2005-06-23 Things I got Done Today

Two loads of laundry folded and put away.

Kitchen sink scrubbed and rinsed.

Kitchen counters washed and pledged.

Table cloth back on dining room table.

Laundry put in and transferred.

2005-06-23 New Site

2005-06-23 Apologies

And yeah, that's it.

2005-06-23 Insurance

Have I mentioned how much insurance companies suck?

Here's a quick synopsis of what they did this time to piss me the hell off.

Back in October, Emily's medicine was switched from Depakote to Lamictal. Because seizure meds are not something you can start or stop cold turkey, she had a gradual decrease of the Depakote, and a gradual increase of the Lamictal. This took place over the course of 4 months, during which time I had her prescription filled at the Local CVS. The co-pay was $35.00. Not quite the $5.00 co-pay we were used to but it was a name brand drug and that's that. Anyway, when it came time to get her 4th refill, I almost dropped dead at the CVS pick up counter. The Rep said the co-pay was $350.00! I called the insurance company and they said after the 3rd refill, we would have to do mail order in order to get the lower co-pay. I said fine, we will from here on in, but until we were sure this new med was going to work, we had to pick it up at the pharmacy. So she said that I should have the doc call in a 15 day supply, which would cost $35.00 and also get him to order a 90 day script for the mail order. Fine, I said and we did that. I went to pick up the 15 day supply and paid $174.00! We had to pay it at this point becasue she was going to run out. I appealed the charge...twice...and it's been denied...twice.

Honest to friggin' God, I had no choice but to pick it up at the pharmacy for the first 4 months while she was in the trial period. Why wouldn't I have done mail order right off the bat and paid $30.00 for a three month supply instead of $35.00 for one month?

Seriously.

I will appeal it again and I will keep appealing it until I win. Obviously, I would pay an arm and a leg to ensure that Emily's meds are right and that she doesn't have another seizure(really, I am all set with watching my daughter go through that again) but this is fucking ridiculous.

2005-06-23 End Of The Year

Everyday for the past few days, the teacher has passed out extra handouts and papers that they have done over the course of the year. She has given the kids the option of bringing them home if they want to...and Emily has brought every single one! It's good though...she can keep up with her work over the summer and I don't have to buy a workbook for her to do it! She really is the type of kid that enjoys doing papers and schoolwork which is nice. I think it is important to keep up over the summer.

I have been practicing Katherine's alphabet flash cards with her a few times a week. She does fine with most letters, usually confusing v's and y's and i's and j's, but that's it. She can spell and write her name, spell Emily, Mom, Dad, Cat, Dog, and sometimes Julia. She has been showing way more interest in learning letters and numbers and pre reading skills so that is good. Emily always had an interest in these types of things but Katherine never did.

Anyway, I am looking forward to the end of the school year and the beginning of a fun filled summer with the kids!

2005-06-23 Motivation

I also got the food shopping done last night, which was good. I hate food shopping so it is always nice to get it out of the way.

I am not quite sure what is behind this sudden wave of motivation, but hey, I'm not complaining.

2005-06-23 A Wonder

Mothers lie.

Every mother wants so much more. She wants perfectly healthy baby with a round head, rosebud lips, button nose, beautiful eyes and satin skin. She wants a baby so gorgeous that people will pity the Gerber baby for being flat out ugly. She wants a baby that will roll over, sit up and take those first steps right on schedule (according to the baby development chart on page 57, column two). Every mother wants a baby that can see, hear, run, jump and fire neurons by the billions. She wants a kid that can smack the ball out of the park and do toe points that are the envy of the entire ballet class. Call it greed if you want, but a mother wants what a mother wants.

Some mothers get babies with something more. Maybe your're one who got a baby with a condition you couldn't pronounce, a spine that didn't fuse, a missing chromosome, an extra chromosome or a palate that didn't close. The doctor's words took your breath away. It was just like the time at recess in the fourth grade when you didn't see the kick ball coming, and it knocked the wind right out of you.
Some of you left the hospital with a healthy bundle, then, months, even years later, took him in for a routine visit, or scheduled him for a checkup, and crashed head first into a brick wall as you bore the brunt of devastating news. It didn't seem possible. That didn't run in your family. Could this really be happening in your lifetime?

Theres so such thing as a perfect body. Everybody will bear something at some time or another. Maybe the affliction will be apparent to curiuos eyes, or maybe it will be unseen, quietly treated with trips to the doctor, therapy or surgery. Mothers of children with disablities live the limitations with them.

Frankly, I don't care how you do it. Sometimes you mothers scare me. How you lift that child in and out of the wheelchair twenty times a day. How you monitor tests, track medications, and serve as the gatekeeper to a hundred specialists yammering in your ear.
I wonder how you endure the cliches and the platitudes the well-intentioned souls explaining how God is at work when you've occasionally questioned if God is on strike. I even wonder how you endure schmaltzy columnslike this one saluting you, painting you as a hero and saint, when you know you're ordinary. You snap, you bark, you bite. You didn't volunteer for this, you didn't jump up and down in the motherhood line yelling, "Choose me, God.Choose me? I've got what it takes."
You're a woman who doesn't have time to step back and put things in perspective, so let me do it for you. From where I sit, you're way ahead of the pack. You've developed the strength of the draft horse while holding onto the delicacy of a daffodil. You have a heart that melts like chocolate in a glove box in July, counter-balanced against the stubbornness of an Ozark mule.

You are the mother, advocate and protector of a child with a disablity. Your're a neighbor, a friend, a woman I pass at church or my sister-in-law. You're a wonder.

~Author Unknown~

2005-06-22 Take Me Away

The worst thing about reading is...when you have to stop!

Another question and answer/complete the sentence sheet Em brought home today.

I'm sorry but she is just 8 right?

It takes you away?

Where I ask does she come up with this stuff?!?!?

2005-06-22 Julia

It seems an appropriate time for a "Julia" update, don't you agree?

Let's see. She loves to eat....really, really loves to eat. When I bring her down for breakfast in the morning, and put her in her high chair, she yells at me until I get the food on the tray. As soon as I place whatever she is eating for breakfast on the tray, she stops...only to start again when it is all gone. She is big on eating "people" food and we only have some baby food left around the house. She is also down to one bottle a day, just before bed. I can't believe that in a month, she will be done with formula. It's a huge milestone but I sure won't miss the extra money on the food shopping bill.

She wakes up every morning at about 7:30 or so. I usually hear her playing happily in her crib, it is rare that she wakes up crying. As soon as I pick her up, she reaches and strains for the changing table. She either knows the routine very well(pick her up, change her, bring her down to eat) or she really hates being wet and wants to be changed immediately. Maybe she will be easy to potty train?!?!

She is very close to going from sitting to crawling position, so close it almost hurst to watch. She has managed to figure out how to get one leg behnd her, she just needs to move the other one and she will be all set.

Julia has a book that she absolutely loves. It's one of those rubber type books that you can bring in the tub. She holds it out, turns the pages and laughs and yells at the pictures. Since it's rubber, she also spends quite a bit of time chewing it.

Have I mentioned before how much she loves my sister Heather? She is definitely one of her favorite people in the world.

I will definitely be doing a Julia update on or around her birthday. She is going to be a year old on July 22...yikes!