Success!

No, we don't have a prior authorization, but the insurance company has finally received the paperwork to approve or deny Ethan's cochlear implant!  I am so thrilled.  How sad that I think this is such good news when really it should have just happened easily months ago.  I can call on Monday for a decision.  Cross your fingers and say a little prayer for us!

Still no authorization...

I found out on the 16th that it's NOT the audiologist who sends the authorization, it's the surgeon.  So I called down to Seattle and of course the lady I needed to talk to was out sick.  She called me back the next day to tell me that she would look into it and call me back.  Today, 6 days later, I finally called her back.  She said, "Oh, the system says the authorization is pending, so they must have sent it to your insurance."

So, for the 5th time, I called my insurance company and was, again, told there was no authorization in the system.  Then I called back and demanded to talk to whoever it was that was supposedly sending this authorization.  Of course he wouldn't be in until later - 11:30 to be exact.  I asked "Angela" to just re-fax it, so we could get the process moving, but she is convinced it is more important to see where the system is failing so they can correct the mistake.  Okay, but in the meantime, it would be nice if they would fax it and THEN figure out where the problem is.  So, I left a message with the person I spoke with and called the authorization man's direct line and left a message.

I gave him until 12:30 and called him again.  He never got either message.  He seemed baffled that insurance didn't have the information and wondered who told me that they didn't have it.  I gave him all 6 names and 5 dates I have called.  He said he'd look into it, but we all know that's an empty promise.  I'll call him at exactly 11:30 tomorrow.  Like I said, someday before he's headed out the door for college...

Oh dear...

I am so far behind that, again, I don't want to blog.  Here it goes anyway.

On February 1, my friend Amy and her husband Jens came to visit us.  They are considering moving to Alaska and came up for a quick weekend trip to have a look around.  I hadn't seen Amy, probably since high school graduation.  It was nice to meet her husband and great to catch up with her in person - not just through blogging or facebook.

February 3 was Nolan's birthday.  My poor mother flew all day and slept all night in an airport to make it here at 5:00 a.m. on Nolan's birthday.

The first gift of the day

Nolan took his gymnastics friends cupcakes.

He had a hard time figuring out hopscotch.

He LOVES the rings.

We found this ice slide at the Soldotna Sports Complex.

It was cold and hurt my tush.

We took my mom for a tourist photograph at the visitor's center.

The eskimo is quickly fading in the sun.

Nolan is in love with Transformers.

My mom gave him a new movie.  He loves it.  

It is the complete first season of the t.v. series from the '80s.

Blowing out the candles.

Pretty much all Nolan got for his birthday was Transformers.  He is totally, utterly, and completely obsessed.  He plays with them from the second he wakes up in the morning until he goes to bed with one at night.  My mom said she had transformer nightmares when she returned home.

On the 5th we went sledding.  After my mom was too cold to stay out any longer, Nolan, Brenden, and I went for a walk through the woods.  Someone had made a trail down to the lake, so we hiked it.

2/6 - This is how Doug looks on a daily basis.  Hey, at least he has boots on and not flip-flops.  The coat is not generally included either.

2/9 we celebrated my birthday before my mom headed home.

2/11 (My actual birthday) My friends took me to Anchorage to the temple and out to lunch.

While I was off having a great time, Doug took Ethan and Nolan ice fishing.

Nolan caught a fish!

(See that tiny black thing? - it's a fish.)

I got an additional calling today at church.  I am now also the Young Women's Camp Director - besides being the Primary Secretary.  It is a calling I have always wanted and I hope I do it justice - and have the time to plan it as well as I would like.  Brenden was reading the Friend today in sacrament meeting and was thrilled to find an article about a boy about his age with a cochlear implant.

We have two extra boys staying with us until Saturday.  They are my friend Tiffany's boys.

Gavin and Nolan have taken sharing to a whole new level.

Connor all ready for church

5 handsome little men

Connor has discovered a love of dinosaurs.

Supermen

The night Gavin arrived, he found Nolan's Superman pajamas folded downstairs waiting to be put away.  He brought them to me, crying - "Nolan says these are HIS pajamas, but they are MINE!"  We had to get both sets out to convince him.

And just because the other boys took a p.j. picture:

This is how Ethan fell asleep last night.  The iPod was all of the way up and he was pushing the headphones into his ears straining to hear.  He seemed to enjoy it though.

I'll leave you with an Ethan update.  I called about Ethan's authorization about 2 weeks ago and was told there was no authorization in the system and then they transferred me to the authorization department.  I waited... and waited... and finally was told that the offices had just closed and I would have to try back another day.  It's hard to remember to do that before noon our time - I usually make any necessary phone calls after I put Ethan down for a nap.  So Tuesday I finally got around to calling again and they really haven't seen an authorization for Ethan - or so they claim.  I called the audiologist's office and asked them to fax it again.  When I called back on Friday I was told that it would take some time to get the authorization in the system, but there was nothing there yet.  Our audiologist is out of town for a family emergency until March, but had called me before she left to tell me she expected the authorization to arrive within a few days and she would make all of the arrangements to have surgery a.s.a.p.  Grrrr...  It will happen someday... hopefully before he is headed out the door for college.

Physical Therapy - The End

Last week Ethan's physical therapist told me it was time for his 6 month review - and then she performed the review during their session.  Today as I dropped Ethan off, she informed me that it would be his last session.  It was so sudden.  I am thrilled he no longer needs it, but it was truly the highlight of his week.  He loved his therapist "Wa-wee" (Natalie) and had the best time.  I am sad for him and his loss of play time, but Nolan is ecstatic not to be hauled to Soldotna every Monday - well, for now at least.  We may start speech therapy in Soldotna at the same time on Mondays instead.  I can't imagine how difficult that change will be for Ethan to show up at the same time, same place to a different therapist who doesn't take him into a room called the "Monkey Room" - so named for a very good reason - or the ball room, or to a room full of ride-on toys with a ramp.  It will then be a therapist who will make him sit quietly, listen, and repeat.  Poor Ethan was very suddenly removed from his favorite weekly play time.  I mean, seriously, the place is so fun we had to put Nolan in gymnastics to make up for the fact that he didn't get to go to physical therapy.  I am sure Ethan will get over it, but I tend to over-dramatize the possible emotions that could take place inside another person's head - thus why I should be hired as a professional crier at funerals of people I've never met.  It was a bitter-sweet ending to Ethan's stint in physical therapy, but I'm sure we'll all live.