In June of last year Devin shattered his ankle while cliff jumping with the scouts in Moab. The hospital in Moab sent him home with a splint and wrote it off as just a bad sprain. That weekend was my parent's farewell, and try as he may, it was hard to stay off his foot. Despite soaking it ice baths continuously, the bruise only deepened and the swelling only increased. It looked like this:
On Monday he went to another doctor because we had a hard time believing that elephant ankle was only a sprain. That doctor told us to get into a orthopedic surgeon asap. The best orthopedic surgeon he recommended was Dr. Faux all the way down in Provo. At the time we were living in Layton. Didn't make much sense but we booked an appointment the next week cause he was so busy, and drove down to see him anyway. Immediately he took an x-ray and found out it was shattered and that action needed to be taken. At this point his suggestion was to cast it and see if all the fragments of bone would come together and heal. Devin had his first cast for 4 weeks, non weight bearing with crutches or a scooter. We celebrated Devin's birthday, moved, and bid my parents adieu all with that cast on.
(note devin's crutch poking out behind my leg in the above picture) A funny side story: when my parents were set apart for their mission Devin still had his cast on. President Eyring greeted Devin and asked said, "So what happened?" Devin said that he hurt his ankle in Moab with the teachers the previous week. To which President Eyring responded, "Were you doing something unusual?" Devin replied simply, "Yes." President Eyring courteously said, "I won't ask." "Thank You," said embarrased Devin... awesome story, no?
Anyway, the morning Cope was born Devin's cast came off. Tender mercy. He wore a walking moon boot for another 4 weeks.
Fast forward to November. Devin had been going to physical therapy every week for about 16+ weeks. There was progress made, but it was still unpleasant to walk on. He revisited Dr. Faux and asked for an x-ray again. This time they noticed the bone fragments weren't healing together. They decided to do a debridement (which is when they go in with a scope to see how it looks and clean up the fragments). Hopefully this would take away the discomfort. Dr. Faux did let us know that if they did do a debridement now that 5 years down the road he would probably need to fuse his ankle due to the severity of the break and usual degeneration. He also mentioned that there was a possibility of doing a fusion on the ankle joint because it was inevitable and depending on how bad it really looked (you can't tell cartelige in x-rays). We were excited to move forward and even secretly hoping for a fusion.
On November 21, devin went in for surgery. Dr Faux came in two hours later to let me know that they had fused the ankle as a last resort. He showed me pictures from the scope, Devin had no cartiledge left between is ankle joint. It was rubbing bone on bone. That is the definition of arthritis and if that kept up much longer Devin would have been in major trouble.
This monday Devin gets his fourth cast off. He will be in a walking moon boot again for four more weeks. After all is said and done that will be 24 weeks in a cast this past year. 16 weeks with a hard cast-12 of those on crutches or a scooter and 4 walking on the hard cast-- plus 8 more in a walking moon boot. Monday will be a big day full of joyous celebration.
So why tell you all this? Because it is quite the miracle and when I hear of miracles my faith is strengthened. At the time of Devin's accident Devin was switching jobs. I was working full time and covered with insurance but Devin was not. We toyed with the idea of getting rid of Devin's insurance since it was costly to maintain, and Devin had rarely goes to the doctor and had never broken a bone in his life. It seemed pointless. But for some reason we kept our insurance gratefully. When you hurt yourself at a church activity, the church's insurance: Desert Mutual Benefit Adminstration will cover all costs that your primary insurance does not cover. 100%, no questions asked. If you don't have primary insurance it will cover what a normal primary insurance would. Because we kept his insurance the church covered all the expenses. We have not paid a dime for all the thousands of dollars in expenses. Yesterday I got this notification, not a bill, in the mail.
We have been receiving these since July but we just got the notification for Devin's surgery. How much did November 21, 2011 cost? $12,695.12. In the bottom right corner, how much did we pay? $0.00. Zero Dollars! Miraculous. That is not mentioning the seven other doctor visits, the hospital visit in Moab, the x-rays and cat scans, the months of physical therapy...etc. That is just one day.
"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" malachi 3:10
Sure, these past eight months of issues have been pretty miserable, and definitely doesn't feel like a blessing. That's not even coming from the one who has to deal with the cast and pain directly. It has been one of Devins most taxing trials that's for sure. I am so proud of him for his patient perseverance. But the miracle that I want to share is that the Lord keeps his promises. Some may dispute that Devin wouldn't have hurt his ankle if he weren't with the scouts, so of course the church should pay. But I am trying to say how miraculous we kept our insurance during a difficult time. How miraculous this church has means to pay for every cost. How miraculous that the Lord takes care of us. I know He poors out his blessings and there is not room enough to receive them. He has done it for me, for us, and he will do it for you.
