the road to Denver (fingers crossed)

For the past week now I have been on and off the phone with Nurses, the finance department and our liason for National Jewish Health (NJH) and it is crazy when it come to the different health care systems. The cost for NJH is approximately 20K which is so much more than I had imagined. It is a 10 day outpatient program but 20 grand - that's a whole lotta money. Obviously worth it for my son and any other child who suffers from severe eczema. Our nurse Sara, emailed me a 26 page package with all the information needed for our stay. The package is very detailed and through.

My first stop yesterday at my office was to call and find ot about the costs. I called Medical Service Plan (MSP) which is our care provider in Canada, and was passed all over the place. Then I called First Nations Health non-insured Health Benefits, only to be switched back to MSP where I found out I will need to get the refereing Doctor, our Allergist and Immunologist in Kelowna to send a letter to MSP. The letter must say that this care at NJH is needed for Cruz because there is no program of it's kind in Canada and Cruz is a prime candidate. So after getting off the phone with Dr. Appelt's office (Dr In Kelowna) I make sure she faxes them by the number MSP gave me for the Out Of Country Coordinator, who then will pass the letter on to the Ministry of Health which will be reviewed by a board, then back to out of country coordinator, then back to doctors office in Kelowna, and with either a Yes or No reply they will then contact me. The assured me it is a 7- 10 day turnaround. Ppppfeeeeewwwwwwwwww

Now the wait begins and that should give my family some time to fill out and get our passports in order.

Wish us luck we hear a YES in a little while. :)

The road to recovery

This has been a really great Summer. A lot of very great visits from dear friends, a little travel and a lot of time spent by the pool. Cruz absolutely loves to swim. We spend endless hours in the pool this summer. Sad now that the outdoor ones are closed for the season - but we'll have to head up to TCC now for swimming.

Cruz is still terrified to bathe so the pool eases his stresses over water and allows us to relax in what he thinks is a good time and releives me as a big bath. I rinse him clean of pool water after we get out.

A few weeks ago we went to see his Immunologist and Allergist in Kelowna and sat there and went over everything you always have to. The doctor has now referedus to National Jewish Health in Denver, Colorado. http://www.nationaljewish.org/healthinfo/ they have an entire eczema program for kids. I know a few Mom's from the groups over facebook that have been there and they marvel over the hospital and the staff. I am happy but also very anxioius.

This is a big trip to go on with a food allergic child, one with life threatening allergies. And also with my very chronicly ill Mother - who is lovely but very, very neurotic. I sometimes wonder who i'll want to kill first my son or my Mom...jokes but I'm sure some of you know how family can be and well That's My Mom!

The Hospital called yesterday to do a health history of Cruz and it's crazy to go back over all this little babe of mine has been through. I always want to know reasons and truths and to me there is no reason why a little boy has to endure this. Any kids for that matter. In a world of disease and everything else it's insane to look outside of my box because this is something we deal with daily and all I can ever wish for is a cure. A cure for eczema, food allergies and asthma. But firstly eczema.

I am bad for updating my blog but I'm going to try more often!

As of now there is no set appointment but I have to wait for passport stuff and to find out if our medical is covered down in the States for his visit.

Here is a fun pic of Cruz swimming....