Something to Think About

Here's an interesting article, involving a quiet government concession linking vaccines and autism ~ in certain cases.

Hunh. (My "insert link" isn't working, so you'll have to cut and paste in a new tab)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/government-concedes-vacci_b_88323.html

Now what?

Edited To Add (ETA): I got it to work now. I think it was a hangup at the blogger end, not mine.

Progress

Today we:

~ received A's approval for his continued OT treatment, but not his ABA yet.

~ are packing things to move into our new house that we close on this Friday a.m.

~ had an entire conversation with K:
* K * "Ow, happened?"
* me * "What happened?"
* K * "Foot...ow....oh no! Hurt!"
* * "How did you hurt your foot?"
* K * "Fall. A-- jumping."
* * "OK. I think you're going to be fine."
* K * "OK, Mom. Funny." (seeing A acting goofy in front of the TV)

~ have discovered that it is no longer "Da da". It's now "Dad", according to K.

~ also discovered the dog is sick and has been randomly throwing up all over the house. Thank God for Resolve carpet cleaner. I think he ate another sock, he'll get rid of it out one end or the other here in the next two or three days.

Sticker Shock and The Incredible Hulk

My son had his doctor's visit today, both to re-authorize his OT and ABA treatments with his insurance coverage (which hopefully will be a swift proceeding), and to get his booster shots. Because he is involved with the public school system, the administration preferred him to get them NOW rather than wait until he's six. Which is understandable, I suppose.

The problem is, most kids don't remember getting shots, as the last ones they had were before the age of two. Because of all the tests they had to run on A, however, he most definitely remembers "stickers" (needles) and doesn't like being stuck by them.

Daddy took him in this morning, because A is so big I can't easily pin him down any more, and I have extreme difficulty handling both A and his sister at the same time, if he's at the doctor's office at all (let alone if he has to get stuck). If big brother is upset, then K's howls soon rival (and possibly surpass) her brother's. Eschk.

So he got four shots, two on each leg. Since two of the shots contained live viruses, we kept him home so he can get a nap in this afternoon.

I do have to let you know that A totally pulled an "Incredible Hulk" on the nurse that stuck him, though. It took all Z had to keep him pinned so she could do the vaccinations, and after it was all done she handed A a DumDums lollipop. He was so upset, he ripped the wrapper off, made a cross between a yell and a growl, and bit the entire head off the stick, shattering the candy. He very nicely handed the stick back to the lady as he crunched on the remnants still in his mouth, and the nurse seemed more than a bit taken aback. Daddy made the Hulk comment, and I guess it's true....don't make him angry!

So now we wait on our insurance company to notify us of our approval to continue his treatments...

Keep Your Fingers Crossed

A is doing very well with his Occupational Therapy, and equally well with his ABA.

Thus it is extremely frustrating that our insurance company has randomly decided they won't cover these things any more unless we get another referral from him primary care provider.

It would have been nice if our insurance company had let us know this before the approved visits ran out (really, is it so hard to send out a letter, or e-mail, or even a phone call?), but when his OT tried to re-extend the time, she was told it would not be approved. On Monday, before our next visit on Tuesday. Normally we have this updated referral stuff done yearly, and he's had doctor's visits since then, so we're not entirely sure what the deal is, but we're going with the flow. (Not that we really have a choice not to). So ~ we have the first available slot (which isn't until Tues the 19th) to start the process over again.

I'm praying hard that it won't take our insurance company 30 to 60 days from the date of referral to update their systems, like they did initially. Since he is a current client of both places, it really shouldn't take more than a click of a mouse to say, "yes". We're praying it's just that easy, because we know it seldom is. Arrrrgghh.

Fingers, toes, eyes, and anything else that will cross are duly crossed.

Mommy's Little Helper

This:



Plus this:



Equals this:



While I was doing dishes this morning, K decided to feed the fish. Meyer's tank is right in front of where the sink is (we have an open floor plan between the kitchen, dining, and living rooms), and I saw her head poke up over the top of the island, at about eye-level with me. The only way she could do that is if she was standing on the couch to get to our Oscar's tank, which is on the table behind the couch. I had just enough time to get the "Nnnnnn-!!" part out of the word "no" before she'd dumped Cheerios in the top hatch of the aquarium saying, "There you go fishy." She had eaten all she was going to eat out of her (dry) bowl of Cheerios, and decided she needed to share. I will say, she was certainly proud of herself for "hep-in mommy?"

*sigh*

Apparently Meyer loves him some whole grain goodness, because he scarfed quite a few before I could extricate the soggy remnants with a net (due to packing, I had to figure out where in tarnation the thing had gotten put). Apparently the filter does not like whole grain goodness, judging by the grinding sounds it started making. But it's been duly rinsed and sounds normal again...

Happy Friday!