. As a matter of fact to get to Boston you have to travel 3,098 miles, 46 hours, and 12 states (I think). So they did exactly that.
They traveled out to an amyloidosis research program to be seen by the best specialists in the field. And that's when they got the news.
"You have primary amyloidosis in your kidneys and a little bit in your heart. You probably have 12-24 months to live."
But that was the doctor's prognosis, not ours. See, we believe in a God that is larger than the medical field. I have the utmost respect for doctors and nurses, but I also know that they aren't the ones that have numbered our days or know how many hairs are on our head or all of our thoughts, actions and idiosyncrasies. Psalm 139: 1-6; 13; and 16 say "O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my every thought when far away. You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You both precede and follow me. You place your and of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to know...You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb....You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed."
That was 14 years ago.
November 9, 2004 we received a phone call that shook up our entire world. Dick Laughlin, the patriarch of our little four family was diagnosed with primary amyloidosis and given 12-24 months to live. Amyloidosis is an illness where the body creates too much protein and deposits it into major organs. At the time Dad was diagnosed there were only 500 known cases in the US (remember, these are details as I remember them, so Google may not support aforementioned detail, but the gist of it is IT WAS RARE). The doctor that originally diagnosed him was Dr. Bertner, a nephrologist (read Kidney Doctor). The God detail here? Dr. Bertner had just learned about amyloidosis in a seminar just a few weeks prior to seeing Dad. He connected Mom and Dad with Boston Research Medical Center in (shocker here) BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. Now that is not very close to Olympia, WA. As a matter of fact to get to Boston you have to travel 3,098 miles, 46 hours, and 12 states (I think). So they did exactly that.
They traveled out to an amyloidosis research program to be seen by the best specialists in the field. And that's when they got the news.
"You have primary amyloidosis in your kidneys and a little bit in your heart. You probably have 12-24 months to live."
But that was the doctor's prognosis, not ours. See, we believe in a God that is larger than the medical field. I have the utmost respect for doctors and nurses, but I also know that they aren't the ones that have numbered our days or know how many hairs are on our head or all of our thoughts, actions and idiosyncrasies. Psalm 139: 1-6; 13; and 16 say "O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my every thought when far away. You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You both precede and follow me. You place your and of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to know...You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb....You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed."
That was 14 years ago.
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