Mission Update: AnnaAlicia's Home?!?!?

She's home! Not for long though...

About a month after AnnaAlicia arrived in Ecuador she started having really bad stomach pains and nausea. She thought they would subside as her body got used to the new diet, but they didn't. Her companion sister Y had some of her own medical problems as well, so Anna waited until January to go and see a doctor. 

Her doctors in Ecuador think that she has chronic Gastritis, which is inflammation of the lining in her stomach. It can be caused by a few different things: Excessive alcohol use (we know it's not this one), chronic vomiting, stress, use of aspirin or other anti-inflammatory drugs, icky bacteria, pernicious anemia, bile reflux, and infections caused by bacteria and viruses. They believe that she will have this her entire life, but she's not entirely confident in their diagnosis. The doctors gave her a few different types of pills to take to help with the gastritis, but nothing helped and the pain continued. She had an endoscopy and stool test done, but was still only diagnosed with gastritis and the doctors couldn't explain why she was having so much pain and problems with her bowel that weren't subsiding with the medication.

After speaking with her mission president, praying and fasting for a few days she decided that she needed to give in to the prompting's she was feeling and come home. She wasn't happy AT ALL, but knew that if she couldn't listen and obey the spirit she wouldn't be able to ask others to do the same. Her mission president found a flight home for her and within 24 hours she was flying home.

We picked her up from the airport on Tuesday and she went to the doctor the next day. She has had countless blessings while here, it's AMAZING what the Lord has done. Because she quit her job before leaving on her mission and is over the age of being able to qualify for insurance through my mom, we were all very worried about medical bills. So, at urgent care she filled out paperwork for medical financial aid (FA) and was told she would have to wait a month to hear back on her qualification status. After 30 minutes a FA representative came in and told her that as soon as she submitted the paperwork she got a qualification status and it was approved! What a miracle and a blessing!  She has FREE medical insurance for three months. 

And so, here she is back in Oregon, but only for a while...

She still has her mission call and her mission while she is here, is to get the medical attention that she needs, figure out what is causing her medical problems and return to serve her mission!

At the airport waiting for luggage with Maiya (her niece)