Many of you know from reading here for a while, that my husband was put on Opiate pain killers for his back pain.  Never being informed by his Dr that they were addictive and then another Dr. sent him to a Methadone Clinic to get him off the pain killers.  Through the last four years of symptoms getting worse and worse.  Irritableness, withdrawals, profuse sweating, no energy, weight gain and everything else caused by opiates, it's been hard to understand why God would allow something like this to happen.  Did he have a purpose?  Could He bring good out of all this horrible stuff going on in our lives?  Those Dr.'s should have to pay for what they did!  It isn't fair!  Why us, Lord???? 

Well a lot of our questions have been answered!  While it still doesn't seem right that a Dr. would get his patient addicted to an opiate and then that another Dr. would send him to a Methadone clinic to get hooked on the worst drug of them all, I don't have the anger and resentment towards those Dr.'s  that I did. 

Last Saturday, we left home around 4:30am and headed for Ohio to pick up my Uncle Frido and Aunt Beth.  We arrived at their house in the rain, later than we had planned.  We had to pack their luggage in the van in the rain....not so pleasant, but we lived!  And we ended up getting left about an hour later than we wanted to.  But we did arrive in Macon, GA at our Hampton in not too bad of time! 

Sunday we traveled on to Indian Shores Florida, where we reserved a condo for a week.  We arrived there about 8pm and unloaded.

We walked across the street to the beach, on the Gulf, and marveled at the wonders of a mighty God!  We always end up singing, "How Great Thou Art" when we get to the ocean!  It truly is marvelous!

Monday Morning, Uncle Frido took Todo to Tarpon Springs to the Helen Ellis Hospital where Florida Detox is located.  He had his blood work and paperwork done, while Uncle Frido came back to the Condo, the rest of us loaded up in the van and they took me to Florida Detox.  Todo and I attended the 3 hour seminar and Uncle Frido and Aunt Beth took the boys and went grocery shopping for the week.  Monday evening Todo and I met with Dr Sponaugle and went over options and what would take place through the treatment.  We discovered that Dr. Sponaugle has a love the the Lord and we are so thankful that God led us to him.  Uncle Frido's picked us up and since Todo was to go under anesthesia the following day, Dr. Sponaugle told him to go eat, but not to eat any meat.  So we went to Olive Garden and Todo had a Ricotta Manicotti!  He did good! 

Tuesday morning Uncle Frido, Todo and I headed for the Helen Ellis Hospital again.  After some problems getting the money wired in, they finally got the confirmation and Todo was taken up to the 7th floor about 11:20am.  Uncle Frido and I headed back for the Condo, had lunch and the boys napped.  I called the Hospital about 3:45 pm and was told that Todo was nearly done with the procedure and there was no complications, he was stable and would sleep all night.  Thank you Lord Jesus!  After the boys woke up, we took them out on the beach to play in the sand and pick up shells.  It was so nice and Sunny and we had so much fun.  We took some lovely Sunset pictures! 

Wednesday morning after 9am, we were  allowed to go see Todo!  That was hard waiting that long.  But we got around and got to the hospital about 10:30 or so.  Todo was sleeping and he woke up when we came in.  He said he could definitely tell the Opiates were gone from his system!  He could think clear again and felt like a fog had lifted.  Praise God!  It worked just like we expected it to work!  He took a little walk with us down to the second floor patio and we visited for a little bit, but he was still really groggy, so we didn't stay too long.  We did stop at a  fruit stand after we left the hospital.  Todo didn't have much appetite but he did say that fruit sounded good. So we got him some strawberries and Honeybell oranges and took them back to him.  Then we left him to sleep the rest of the day and we went to WalMart, had lunch at Subway and took the scenic route back down to Indian Shores.  We went out on the beach again for a little while, played in the sand and took some more sunset pictures. 

Thursday, I drove myself the 40 minutes up to Tarpon Springs to spend the day with Todo, while Uncle Frido and Aunt Beth took the boys to the beach, gave them naps and fed them.  I had a Care Takers meeting to attend Thursday morning, so I went to that and then went up to see Todo.  We went for a walk downstairs for Todo to get his first Massage and while I was waiting, I ran some errands for him and when I came back, Gary, one of the nurses, told me not to run off, they were going to be releasing Todo!  We weren't expecting him to be released till Friday!  But he was doing so good, they released him early.  So when he was done with his massage, we met with Dr Sponaugle again and we had no more than got in his office and he asked us to stand as prayer warriors as he prayed for Gary.  So the four of us spent about 45 minutes in prayer for Dr. Sponaugles nurse who was going through a rough time.  I won't go into those details, but I will say that I could tell that Gary was very touched and I know that Todo and I were too.  I was so humbled by Dr. Sponaugles prayer and through it, God showed me and for this purpose He brought us to Florida Detox.  His plan for our lives is perfect and He needed us there at this moment.  Not only to stand in intercession for Gary, but to see in our lives that we are too often ungrateful and selfish.  This made me realize that I couldn't be angry with the Dr.'s that put Todo on the opiates or the Dr that sent him to the Methadone clinic.  God had brought it to this end and it was perfect.  Just as He is perfect!  We came out of that prayer feeling more blessed and humbled than we've felt in a long time!  God was certainly in our presence in that office!  We took a 5 minute break and then we met again with Dr. Sponaugle and Dennis to talk about the meds that Todo would be taking temporarily to help with withdrawals and anxiety.  By the end of the evening we felt like we had a special bond with Dr. Sponaugle and that he was a friend and brother in Christ, more than the Dr. that performed the treatment!  He wondered if we'd be interested in moving to Florida the next time an opening comes up for a person to answer phones and talk to those calling about going through the treatment!  Wow!  What an opportunity to minister to others and encourage others!  He likes to employe people who have been through the treatment because they know what it's like and they can be so reassuring and helpful to those who are coming in, not knowing what to expect!  We were so blest by talking to Paula, the lady that answered the phone when we called!  She had a wonderful testimony!  So we will be in prayer about that until the time comes and know that God will have an answer ready for us!  Here's a picture, left to right, Dr. Rick Sponaugle, Todo, and Ryan (Dr. Sponaugle's son) 

