Mermaid resurfaces

The past several weeks have been full. We met Mermaid's service coordinator. She came into our home and explained the whole process to us and then arranged for some evaluators to check out Mermaid's sweet skills. We picked a provider that would send all the evaluator's at once rather than spread out over the course of a week or so. We all anticipated the 5 evaluators emerging from their van in their matching scrubs a la A TEAM (now you know how old I am ;). My Hero and I were fiddling around with a potential theme song for them, but alas they ultimately had to spread it out over three different days. They did still wear scrubs. That all happened at the beginning of August and we were anxious to get services going.

Before the evaluation reports even arrived something else started going on with out little Mermaid. I thought it was gas pain at first or possibly hiccups. Her body would jolt a little almost like a startle reflex and then it would happen again and again seconds apart. As this pattern emerged a friend connected me with her friend, I'll call her Providence. Providence has a gorgeous daughter with Downs who had recently been diagnosed and treated for infantile spasms. Of course this all came together during the last two weeks of September when every medical professional in the entire city was on summer vacation. It took me four or five days just to get a live person on the phone to make an appointment for Mermaid. Providence was so encouraging giving me phone numbers and checking in with the professionals she knows to help Mermaid get in to see a pediatric neurologist. She told me not to give up nor to put it off.

The Tuesday before labor day weekend we got the golden ticket which included an appointment with pediatric neurologist extraordinaire Josiane LaJoie. It's a beautiful name and she is a beautiful person. We started with a little EEG and then a meet and greet with Dr. LaJoie. The surprise ending was that Lily and a friend won a three night/three day stay at the NYU medical center including unlimited crushed ice and round the clock EEG and video surveillence. I was the friend. I called My Hero and we hustled to figure out what to do with the other four children.

The upshot is that Lily had five seizures, for that's what they are, while being monitored. She was prescribed a steroid like medication called ACTH. Initially, our insurance denied the request because this miracle drug costs about six thousand dollars per shot (.5 ml). The six week therapy would cost roughly 175K. I would ask for physician back-up, too. An organization called NORD (National Organization for Rare Disorders) called and donated the first precious vial of ACTH to buy us a little time to work things out with the insurance. We would not have been allowed to leave the hospital without the medication plus I had to get trained to inject Mermaids chubby little thighs. If you want to donate to something, NORD is a worthy cause. Meanwhile, the lovely women working for the insurance tel-pharmacy in SD have little babies, too so they kept me on the phone until it was all worked out. Ultimately, the entire supply arrived simultaneously.

I thought we would get to leave the hospital Thursday morning after proving that I could give Mermaid the shots. I practiced on every kind of fruit I could find. I practiced on the vinyl "daybed" in the hospital room. I even practiced on myself a few times to get a feel for it so I wouldn't choke up when I had to inject my sweet babe. That's when they told me she would still have to stay the night for observation after her initial dosage. *sniff* Our whole family was disappointed, but we were reunited Friday and grandma stayed an extra night. We had Mermaid's blood tested a couple of times over the next six days and her paternal grandparents came to relieve m-grandma and immerse all the kids in extra attention after the deficit. I think we were all suffering attention deficit disorder and all the attention really helped!

At the end of the first week on ACTH Mermaid wasn't having so many clusters or episodes just a little spasm here and there. They upped her dosage. I took her in on Friday for another EEG and it still doesn't look perfect. I was pretty depressed to learn it wasn't working and that even blinks and stares represented electrical misfiring in her brain. I've been pretty discouraged for about 48 hours. I went to church today, though, and I'm starting to feel uplifted and even hopeful. I'll meet with the neurologist Monday to see what's next. I'll also be meeting with an osteopath on Tuesday who may be able to help. I'll report back on that. Lastly, we finally have our IFSP which translated means: big meeting withe everyone to decide what early intervention services Mermaid will receive from the city.

Now for the special thanks section:
Special Thanks to My Hero for being the most available and optimistic best friend.

Special Thanks to our homeschooling friend on the east side for keeping our four children entertained and fed during a 6 hour play date and told us that it was no big deal. It was a big deal to us.

Special Thanks to Mermaid's maternal grandmother for interrupting her visit to other grandchildren to ride the un-exotic chinatown bus in the middle of the night to care for her four motherless grandchildren at my house. She also donated her favorite mini flashlight to the cause so I could read or visit or see my way to the bathroom at night without disturbing our lovely roommates.

Special Thanks to My Hero's employers for being so understanding about skipping so many work hours to be with Mermaid and I or with the fantastic four at home.

Special Thanks to friends and fellow church members who spontaneously started bringing meals.

Special Thanks to Providence who continued to encourage me and send positive thoughts our way. She even came by the hospital for a 1 hour visit bringing healthy snacks full of protein, magazines requiring very little brain (which was all I had), and a sweet toy for Mermaid.

Special Thanks to our dear upstairs neighbors who entertained me with hours of conversation at the hospital one night. Always a pleasure.

Special Thanks to our UWS homeschool recess coordinator who continues to send prayers and offers to help our way. She is always thinking of my kids and sending email links to websites and articles that might interest them. This is especially good because I keep forgetting to think about them.

Special Thanks to NORD and to our insurance tel-drug ladies in SD...you know who you are!

Special Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa DC who spent their labor day weekend giving us all the attention and Finnish meatballs we could hope for. It was very restorative.

Special Thanks to my Washington Heights friend who runs with me in the mornings, asks me about Mermaid, invites my children for play dates and doesn't try to stop my tears when they come once in a while.

Special Thanks to all our family and friends who were thinking of us and praying for us!