GOD is in Control

Do you know Lysa TerKeurst? She is the Proverbs 31 lady. She has a wonderfully encouraging blog. You must read it daily. It is just food for the soul.

For instance, this post today reminds us that sometimes God has other plans in mind. Even if it's totally off our radar.

So I will update you on a monkey wrench that got thrown into our plans for Lauren's next PWS laser treatment.

We were scheduled to have a test patch for the clinical trial done on this Friday, Sept. 11th using the YAG laser (all previous treatments have used the Pulsed Dye Laser PDL). However, the nurse at the vascular clinic called me yesterday letting me know that our doctor has secured an Alexandrite laser for use on one day only, Sept. 17th. She thought of us as a good candidate for this laser because it is for resistant Port Wine Stains (PWS) as Lauren has on the one side of her face.

This means that our test patch for the clinical trial would be canceled and therefore, our full procedure two weeks later using the YAG would be canceled as well.

Trusting the Dr.'s expert opinion we agreed to go ahead with the laser treatment on Sept. 17th using the Alexandrite laser.

And now the morning after such decision we have a DOZEN or so questions:

1. Because she will be using the Alexandrite laser on the 17th, what happens for her next procedure in 3 or 6 months? I’m assuming the Alexandrite laser will not be available yet at ACH. If we see good results, would we be able to get it here again? And if not, will we have to go back to using the PDL or will we have the opportunity to use the YAG laser?

2. Because we are going with Dr. B’s recommendation to use the Alexandrite laser on the 17th, what happens with the clinical trial we were scheduled to be a part of? Is that simply delayed? Or are we not going to be a part of that study using the computer software to “map” the PWS on Lauren’s face?

3. Because this is Lauren’s first time having the Alexandrite laser used on her stain, how do you know what setting to use? Is it based on the settings used on the PDL or is this type of laser completely different? Will the lightest setting be used? What if the lightest setting does nothing for the stain?

4. Will we be able to see Dr. B in person before the procedure this time?

So, I know that all you faithful readers will not be able to answer my questions... unless you are an expert in PWS or lasers and you are hiding out there. I just needed to put it out there. We are hoping and praying that we are making the right decision. God is in control of ALL OF THIS. I have emailed our nurse this morning with all my questions. Hopefully I'll hear something back by the end of this week...