Imagine you’re driving on a Michigan road on a December night. You’re on the way home from volunteering at a Christmas concert and brimming with joy. The road stretches into the darkness. Conditions are good. In fact, it's peaceful.
Until it isn’t.
In the blink of an eye, a drunk driver pulls into your path. You can’t stop, and with a heavy crunch, you collide.
That's exactly where Pastor Randy Ledeboer found himself in December 2019. The joy he felt that night was quickly replaced with doubts that his life would never be the same. Suddenly set on a journey he could not have foreseen, he had to trust the Lord to see him through.
For the next 4 years, the Lord would continue to work in his life through his medical experiences — from the healing journey to navigating the health insurance system.
This is his story.
Struggling for Life
The accident was a bad one. It left Pastor Ledeboer in the hospital with internal bleeding, fractured ribs, a punctured lung, various cuts, and bruises. The road to recovery would take time.
To add to it, he had previously been living with the knowledge that his kidneys were failing. He hoped and prayed to receive a kidney transplant but since there was a large waiting list, he was also preparing for dialysis. Being involved in an accident with a drunk driver added another layer of complexity to his medical situation.
Beyond the physical challenges of recovery and a looming kidney failure, Pastor Ledeboer had to navigate the complexities of the healthcare system. Dealing with expenses, co-pays, and insurance policies was the last thing he needed at this time.
Five months after his crash, the COVID-19 pandemic swept the nation in March 2020. At this time, his kidney failure had accelerated. A transplant or dialysis was his only option. But uncertainty surrounded receiving a potential kidney transplant. The transplant waiting list contained around 7,000 people, and with the COVID-19 shut down — medical procedures tended to be slow to schedule.
Because of his kidney problems, Pastor Ledeboer’s wife, Lisa, had been tested to see if she would be a transplant match. The doctors found she would be an ideal donor candidate – just not for her husband.
In May 2020, as she prepared to begin her summer ministry work, the doctors called. They had someone who needed a kidney, and she was the best match. They asked if she would be willing to undergo the operation. If she said yes, she would have to scramble to make arrangements with the camp she had committed to working with.
Lisa felt the Lord’s call to donate her kidney. It would involve some risk on her part and a time of recovery. But the opportunity she had been provided to help someone was what really mattered.
But what about Pastor Ledeboer?
The doctors relayed the miraculous news: they had a donor for him, too. Once again, the Lord had provided. They would both undergo their procedures at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, MI at the same time.
Continued Trials
After the successful kidney transplant and kidney donation surgery for them both, the healing process began. But a couple of weeks later, Pastor Ledeboer developed a problem. Something wasn’t right.
The doctors decided they would need to reopen the wound and begin using a wound vac. This is a machine that slowly draws out infection through suction — but they needed to do it fast. The challenge was that this treatment, which often costs upwards of $15,000, could only be obtained out-of-network.
He would also endure treatment for Sepsis, a serious and potentially deadly infection in October. This would be followed at the end of the year by contracting COVID-19.
A Light in the Darkness
With medical expenses on the horizon from the kidney transplant, and now the wound vac, along with contracting COVID-19 and Sepsis, Pastor Ledeboer would turn to his benefits provider, Reformed Benefits Association (RBA), and health care navigator, Quantum Health, for help when he needed it.
After explaining the situation to RBA and Quantum Health about his out-of-network expenses with the wound vac, RBA worked with Quantum Health and arranged coverage for the specialized equipment and nursing. This allowed Pastor Ledeboer to recover without the worry of financial uncertainty.
Through it all, Reformed Benefits Association and Quantum Health, were focused on his healing. From Quantum Health prioritizing his healing to Reformed Benefits Association answering questions, advocating on his behalf, and guiding him through the health insurance process — God put an amazing team of people in place to assist him through several complex medical emergencies.
But this assistance may not have been available to him if his church had gone with a different benefits provider. Back in 2008 when he planted a church, inSpirit Church, he selected Reformed Benefits Association as his health insurance plan provider — after all, as a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping pastors select the right insurance benefits, Reformed Benefits Association understood exactly what he needed.
Today, Pastor Ledeboer will tell you, “I don't know what it would've been like to navigate all of it without Reformed Benefits Association and Quantum Health, because anything I had, I just directed it their way, and they worked out the details. ”
Looking back, God had His guiding hand in Pastor Ledeboer’s life — from the crash and transplant that strengthened his faith to the future implications of following the denomination’s health insurance recommendations.
Now, Pastor Ledeboer and his wife are healthy and continue to serve the Lord, their congregation, and their community at inSpirit Church — while telling his story of how the Lord sustained him and continues to show His grace and guidance throughout his life.
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