An Answered Prayer

We got some really good news a few days ago that took a huge weight off of my shoulders. Whitney was approved for a waiver that will allow her to bypass an 8-year-long waiting list for the MDCP (Medically Dependent Children) program offered by the state of Texas. Whitney has been on the list since she was about 2 months old, but until recently we had no idea about a waiver that is offered to qualified kids. I contacted a case worker and she came out with a nurse to evaluate Whitney about a month ago. They asked a lot of questions and reviewed her health history and developmental issues. I was afraid Whit wouldn't be approved because they sounded like if she didn't have a trach or feeding tube, then she might not be medically fragile enough to qualify, but she did qualify! The state reviewed her case and decided she was medically dependent enough to need help immediately. This means she will have to stay 24 hours in a nursing home (with me) in order to technically say that she is unable to function without constant medical supervision. After that we will be set up with 13 hours per week of either a nurse at our home or we can delegate someone, in this case my mom, to be her attendant for 13 hours per week. This will allow me (mommy) to take a break once in a while! She will also receive Medicaid secondary to our primary health insurance which means that Medicaid will pick up what her insurance doesn't cover! What a blessing. It has been so expensive with only BCBS because each office visit was $40 and each prescription was at least $25 and then you have lab work, x-rays, MRIs, CT scans, VCUGs, ECGs, surgeries, hospital stays, etc.....the list goes on. As you can imagine, we owed a lot of money to a lot of people! For example, Whit's hospital stay with Pneumonia in Florida over Spring Break amounted to more than $10,000! Her 24-hour ECG evaluation for seizures was the same amount. Things were getting really difficult around here until this news came. I'll share more about the program when I have more answers. We are just thrilled that Whitney was approved. This came not a moment too soon for our family.

As far as Whit's health, she's been well lately. She has been having some sensory issues that have exaggerated themselves in the past few weeks. She is having an aversion to certain foods, textures, sounds, sights, and has been crawling with her fingers lifted and putting her weight on her wrists. So, an occupational therapist came to the house and determined that she needs their services as well. We now have Physical Therapy twice weekly, Speech Therapy once weekly, and we will begin Occupational Therapy once per week soon. We have been thrilled with all of Whit's therapists in Abilene, so I'm crossing my fingers that when we move to Dallas we will be paired up with therapists we love just as much.

In other news, we are still planning to move to Dallas at the beginning of June. Our house is on the market and the kids have planned a "goodbye party" for all their friends in a couple of weeks. They are happy about moving, but I think we will all miss our friends in Abilene. It will be so nice to be near my mom and my sister and her family as well as all of Whit's specialty docs. There are also a lot of my friends from childhood and high school that I'm anxious to reconnect with. Some that I've kept up with all along and others that I haven't seen in ages.

Along the same lines, it seems like there are so many great ways to keep in touch with people these days, like Facebook for example. I've learned so much about people just from reading about and seeing pics of them. Some people who were mere acquaintances in the past now seem like old friends just from fb! I know that sounds silly, but I'm really excited to get to know some of these people better once we're in the metroplex and able to hang out more. However, fb can be bad too. I get irritated reading about people going places with mutual friends or taking trips, etc and I feel left out and wonder why they didn't invite me. lol I think I've allowed myself to become a hermit lately since we've been preparing for the move and then there's that crazy idea of having four kids always around! haha I would just like to make it known that just because we have 4 kids and seem old and lame doesn't mean we can't still have fun! I NEED to have fun! I love being with my kiddos, but once in a while I would love to be around other adults (or those who claim to be). So, if any of you are planning fun trips to Cabo or Vegas and you're thinking we wouldn't go because we are busy, YOU ARE WRONG!!! :-) Ok, off my soapbox now. I don't often take the opportunity to vent, but maybe this summer air is making me loony. Whatever the case, I feel better now.

Now, to find a great Pediatrician for Whitney in Dallas/Plano that also accepts Medicaid! I've had many recommendations of fantastic docs, but the problem is that most of them don't accept Medicaid. BUT, only one of my kids has Medicaid and it's secondary to their regular insurance! They don't care, trust me I've already made the calls!