Golden Ticket

We have been patiently-ish waiting in line for 2 and a half years. We have been to countless doctors, been too numerous hospitals, too many clinics to count. We have had every battery of tests known to man performed. We have maxed out our insurance coverage. We have heard maybe's, definately's, I think's, I would consider's. We have lived in a system that has let our son slip further into the cracks. We have heard that he is abnormal, deaf, willful, retarded, faking. We have been accused of making him like this, making him pretend, accused of lying. We have been told that there is nothing wrong, it's all in our imagination.

Finally today, after the hard work of one clinical psychologist, that was reluctant to even test him because of all the other results that had pooled in, we finally have some answers. And the best part...they aren't guesses or maybe's...they are definates. They are going down in his medical records. Copy of this 11 page, 8 pt font, single spaced document is going to every single doctor that he has seen...and will ever see. We got told that it is not all in our heads, we aren't making it up, we aren't seeing things.

So we got the diagnosis today...it feels like we have been invited to this super secret party for the past few years. The thing about this party is...even if you  know a guy that can get you in...if you don't have the address to the party...that guy does yo know good. And because this party moves around a lot...because it is so super exclusive...if you don't get the super secret text...you can't get in...and even if someone forwards you that text...it's the ticket man...that little tiny piece of paper is the key. Today we got our Golden Ticket.

Sadly, he is "labeled"...but he is labeled with a word that we've suspected for years. A label that people have been too scared to put on him because he didn't exhibit all the classic signs. Medicine has come a long way in the past 30 months though...and we are beginning to open up this world a little bit more. But this label will pave a new road for him. This label entitles him to services from the state. This label entitles him to a better level of coverage from insurance agencies.

We received a list of Recommendations from his psychologist today. One to get him Medicaid Coverage to supplement his existing coverage from our private insurance. This means that all of his services could potentially be covered 100%. This would be a huge burden lifted off of our shoulders. It's always been a struggle to get him services because of what insurance would cover and what we could afford to cover. This, however, is not an easy task to get accomplished. It is exhausting  to go through all the forms and listen to the circles that you have to go in...one actually led me in a path that in the end I was speaking with the person that I called first.

We have to find a psychiatrist so that we can get him leveled out (hopefully not to medicated) so that he is not a danger to others or to himself. You don't even want to know the waitlist we got placed on for that.

We need to re-evaluate all of his current doctors to make sure that they have the specific skill set to deal with him adequately so that he can receive proper care.

We need to start looking for in home care for him and in home therapy.

We have a lot of things that we have to do...but first on my list is a hug.