Friday morning, Todo and I took the boys to the beach, the boys were so excited to have their Daddy back! 

And by then I could tell that Todo was a totally different person than he's been for the last 2 years!  He's more chipper and positive, not irritable, not hot all the time!  Thank you Lord, for bringing us to Florida!  I would recommend that anyone who is addicted to drugs or alcohol, go see Dr. Sponaugle!  God has blessed him with the knowledge to know how to administer the Rapid Detox in the safest manor!  The other clinic's and Hospitals aren't as safe as the way Dr. Sponaugle does the treatment.  He gives all glory to God for showing him how to do it in a safe and effective manor!  We are so Thankful we didn't go to MI.  God was watching out for us the whole time, if we could have only seen it!  We know now that God wanted us in Florida, not MI, not Chicago, not California, He wanted us in Florida.  He knew Todo would be in the safest hands there.  That Hands of His child; Dr. Sponaugle.

Well folks, I'm going to retire for tonight and finish this out later!  I do want to thank you all for your prayers this past week!  A miracle came to our family and we are so grateful for the prayers and a God who loves to bless His children!

....CONTINUED......

After meeting with Dr. Sponaugle and Dennis, on Thursday we took some pictures and went back upstairs to get released and collect Todo's belongings.  All I had eaten all day was 3 granola bars so I was starved and when we walked in his room, his supper was there.  He still didn't have much appitite so didn't want it.  So I sat down and ate it.  It was delicious!  Turkey, dressing, gravy, peas and carrots, roll, pumpkin pie and iced tea!  YUMMY!  The Nurse came in and went over all the meds with me that I would be administering to Todo.  The reason for the caregiver is after going through Rapid Detox patients will tend to forget if they took their medication, so a caregiver is asigned to take care of that.  I'm not sure my memory is as good as Todo's though!  I can't seem to remember everything they said, but the good thing is, I can call them anytime I need help.  They want us to call everyday, but we don't get it done.  While I was eating, the mother of another patient came in.  She had been in the caretakers meeting with me that morning and we'd visited some.  I had shared that we couldn't afford to come back down for a followup like they suggested, and she wanted to help us be able to come back down.  She gave me a little wad of money, which, I was so touched I didn't count it right away!  But when I did there was $600!  God!  You really will care for our every need won't You?  Why is it so hard for us to just trust You? 

Friday after we went to the beach, we put the boys in the van and went back up to Florida Detox for Todo to get his other Massage.  Dennis wanted to see us too, so we spent some time going over meds and how it was going and we took the scenic route back to Indian Shores!  Friday evening we just layed around the Condo, did some laundry.

Satruday morning, we spent the morning on the beach again!  Aunt Beth and I walked the beach picking up shells while Todo and Uncle Frido played with the boys.  About noon, Todo took the boys back to the Condo, fed them lunch and they all took naps.  I stayed out with Aunt and Uncle.  Uncle Frido and I went out past where the waves break and waded thigh deep in the Gulf. 

Aunt Beth relaxed on Todo's launge chair for a while and Uncle Frido and I walked the beach.  We went back to the Condo about 3pm, took showers and got dressed.  We went down to St. Pete Beach and ate supper at Crabby Bills.

  Watched the sun set over the Gulf.  On the way home we stopped at a souvineir shop.  When we got back to the Condo, we packed most of our stuff and went to bed.

Sunday morning, we got around, loaded the van and left the Condo about 9:30 or so.

  It was really hard leaving that beautiful weather and coming north!  It started to rain somewhere in GA.  We got to Cleveland TN about 8:30 or 9 and spent the night at a Hampton Inn.

Monday morning, we left the Hampton after breakfast and traveled about 1/2 hour to visit with Todo's parents for a little while.  They live in a Christian Community in TN and we hadn't been to their place yet since they moved. 

Todo's parents house.....

.....and their new house, not yet done.

 We didn't get to spend much time there.  But they sent us on our way with a bunch of bulk stuff from their little market.  We got back to Ohio to Aunt Beth's about 10:30 pm.  We spent the night there.

Tuesday morning, Aunt Beth fixed us a yummy breakfast and we sorted out all our stuff in the van and headed home about noon.  We got home about 4:30 and walked into a COLD house.  The batteries in the Thermostate went dead while we were gone.  There was water dripping in the basement, one ceiling tile was soaked and there was a little puddle of water on the floor in the master bathroom.  We discovered that it must have been leaking because it was chilly, but no busted pipes.  We changed the batteries and got the furnace going and it took a while to get it warmed up, but by bedtime it was warm.

God really blessed our trip and we are grateful to Him for traveling mercies and for leading us all the way!