Insurance

So I talked with Boys Town yesterday morning and they informed me that the pre-authorization letter has already been completed and is just waiting for Dr. Lusk's signature (he is at their other location yesterday and today and won't be able to sign it until Monday). Once he signs it on Monday it'll be sent to Blue Cross Blue Shield with all his other documentation and the gal that handles all this for their patients said we may know within 7 days!! It could take longer of course but I was very excited to hear we could know within a week of Monday! She said BCBS is always very fast with their response. Once we receive approval then his surgery will be scheduled based on Dr. Lusk's availability. We're right on track fro 10 months!! YAY! It's so hard to believe we're already here!

Cochlear Implants Here We Come!!!!

Briggs in his hospital pj's
Trying to escape before they give me that yucky medicine!

My mommy loves these cute pj's

Right after my scans. I'm a little sleepy but this bottle is yummy!

The anticipation for yesterday's appointment was comparable to your wedding. You worry and worry and stress for months about the big day and HOPE everything will turn out perfect and nothing bad will happen and you feel like the day will never come. Then the BIG day is here and you can't believe it's already here and everything is perfect and turns out the way you had always hoped for and in a flash the day is over. All those months of anticipation and worry and it's all over in a day! I know it seems like I'm making a HUGE deal out of the MRI/CT appointment when we haven't even reached the actual surgery date. I have not even really thought about the surgery until now. Yesterday's appointment was the deciding factor of whether or not Briggs could have cochlear implants and because he had no response to the ABR hearing test and the hearing aid has not benefited him at all (from what we're observing) and he only had 1 sound booth test which only lasted 2 minutes and they didn't even try both sides, I have to admit that I was slightly paranoid that there would not be an auditory nerve. I never said it out loud because I didn't want to jinx myself. We have been through so many appointments for these implants and even chosen the device and I've met many families with kids with C.I.'s and have seen how miraculous they are and I just knew Briggs deserved that same opportunity. I have been SO excited for him to finally hear our voices (which I know will take time for his brain to interpret). So yes, yesterday's appointment was a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE deal for me!!

I got very little sleep the night before which I knew would happen and we headed out of town at 5:40 a.m. Briggs was awake the whole trip and we got to Children's Hospital about 6:40. Of course we pulled in and my tears started. I knew he'd be fine and was in great hands. These types of situations are just difficult for me. So we got to his room and they did all his assessments and he was ready to go by 7:30. There was a patient before him and they were late getting him tot he MRI room so they didn't sedate Briggs until 8:30. He did VERY well with the sedation and the MRI took about 20 minutes and the CT took about 3 minutes. They brought him back up and he slept a little longer and then we woke him up. Nick was on one side of his crib and I was on the other and Briggs opened his eyes a little and reached up and grabbed Nick's face. It was so sweet!! He drank his whole bottle of juice and they monitored his vitals for about an hour and then we were released. We headed over to Boys Town to consult with Dr. Lusk. He first looked at his CT and what he's looking for is his cochlea's and vestibular aduct???? I couldn't remember much of that part but he said his cochlea's look perfect and the vestibular aduct wasn't supposed to be present??? and it wasn't. I could be way off on that but whatever it was supposed to be it was so he said everything looked perfect there. Then he pulled up his MRI and said both auditory nerves were present and looked good! He looked at us and said everything looks great! I wanted to give him a big hug!

We walked out of the hospital and I just started crying. Tears of JOY but also a reflection on everything we've been through these past 9 months AND I was completely physically and mentally exhausted. My parents took us out to eat to celebrate and that a perfect ending to a perfect day!

So I received an email from the cochlear implant audiologist and she said they all heard the great news and the next step is submitting everything to the insurance company. She's thinking that will happen this coming Monday and it'll take about 2 to 3 weeks to hear back from insurance. As soon as they approve we'll schedule the surgery date. Please pray for insurance to approve the surgery the first go around!!

Thank you ALL for the support and prayers! God is amazing and we are SO fortunate to have such a huge support base!! I will continue to update the blog as we move along. Now is when all the exciting posts start!!

Briggs is CRAWLING!

Yesterday was a big day for our little man!! Briggs started crawling!!! And he didn't gradually move into it, he went from rocking on hands and knees to full force crawling half way across the room! Very exciting, although now our hands will be full and we'll always need to keep our eye on him! He is 8 1/2 months old and Elli was also exactly 8 1/2 months old when she started crawling. Briggs also had a tooth pop through yesterday. He got his first tooth last Sunday and yesterday his 2nd. I can't believe he is already almost 9 months old! I told Nick we're having a 3rd!

Good things come to those who wait...

Last Tuesday, Dec. 30th, I received a call from Boys Town saying they needed to reschedule Briggs MRI/CT (which was originally scheduled for Feb. 4th) because Dr. Lusk would not be in the office to consult following his scans. The lady I spoke with told me his nurse would call me this past Monday, Jan. 5th, with a new date for his scans. So of course I was a little upset because we've waited months for this to come and I've been really anxious because it's the last step, and the deciding step, and we just want it over with. Feb. 4th was the perfect date because it's 2 days before he turns 9 months old and we'd be right on track for his first surgery to happen when he's 10 months old. Well Monday morning came and I had my cell phone with me the whole day and no phone call all day. Tuesday morning I called at 8:05 and left a message for the nurse to call me and no phone call all day! This is very unlike them and I was really getting concerned. Yesterday came and I was going to give them all day and then call again this morning if I didn't hear from them. 5:00 came around and I really couldn't beleive I hadn't heard from them and was prepared to call them this morning to get some answers. Then at 5:30 my phone rang and it was an "unavailable" number which means it's Boys Town and it was a nurse and she said Briggs MRI/CT has been scheduled for January 28th!!! YAY... and not only is it a week sooner but we get to check into Children's Hospital at 7 am instead of 8:30am (Briggs will be sedated so he can't eat after 1am and I was nervous about him needing to eat in the morning because he always has a bottle before 8 am). We head over to Boys Town once he wakes up and his vitals are stable to consult with Dr. Lusk. If everything looks good (which it should since all he has is Connexin and that has nothing to do with the anatomy of the ear and there is no syndrome associated so he's perfectly healthy otherwise) then everything will be submitted to insurance and we'll patiently (hah hah - anyone who really knows me knows I am not a patient person) await insurance approval. If insurance approves right away then we'll be right on board for surgery to happen when he's 10 months old!!! Maybe this is a lesson to me to be more patient.

Oh and Briggs is almost crawling. For the past couple weeks he's been going from sitting to crawling position and rocking back and forth and moving one knee forward and then going to his tummy and last night he moved one knee forward and then the other and then got to his ball. It'll be any day now!