When God provides

Recently, I have been extremely stressed out. My ventilator supplies have been greatly reduced. I have been informed they do not know how long the shortages will last, but inventories across the USA are very low.

Unfortunately, my respiratory therapist does not visit me often. I am usually left scrambling and begging her to visit because I am extremely short on supplies. She is supposed to visit every month. Since August, she has visited me twice.

I carefully use and reuse my ventilator items. I often use them well beyond their normal life. I am short on several items, but I have been informed I must reuse and make do with the supplies I have due to the shortages nationwide. To say this response by my respiratory therapist sent me into a rage would be understatement. I have been reusing my supplies. There comes a point when the plastic breaks and cracks. When this happens, my ventilator ceases to function properly. I do not have any supplies to reuse!

Moreover, one item I have been using is not the standard equipment provided by my durable medical equipment company. However, I have in the past been able to receive this item. The company special orders it and sends it directly to my house. I am not sure if they can no longer obtain the item or if my respiratory therapist does not want to fill out additional paperwork to get the item. Nevertheless, I have been informed this one item I can no longer receive.

I was rather frantic when hearing this news. I have been searching online for other ventilator supplies and know many online stores are completely out of stock of numerous items. I am not completely out of the item I need, but when it is unknown how long the ventilator supplies will be depleted, I grow a little bit panicked.

I went to an online auction site, which is one of the only places you can obtain medical equipment without a prescription. I searched for the item I needed. I found I could purchase one unit for $15. The price was not too bad, but I really did not want to pay that much. I continued to scroll. I left the website and took a break. Shopping online always makes my heart race. I am in constant trepidation about if I should or should not buy an item. I like finding the best deal and am continually asking myself if this is the best price.

I returned back to the online auction site. I scrolled again from the top of the page. Now, this time, I saw one of the listings was for a lot of eight. With shipping, the price was $41. So each item costs just a little more than $5 each! Wow! That's a great buy! I quickly made the purchase.

As I wait for the purchase to be completed by the online seller, I smile. Once again I found myself in need, and once again God abundantly supplied me. It is times like these my heart overflows with joy and gladness. During a time when ventilator supplies are in extremely short supply, God allowed me to find exactly what I needed for an incredibly cheap price. Praise God!