HBOT for Ellie?

Dear Praying Friends,

We seem to be facing some "question marks" in some important areas of our life right now. Thanks for praying for us to know God's mind and heart regarding these matters.

Others have been asking the questions below and we thought you might be interested in an update as well. One of the subjects concerns Ellie's therapy...

Q: How is Ellie doing?
A: As most of you know, Ellie was officially diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (CP) in November 2007. After almost 2 years of physical and occupational therapy we have seen definite, but very slight, improvement. She is a mostly happy girl that brings us much joy (you can see/read more about that on this blog). She does not speak, does not sit up by herself (except in her special chair that keeps her from sliding out), cannot hold her bottle or feed herself, cannot stand or walk. (Ellie turned 3 in April 2009). Although we love and respect her therapists here, and they love and care for Ellie, we are being encouraged to pursue more (short-term) "progressive" therapy possibilities in the States to supplement her therapy opportunities here.

Q: What kind of "progressive" therapy possibilities in the States?
A. We have been doing quite a bit of research and interaction with some clinics in the U.S. regarding HyperBaric Oxygen Therapy. We are currently interacting with a clinic in Louisiana about the possibility of Ellie receiving HBOT there in the first months of 2010. You can read more about that clinic and HBOT at: www.hbot.com

Q: Will this HBOT cure Ellie?
A: There is no current cure for Cerebral Palsy. If God does not choose to miraculously heal her (which we pray for), then therapies to improve current limitations are the best we can do. Some children do not respond well to HBOT. Others respond almost "miraculously" well. There is no guarantee how Ellie will respond; as her parents, we only want to TRY to do the best we can for her. We think this may be something that could work well for her.

Q: What will this kind of thing cost?
A: Insurance pays for HBOT for many medical conditions, but currently NOT for treatment of Cerebral Palsy. The first round of 40 treatments of HBOT (after which it should be known if she is responsive or not), accommodations, and plane tickets will cost a MINIMUM of $10,000 US dollars.

Q: How do you expect to pay for this?
A: We don't know. We believe that where God guides, God provides. If He is not leading this way, He will not provide and we will not go. If He does, we will. (Scott and Ellie would go--it will last from 3 to 6 months). So far, a missionary couple and two immigrants in Greece approached us with contributions toward such a fund. We currently have a total of $1,150 EUROS or $1,690 USD toward this.

We can (and will) use any excess (over and above our monthly amount) in our International Teams account toward the therapy bill.

Some have asked how they can help financially. Here are the options for giving:

1. Send it to International Teams. Make the check out to International Teams, and enclose a note that it is for Scott and Vicki McCracken's MINISTRY account. You WILL receive a tax-deductible receipt for this, and we will request whatever EXCESS is in our account (for us it will become a taxable "special needs" amount) before coming to the States. Send to:

International Teams
411 W. River Rd.
Elgin, IL 60123-1570

2. Send it to International Teams. Make out the check to International Teams, enclosing a note that it is for Scott and Vicki McCracken's PERSONAL use. You will NOT receive a tax-deductible receipt for this, and I.T. will include the amount with our monthly salary deposit.

3. Send a check directly to us and we will deposit it in our bank account and use it when we need it. Obviously, you will NOT receive a tax-deductible receipt for this way either. Our address is:

Scott and Vicki McCracken
Panagiotou 3
Papagou 15669
Athens, GREECE

Any of these options works for us. Seems like option #1 is really the best for all concerned, but it is the EXACT SAME to us no matter which option you choose.

Thanks so much for this generous and caring demonstration of God's love for Ellie (and us) that goes about and beyond your already generous and faithful investments each month.

Very very grateful,

Scott and Vicki

Find out more about online giving at:
https://wwws.iteams.org/iteams/