Not Just a Coincidence

Mike and I have been debating, and trying to avoid talking about. Maggie's treatment.  As I've said before, both hospitals say that Maggie is doing much better than they originally thought.  Children's recommends waiting to see how she does in the next few months, and Shriners recommends starting treatment soon because it will only improve her bone density.  We have another follow-up appointment with both in November, but we can't seem to choose just one of these hospitals, mainly because I tend to "side" with Shriners and Mike with Children's.  We both have our views about it, which we are entitled to.  I mean, we both have the best interest of Maggie at heart, so it's not like one of us is right and the other is wrong here.  It is just frustrating and confusing for the both of us.  Both of them are saying different things about treatment length and how it's administered: Shriners, obviously with a lot of experience with OI, says every 2 months for 3 consecutive days and they recommend having a port put in her, and Children's, with less experience, says every 3 months for 1 day and they haven't said anything about a port.  So who's right?
Well, something happened last night that makes me believe that certain events cannot be "just coincidence".  And I think it may have swayed my vote...
I'll start this by saying that about a week ago I got a call, out of the blue, from the doctor who delivered Maggie.  She is absolutely wonderful and she's one of those people in your life that you are so thankful to have met. It was a social call and she was just checking in to see how Maggie was doing.  You see, after Maggie got out of the hospital, when we first found out about her breaks but hadn't had a diagnosis yet, I had gone to see her to ask if she noticed anything unusual when Maggie was born.  She had not, but in talking with her about Maggie's problems she mentioned that it could be OI and then she passed along our information to the Director of Fetal Medicine at Illinois Masonic (which is where we had Maggie).  Now, this woman is an amazing doctor.  Not only did she take the time out of her busy day to stop and talk to us when we stopped by her office unannounced, but she asked the Director of Fetal Medicine take a look at Maggie's ultrasounds and then had him call to talk to me directly.  Plus, she called us three months later just to check in.  Can I tell you how good that feels?  We have dealt with some really bad doctors, but the good ones just negate all of that.  It, literally, gives me goosebumps and gives me hope in humanity that there are still doctors that treat patients with old-school values and actually care about their patients enough to go above and beyond. Good doctors need more recognition!
So, anyhow, I had been meaning to call or write her a note since then, but I hadn't gotten around to doing it.  So, last night we were taking a walk to get dinner and we had just started discussing how we need to make a decision about Maggie's treatment, but we've been avoiding it because we are both so confused, and we literally (and I mean LITERALLY) had just said that we need a third party to split the decision when we hear, "Jessica?".  I look over and it's Dr. Starr (her name is so fitting!)!!
She asked how things were going and we asked her opinion on Maggie's treatment and she gave us some much needed medical insight.  Namely, that sometimes people (even medical professionals as well) do things because it's what they've been doing for a while, and they've gotten good results that way, which is understandable.  But, although it's a good way of doing things, it might not be the best way.  I don't want to get into comparing hospitals or saying one is better than the other, because they both are great, but we do want this process to be the least bit traumatic for Maggie since she's already been through enough.
So, with that said (and I may be hiding my fondness for one treatment plan over the other under a veil of vagueness right now) the main reason I am writing this post (take a look at the title again) is because if you know me you know that, although I am a believer in science and I'm not all that "religious" in terms of  the 'organized' kind (meaning that I am very spiritual and believe that the "higher power" that I have faith in is within myself, and each person individually, although I do recognize and celebrate everyone's right to their own beliefs), I do believe that things happen for a reason.  I was just speaking to my mom about this yesterday because there are too many things in my life that have happened to bring me to the exact place that I am right now.  If you look at them altogether it is eerie, in the sense that it makes sense!  Am I still making sense?!
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I couldn't be more grateful that Maggie is in my life, and I know a lot of other people feel the same.  I have read blogs where parents say the same thing about their child with OI.  Yes, it may seem sad from other people's point of view that our child isn't "perfect", but no one's is.  You love your child no matter what.  You may be thankful that your child doesn't have OI, but I feel like having a child with OI (or any special needs) makes us never regret a single thing, and to always be grateful for the small, everyday things that others may overlook.  Yes, we get the people that pity us in a way that makes you feel mad, as in, you know they are hoping they never have a child like yours and they feel sorry for us.  I know they don't mean to, but some people just don't realize that there are many, many people out in the world that struggle everyday, and the rest of us take it for granted.  I was in that boat too.  If we focused more on helping, kindness and fairness, instead of hurting, competition and greed then the world just might be a better place.  No, it WILL be a better place.
The main point here is that we shouldn't focus on our differences, we should celebrate the similarities.
I may have gotten that from a poster at school...but obviously it stuck with me, and they are definitely words to live by!
I'm glad to have my Maggie Shae, as are her other family members too.  She's going to teach us all so much, and change all of our lives for the better.

Do you like my bracelet? I did it all by myself!

I'm pretty special, but I don't like to toot my own horn.