F is also for Formula and God's Faithfulness

When I've talked about food allergies in the past, I've mentioned Brennan's life-threatening reaction to peanuts and my own milk and gluten intolerances. I've also talked briefly about Lauren's food restrictions. To be honest, we're not very certain at all what the relationship is between Lauren's GI issues and foods. Following a lengthy trip to Cincinnati Children's Hospital last Spring, we discovered that Lauren's body does best when she has formula in addition to food. It's not purely a calorie issue. For whatever reason, she loses weight unless she has at least one to two servings on formula per day.

I'm not talking about just regular baby formula from the grocery store. She needs elemental formula -- a formula made solely of amino acids, one that has no intact food proteins in it. When she was younger, we used a powder formula that mixed with water, but now we use prepared formula that comes in 8 ounce juice box containers.

Unfortunately, specialized formulas such as Lauren's are rather expensive. The cheapest place I've ever seen hers is $127 for 27 servings. At her current routine of two boxes per day, that's nearly $300 per month.

We've been very lucky that our insurance company has always paid for the formula that Lauren's doctors prescribed. A few weeks ago, however, I received a phone call from our medical equipment provider stating that Tricare has denied the latest order for formula. Thankfully, our GI doctor was able to successfully appeal the decision. I found out late Friday afternoon that Lauren's formula is now fully covered by insurance.

And my God will supple all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 (HCSB) 

In the six and a half years since Lauren's birth, we've never had a need -- medically, monetarily, or otherwise that God has not been faithful to provide. We are richly blessed.

I know that I've already shared one "F is for ______" story for this week. When I received such good news Friday afternoon, I couldn't resist sharing one more. Thankfully, Marcy doesn't mind me being a linky hog on this week's Blogging through the Alphabet post.