Pray for Meredith

While we are still waiting on the appeal for more therapies from our insurance provider, we’ve found another more affordable therapy place to take Meredith to.  She’s now getting Speech, OT and PT once a week at On the Move Pediatrics, and they are wonderful there!  It’s still pricey, but much better than what we were paying at Cardinal Hill. 

This week Meredith had some testing done with the speech therapist there.   It showed some areas where Meredith is below average for her age group and some areas that she is very close to average on — a significant improvement from her scores done in late September!  This week Meredith aced a spelling class at school and even got the bonus word right — “diagram”!  She’s very busy with a lot of interventions — therapies, tutoring, Read-to-Succeed program, and school part-time.   And once we finish the public school evaluations we will be adding in therapies (Free of charge thanks to our taxes!)  from them, but that’s been in the works since August and still isn’t complete.  Still, all of these interventions seem to be working together in her recovery process.  

For Thanksgiving we will go to Clarksdale, our first trip home since last Thanksgiving.  And what a Thanksgiving it will be!  “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; in the company of the upright, in the congregation.” ~Psalm 111:1

Friday night while out to dinner we ran into one of our PICU doctors from UK Children’s Hospital, Dr. Bernard.  He spoke to Meredith and asked how she was and how old she was, which she answered for him.  He told her she was a very sick little girl and said, “Congratulations,” to Josh and me.  It was a strange thing to hear. 

I mentioned to him that she had been in rehab in Cincinnatti and was still getting some and that she was on the road to recovery.  He responded by saying she looked to be past the road to recovery.  Which on seeing her so briefly, I can understand that response.  But to sit with her in class for a short time, to see her struggle to do simple addition and answer reading comprehension questions.  To remind her over and over again at home to stand up and walk instead of crawling on the floor.  To try to teach her to control her involuntary movements than often translate into hitting her sister, or bouncing up from the table over and over before a meal is over.  To remind her how to spell her own name.   To see her frustrated at daily living tasks that her little sister can do better than she can.    She has come so far from, and yet she still has a long road ahead of her. 

Which is why I would ask for your prayers that insurance will provide her more therapies.  They have denied our first request after she ran through the 25 they paid for.  But I’m submitting paperwork to appeal that and to ask for more.   The therapies do so much for her as we have seen her her rapid improvements this far.    As always, I humbly thank God for what He has done for her — and I plead for Him to continue her recovery.

Ps. 86: 5-10

“For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace.  In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me. There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours.  All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.  For you are great and do wondrous things;  you alone are God.”

Meredith arrived home from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital on July 27, almost 3 months ago.  Since coming home Laura has been the lead teacher in playing school.  Meredith resumed her position as lead teacher today.
The girls will prepare their Halloween costumes this weekend.

Meredith is taking 2 medications and will discontinue 1 on Oct 31.  She seems to make progress as she weans off of the meds.

Tomorrow begins speech therapy.  Other therapies have stopped pending insurance review.  So the schedule is school for 2-3 hours, speech once per week and 1 hour of tutoring 3 days per week.

Meredith is (extra) FULL of energy these days as her seizure meds continue to be weaned. Laura Campbell is getting over the flu, and Meredith is on tamiflu as a preventative. That’s the first time I’ve ever taken one child to the doctor and been sent home with medicine for the other child.
One prayer concern we have is getting insurance to cover more therapies. This week will be the last week of insurance paying for Cardinal Hill therapies unless our insurance company will extend coverage. OT and PT have been so beneficial to her, but she still has a lot of recovery in front of her — motor planning, fine motor skills, following multi-step commands, social skills, physical strength — all are improving through therapies.   We had only just gotten the speech evaluation done and hoped to begin that therapy this week.   Hopefully our rehab doctor’s letter will sway the insurance company.

Thank you all for your prayers! ~ Carrie

Meredith is now off of one more seizure medication, down to just two now! And we’ll start tapering one of those in a few days.
She continues to improve in OT and PT and at school. She’s more conversational and a little more alert and “with it.” She’s getting tutoring about 3 x per week, and may be getting some additional therapies from the public school system once we finish jumping through some hoops!

“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!” Ps. 30:11-12

From Michael(Papa).  I spent the Labor Day weekend with Meredith and family.  It was a wonderful visit.  Glenda(Gigi) and I took Meredith to 1 of her therapy sessions Friday am then to school for art and a little classroom time.    She is spending about 2 hours per day in school.  Her principal, Ms White, 3rd grade teacher, Ms. Stone, classmates, and the entire school are extremely helpful and caring.  It is good therapy.

Gigi is staying in Lexington to help get Meredith to school each day for a couple of hours and to her Occupational/Physical therapy sessions (water therapy 1-time per week).  It keeps one very busy getting Meredith to and from both school and therapy.  She will begin speech therapy soon.

Meredith is very happy and contented.  It is beyond awesome to see her running,, playing, laughing.