Laurie Ishii

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and may God BLESS you ABUNDANTLY this year!!!

Well, I just found out that SSI did not approve me, again. So, I am praying about where to go from here. I don’t know if I can appeal again – I think I can (and as long as I can, I will) but in the meantime, I feel like I’m supposed to write again.

I am considering changing things around in my book, writing up a different outline to include the cancer diagnosis and someone also had a great idea – to include some of my facebook posts about having cancer.

Please continue to pray regarding my situation, because I am concerned about having no medical insurance – if I can’t get SSI, I won’t get medicare. And with all of my medical conditions, I need insurance! But then again, if God plans on healing me 100% I wont need insurance…

In the meantime, I need lots of prayer concerning my financial situation. If I am able to ‘survive’ on the $1,000 the Dream Center gives me each month, along with any random donations I get from people…I will be able to write for hours a day, every day, and I’ll be able to finish the book in 1-2 years tops. When I was taking the writing course, I was writing and editing about one chapter a week. Then I will need to start pitching my book to agents and publishers.

In the meantime…I need donors!!! Please pray for monthly donors – I am working on getting an organization to sponsor me – so when people donate to me, they can get a tax receipt. God has been SO FAITHFUL to supply my needs!

This weekend I am going to get off the fentanyl patch I’ve been on for months – it’s for the pain I still have extreme pain in my back, neck, shoulders but also my CHEST – every time I get ‘expanded’ I am up all night for days because the pain is so bad. It feels like someone is siting on my chest as well as someone with a dull knife inside my body, scraping their way out of the skin on my chest. It is NOT pleasant. But, I do not want to be on the patch anymore. I have two more surgeries to go and I do not want to go under the knife while I’m still on the patch and my tolerance to pain medication is 10 times the ‘normal’ person. Realistically, the doctor told me that I will have to take something for pain. So I am praying I will have to take as little as possible, or none.

To come off the patch I will need to get on Suboxone. I need money to see the Psychiatrist who prescribes the drug – most doctors who prescribe Suboxone only take cash – it takes a ‘special’ license to prescribe Suboxone. Fortunately, this doctor is on my insurance, but I still have a co-pay of $25 I have to pay him each time I see him. I’m asking you to PLEASE PRAY for this weekend – I have to be the patch off at least 24 hours before taking the Suboxone – otherwise I will immediately go into withdrawals. It sounds weird, but I have to be in withdrawals to be able to take the Suboxone. The doctor will make sure that I have definite signs of withdrawal symptoms before prescribing me the Suboxone. I see him on Monday at noon – and I am not looking forward to going through ANY kind of withdrawals!!! It reminds me of kicking heroin!!!

Suboxone is much easier to come off of than it is coming off of opiates, which is why I am going this route instead of trying to do it on my own. Unfortunately, there is no way for me to get off the patch without going through withdrawals – unless I take Suboxone, weaning off and stopping that way. My next surgery is on February the 29th – to replace the expanders with implants. Lord willing, I’ll be off both the patch and Suboxone by then. The next surgery will be 3 months after that.

Thank you so much for your prayers.