More Coverage Problems -- Originally Published February 21, 2008

When it rains, it pours. Adam and I were just beginning to decide that this feeding issue is getting a bit out of hand, and we need more professional help then we are currently finding ... with all the time, expenses and potential heartbreak that could bring ... when out of the blue the insurance company calls. Our night nurses have not been recertified, and as of 2/26, we are on our own.

Well, not exactly. We've finally been approved for a nursing program on Medicaid, but Medicaid wages are a fraction of the insurance payments. The nursing agency has some serious doubts about whether they will be able to staff Michael's nights on Medicaid wages, so we might, or might not, be on our own. Obviously we need to appeal this decision, but it is hard to think about that again. One can hope that the nurses will come anyway, but who can blame them for going where they will be paid the most? And, if we don't appeal, aren't we giving up in the face of a significant injustice?

Let's just hope that we really are only 2 months away from trach removal, and that this is a short time problem. I know I've said to many of you that I refuse to get my hopes up, only to be crushed in April if they say, "No," but it is hard not to wish, and hope, and dream that the end is in sight.

Well, we're off to Vegas on Saturday, before the sun rises, if the weather holds. (Great lyrics from the song by the Indigo Girls, "Wood Song".) Wish us well.