Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Old Wounds

Today was an emotionally draining day. The state nurse and social worker from MDCP (Medically Disabled Children's Program) came today for their evaluation of Drake. As you can imagine, anyone who has not witnessed Drake in action and simply reads his medical history does not have high hopes for him coming into our home. It began much like the neurologist visit where I was reliving his grim prognosis. With tears welling up in my eyes that began cascading down my cheeks, I explained how very far Drake has come and how he has already beaten the odds. Our little fighter has overcome every obstacle in his path and we are not about to stop now. Once the nurse began evaluating Drake, she was astonished by his abilities. The fact that he wants to drink from the bottle and attempts part of each feed is remarkable. She said that he should be blind but clearly he is not. He should not respond to sensory touch but he does. By the time these ladies left, we had a wonderful visit and they too were clearly rooting for Team Drake!

Picture:
Drake

11 comments:

  1. Precious Drake, so thankful for that baby boy.

    <3

    Kelley

    ReplyDelete
  2. Keep up the great work Drake !!! You know we are in your corner and rooting you on :) Prayers and hugs to all. Love ya'll !!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yay! Awesome news!! Praying for him and your family!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Father God, thank you for giving Annie and Brian and Kennedy YOUR eyes and heart so they can see the amazing gift that is Drake. Thank you for giving them YOUR strength to be his biggest advocates, and YOUR joy to be the very best cheerleaders Drake could ever ask for. Thank you for giving them YOUR mind so they can think and decide things for him that are much bigger then themselves. You picked the very best for this sweet boy, and we rejoice with them for the roles they were hand picked to play. Most of all Father we lift Drake to you in praise. We praise you for his life, his challenges and his many triumphs. We praise you that through this little boy people get to see how BIG YOU REALLY ARE. thank you for the miracle that is Drake and for his miraculous sissy Kennedy. Continue your work in this family God, for it is good. In your Son's precious name we pray. AMEN

    ReplyDelete
  5. Glad to hear you are getting set up with MDCP. Our social worker was terrible and didn't inform us of this program when our twins both came home with feeding tubes. We found out from a friend and finally started to receive benefits when our son was 1. I pray that Drake qualifies because it is very helpful to have. We were also told that home nursing would count as therapy visits, so we didn't have one. It was probably our insurance. Although it probably takes some adjusting getting used to someone else in your home, I'm happy to hear that you will have an extra pair of hands to help with Drake's medical needs. Taking care of twins is hard enough (I imagine), but taking care of micro-preemie twins is a whole other story!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am thankful for people I have never even met who contacted me through family members to inform me about MDCP. The social worker at the hospital did not know about this program when I told her about it. They said we should know by Christmas if he qualifies, but he should qualify. I now feel like it is my duty to inform other parents in similar situations about this program.

      Delete
    2. I tell every parent who has a child with medical equipment who I know about the program. It is crazy that the social workers don't know/share this information! Isn't that their job? Have you already sent in the letter from your ped? There are certain phrases that are good to include to help in qualifying. I have a friend who has s child with a g-tube who recently applied and didn't qualify. I have no idea why he didn't. There is a lot about this program that doesn't make sense. Best of luck with getting approved, and hold you all have a wonderful first holiday together out of the hospital!

      Delete
    3. I actually got the neonatologist to fill out the paperwork on Drake before we left the hospital. He qualifies for the overnight nursing home stay rather than the 30 days based on his condition. I will definitely let you know when we hear more about the program.

      Delete
  6. God made Drake... only he can tell us what his future has in store... not doctors :)

    There has been so many times in history of people being told they couldn't do something... look at Bill Gates... being told he was a loser by his teacher... and we know that story...

    Looking forward to seeing Drake's story unfold as the years go by, as God knows his great purpose in this world... let's all watch the awesomeness unfold :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Baby Drake is a miracle and I predict and I pray that he continues to amaze all who have only "read" the reports and have not seen with their own eyes this beautiful responsive baby boy. Happy Thanksgiving to your dear Family. <><

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh Annie, so glad he qualified for the 24 hr stay & you guys didn't have to do the 30 day!! What a blessing! And those appts are always so emotionally draining. Ugh. I suspect that they will be every year. You are not alone in that. It's so hard rehashing everything that has gone wrong with your child especially when you've seen the tremendous amount of progress made. I'm never prepared for that gut shot no matter how hard I try to be. At least you don't have to do it again for another 6 mths! :) So glad everything is going well. - Jennie Walker (jenn_cook :) )

    ReplyDelete