To start with, we recieved a letter in the mail from Childrens hospital notifying us that for the next 6 months any costs left over after our insurance will be paid in full by childrens. What a blessing! We are so blessed with amazing insurance through Boeing and we usually only have $200 out of pocket costs per person per year or $675 deductable per family. However, when it comes to hearing aids, insurances dont cover all of it, only a portion. So Childrens has graciously offered to pay the rest of any of our medical bills. The earmolds are also often times not covered by insurances and those are $150 per ear and Marae will have several made before she is implanted. This is SO nice for Luke and I not to have to mess with this right now. We can use that money towards the larger house we are quickly needing to purchase. After the 6 months we can reapply for the aid again.
So if you are like me, you are probably asking what this would mean for Maraes implant surgery. Well, it means that if our insurance doesn't cover the surgery, Childrens will. However, they fully expect our insurance will. We had our apt with the cochlear implant clinic at Childrens last Friday. We got to see the inside implant component up close and try on the outer ear piece. I was surprised at how comfy it was on my ear. We discussed the upcoming process. I'm a bit overwhelmed with all the apts, and therapy that will have to be done after the implanting takes place. Marae will be bumped to 3 auditory verbal therapy sessions a week and one audiological or Dr. apt per week and then per month for probably the first year atleast. Normally this wouldnt be difficult but when I have two other kids in tow, it means finding babysitters and lots of them. Kay will be in school by that time and that will be helpful. Luke and I were feeling very excited after the apt.
They discussed with us the different ways this surgery can happen. Most kids at Childrens have one implant done at a time (because insurance only allows one at a time or one to be implanted before the age of 1 year). Sometimes you get lucky and you can have both implants done at the same time before 1 year of age. This is what we are praying for because it would be easiest. Marae will have an MRI/CT scan done at 6 months just to make sure the inner ear structure is normal. After that, a surgery date will be set and our insurance will be notified. Till then we can put in a preliminary request so we know what our insurance policy is regarding implants. But I'm not worried about this. We have discovered that Childrens is wonderful at helping middle class families like ours achieve their child's medical needs with minimal cost to the family. Praise God!
Today we have a psychosocial evaluation with the psychologist at Childrens. IT sounds a bit scary but it's basically just to discuss with us our feelings about the situation, the implants, and how our family and Marae are doing with the diagnoses. I know at some time before Marae is implanted I will see a delay in her language skills, but thus far this has been like raising the other two kids. Normal! Except having to place hearing aids every morning. She responds to sounds and makes all the same kinds of sounds the other kids did. I am so thankful for the early infant hearing tests. Luke and I would have never known of Marae's loss until she was older and we would have missed this important window of time to work with her.
Which brings me to the next thing. We finished our IFSP (individual family service plan). We wrote it up with the help of our amazing Family Resource Coordinater, Dena, and our wonderful therapist, Star. I just can not believe we ended up with such wonderful people working with us. Dena, Star, and Kim (Listen and Talk Infant early intervention coordinator) are three of the kindest, loving, and generous people I have met. They are so invested in Marae and just as I celebrate at Marae's milestones, so do they. Amazing women! I love that Marae has a whole team around her helping, loving, and cheering her on. From the therapist, counselors, physicians, surgeons, and audiologists. Pretty amazing. Our major IFSP statement and goal is to have Marae speak and hear spoken english. No sign, which is a huge burden off us for now. We want her to learn it later, but spoken english will be her first language and she needs to rely completly on her learned listening and speaking skills without the aid of sign. Our goal is to have her saying first words like momma and dada by the time she is 1 year old as well as repeating sounds we make and following directions when given. Pretty exciting! By the time she is 5 she should be abover her peers in her auditory verbal skills because of all the therapy and special attention she is receiving.
(Janet White and Marae)For memorial Day weekend we joined my dad and his wife Janet at a condo they were at for the week in Birch Bay. The kids had a great time swimming in the outdoor pool, and I enjoyed some time off from the kids. I still had to care
(two of my favorite things, Marae and a Mocha to go)for Marae, but I had the rare moment to sit in a coffee shop with some peace and quiet and one adorable sleeping baby. :) IT was of course great to see dad and Janet. I am so thankful for them and how they love on us and our kids. Janet has taken my kids in as her own grandkids and invests so much of herself in them. I am so appreciative of both of them. After birch bay
we came home and spent Monday with our friends, The Latvalas. We hiked up to Twin Falls and then had a BBQ at rattle snake Lake. The kids also got to 
(The BIG kid Hikers: Noah Rust, Niko Latvala, and Kay Rust)"pretend fish" with their new fishing poles. The event ended with one soaked Niko (fell into the lake) and one WET Kay (peed her pants). Seriously, never a dull moment as a parent! I am happy to say we all survived the hike and the 4 of us adults managed to keep all 5 of the kids alive and safe on the sometimes treacherous hike. We love
(The Latvalas: Henri, Paul, Niko, and Jen)the Latvalas and were so glad we got to spend this time with them.
Since I've typed this up, we had our psychosocial evaluation. I'll have to save all that for another day, but it went well. Off to get miss Marae to bed!
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