The abyss, otherwise known as TCH

Let me just tell you how difficult it has been to try and get Maggie's follow up CPAP sleep study scheduled.

Her first test was done on July 17th. It took over a week just to get the results. By this time, her doctor was out of the country and wouldn't be back for another week. Apparently no one else could sign the orders, so the order for the next test just sat there. The dr. returned and it took another 5 days to get her to sign the orders. They told me to give it a couple of days to get in the system.

I called the following Monday (giving them a week). They said the doctor has signed the orders (yes, this has already been confirmed!) but the orders hadn't been routed to the neurologist for approval. The lady said that she would print it out and turn it in right then. Give her a couple of days. I call back Friday, speak to someone else, and she tells me the same exact thing. I was beginning to get a bit frustrated, but tried really hard to not take it out on this lady. I gave them another week and called back last Monday. The neurologist had not signed off on it yet. Give them a few days. UGH! I've already given you lots of "few" days. I called back Thursday and I was told, yes, the neurologist just signed the orders. It will take a few days to get it in the system.

I gasped....breathed...and then very nicely asked if there was anyway that I could go ahead and make the appointment, even though I wasn't technically in the system yet. She had the paper right in front of her. She said no. It doesn't work that way. Right. Of course. She asked me what location I wanted to have the study take place, and I told her that I would go whereever I could get Maggie in the fastest. I honestly assumed that it would be in the Medical Center because they have the facility to host more kids each night. She said, well, if you want to come here, that's fine but the earliest appointment I have is not until February. FEBRUARY!?!? Are you kidding me? (yes, I did ask that outloud). She sighed and said, no ma'am...I'm being serious. She said you'll be better off going to Cy-Fair (which is where we went last time and it's only 10 minutes from the house). Ok, great...can we schedule it there? Oh no, ma'am...I can't schedule anything for Cy-Fair. You'll have to call that location directly...but they won't have your paperwork until Monday. grrrrrrrr.....

I called Grace today. I guess it was a good idea to be nice to her and speak to her at length the last time, because she remembered me :) She was very apologetic for how long it took us to get to this point and said that she didn't have the paperwork, but she would call them, get the paperwork and get us scheduled as soon as possible. I explained to her that we needed to get this done as quickly as possible, since we were in the process of adopting Maggie and her benefits might run out before we could get everything done. She was really nice and said she would do whatever she could to help us out. She called me back about 30 minutes later, said she had a cancellation and wanted to know if we would come this Friday. YES! Thank you, Grace!

So, Maggie's 2nd sleep apnea test will take this Friday @ 6pm. Since she was a champ the last time, I wasn't concerned about it. However, this is a little different - they add the CPAP mask and machine to the testing set up. Maggie does not like ANYTHING on her face/nose/mouth. She has a hard time just dealing with the little mask she uses for breathing treatments that last 2 minutes. So, this should prove to be interesting....especially since she takes a bottle to sleep. I'm pretty sure she won't be able to suck on a bottle with that mask on. I'm just praying that it will all go well and without any issues. She did such a great job the last time - hoping for a repeat performance.

We're hopeful that this will tell us what we need to do for her sleep apnea. There is a possibility of further testing and surgery, if she has some obstruction, but we're hopeful that it won't be necessary.

To all you foster or adopt mommas out there...if there is only ONE thing that I could stress, it would be this. Be persistent. Do not give up. Keep calling. Keep bugging people. Do what you have to do to get what you need to get done. When you're dealing with the government and medicaid and other foster related agencies, it's just too easy to fall in the cracks. It is definitely true that the squeaky wheel gets the oil :)

I'll be sure to update you on how things go this weekend. Of course, we always appreciate your prayers.