Thursday, November 02, 2006

Update: Nursing Care, Medicaid, Grandparents, Halloween


We are in November now and Thanksgiving is around the corner - can you believe it?

We finally got some news yesterday (Wednesday) about nursing care for Josh and about Medicaid, so I wanted to write a quick update. Our insurance will cover 250 nursing hours during the months of November and December. I had to sit down yesterday with a calendar and try to plan the best way to use those hours and came up with a schedule to cover most weekday nights while I sleep. I meet this afternoon with our nursing facility case manager to get Josh "admitted." Then, nursing care (still NOT 24 the hours a day that the doctor recommended) should begin either tonight or Monday night.

The case worker at Josh's pulmonologist's office has found a nursing home where Joshua may be accepted in order to spend the time required for him to become eligible for a Medicaid Waiver. He MAY have to spend a few weeks there before becoming eligible, from what we are initially told - but whatever it takes, Joshua needs Medicaid so he can finally get 24 hour nursing care, etc. SO, the paperwork has all been filled out and sent to the nursing home - which is in the Tyler area of Texas - a LONG drive from here - so now we wait and see.

We got some news recently that James's parents may BOTH have cancer. His dad had cancer on his leg a few years ago - but with surgery, chemo & radiation, they got rid of it. Now, doctors say he has cancer in his back, liver and lungs. A biopsy was performed on Monday and we are awaiting the results - but they are treating those areas with radiation in the meantime. James's mother had a mammogram which showed a couple of spots in one of her breasts. She is having them checked for cancer as well.

And to end this update on a happy note, I'll update you all on our Halloween. We took Josh trick-or-treating and to our church's fall fest (like we do most years) but as you know, Josh has to be hooked to a ventilator now 24/7 so it was much more tricky this year. We managed to get him into his batman costume and secure his hoses from the vent in his costume belt. We drug along his cart with his vent and medical supplies attached and kept it as close as we could. We did NOT go to nearly as many homes to trick-or-treat as we have in the past because it was just such a chore to get the heavy cart around everywhere. But Josh managed to come home with a load of goodies anyway. And Steffany and Amanda (my sister) even dressed up and made their rounds of the neighborhood and church, too. We all had a good time but were exhausted after Halloween. I am glad we are finally getting a little help with the nursing.

I'll try to post another blog with pictures from Halloween, etc. very soon - but now I've gotta go get everybody up and ready for the day!

God bless you!