This, that, and the other....
...I really wasn't going to try to blog tonight, but I have several things that I wanted to post and figured I'd better do it while I could still remember some of them!!
First news item...I have been thinking about this for a while, but am just now getting around to blogging it. I'm pretty sure that most of my CI readers have already gotten the information regarding the latest concerns over meningitis, but for those of you that haven't, in a nutshell, here it is: There have been two recent deaths in children with CIs due to meningitis, and at least one of these children was not fully immunized against the disease. While meningitis is relatively rare, it is somewhat more common among CI users, particularly children, and all users are advised to be vaccinated against it. If you want to read more, the FDA article is here. Advanced Bionics, the maker of my implant, is being proactive: they are echoing the FDA's recommendation, and they are also taking the extra step of paying to make sure that all their clients are reimbursed for their vaccinations. I got my paperwork in the mail today...whatever my insurance won't cover, AB will pay. Now I have absolutely NO excuse for not doing it...except, perhaps, that making the phone call is tricky. I also need to run by the health department and make for sure I haven't already gotten it...I had to have the measles shot back in the spring for college, and they talked me into another shot, but I can't remember what it was (duh.....)....ANYHOW...if you're a CI user or parent, please investigate this if you haven't already.
My little countdown timer is getting closer and closer...Nov. 5th will be here before I know it! I'm getting excited, and also a little stressed, since I have a few things I want to do before it happens, and it actually looks like I might not have time to do them all. Oh, well...I'll do what I can do! :) Today I went to the store (we were out of everything, since I had been gone for a week) and loaded up the fridge. I spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen...I made a pot of chili for tonight's dinner, then made two batches of the Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti...one for this week, one for the freezer. I also made two pumpkin rolls, because my kids LOVE it, and this is really the only time of the year that I indulge them :). I'm making several more casseroles for my freezer this week...and looking for ideas for more. After my last surgery, I was dumbfounded and frustrated by how tired I felt and how dizzy I was. I am hoping for a somewhat better result this time, but if it's anything like it was then, I want to be better prepared this go-around. We had a lot of support from friends and women from church...they brought a lot of food the first few days...but I could barely stand the first two weeks, due to the vertigo and tiredness, and sure didn't feel like cooking. We ate out a lot...but I hate doing that...with five kids, it's a real budget-buster....so I'm trying to prepare our kitchen and freezer so that I can take a few weeks off, if necessary. And who knows...maybe this time it'll be different and I'll feel like a million bucks...that would be nice! :)
Tomorrow it's time to hit the girls' room. This week I'm working on getting their toys organized, weeded out, thrown away if necessary. Then I'll move all their furniture out, decide if that bedroom needs to be painted, then we'll start moving our stuff in there from downstairs...then the entire decluttering/sorting/cleaning/painting cycle will begin again for a couple more rooms. Should keep me busy right up until Nov. 5th! :)
Several of my CI readers know who Michael Chorost is...I read his book, Rebuilt, just before my activation back last October. Laurie sent me an e-mail today with some good news: Mike's second CI has been approved by Aetna and he will be having his surgery in December. Aetna covered Laurie's second implant last January, but has stubbornly balked at doing the same for everyone else. Laurie, along with many others, I'm sure, has invested some of her time to changing that, and, according to Michael's web page, on October 19th, Aetna officially changed their policy to cover bilateral implants in adults. I have a few friends who have policies with Aetna that will be glad to hear the news! :)
And thanks so much to Linda and Baba...Linda treated me to the Sweet Treat to Read award and my beloved Baba shared the BFF (Blog Friends Forever) award. I do want to share these, but can't do it tonight...it's 1 AM! I didn't want to let these ladies think I'd forgotten about them, though, or didn't appreciate them...you both are so sweet!! (((HUGS)))
And one last treat...this picture makes me smile every time I see it (it's my desktop picture right now...Sandy's husband said that it would make a good Halloween picture!). It's already been posted, so no danger of me being shot over it...so here's me and my girls in Savannah. Daisy took it upon herself to be a one-woman deaf ministry last week...and she and I laughed our way through the week with some of our "interpretations" of things. I taught her one sign that my little girls taught me..."WOW". Daisy and I were "WOWED" by a lot of things during the week...but when I showed up with purple hair Thursday night (I couldn't let Melli outdo me with her red hair, understand?), we managed to get a group "WOW" shot! It never fails to crack me up!!!
Love y'all....
First news item...I have been thinking about this for a while, but am just now getting around to blogging it. I'm pretty sure that most of my CI readers have already gotten the information regarding the latest concerns over meningitis, but for those of you that haven't, in a nutshell, here it is: There have been two recent deaths in children with CIs due to meningitis, and at least one of these children was not fully immunized against the disease. While meningitis is relatively rare, it is somewhat more common among CI users, particularly children, and all users are advised to be vaccinated against it. If you want to read more, the FDA article is here. Advanced Bionics, the maker of my implant, is being proactive: they are echoing the FDA's recommendation, and they are also taking the extra step of paying to make sure that all their clients are reimbursed for their vaccinations. I got my paperwork in the mail today...whatever my insurance won't cover, AB will pay. Now I have absolutely NO excuse for not doing it...except, perhaps, that making the phone call is tricky. I also need to run by the health department and make for sure I haven't already gotten it...I had to have the measles shot back in the spring for college, and they talked me into another shot, but I can't remember what it was (duh.....)....ANYHOW...if you're a CI user or parent, please investigate this if you haven't already.
My little countdown timer is getting closer and closer...Nov. 5th will be here before I know it! I'm getting excited, and also a little stressed, since I have a few things I want to do before it happens, and it actually looks like I might not have time to do them all. Oh, well...I'll do what I can do! :) Today I went to the store (we were out of everything, since I had been gone for a week) and loaded up the fridge. I spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen...I made a pot of chili for tonight's dinner, then made two batches of the Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti...one for this week, one for the freezer. I also made two pumpkin rolls, because my kids LOVE it, and this is really the only time of the year that I indulge them :). I'm making several more casseroles for my freezer this week...and looking for ideas for more. After my last surgery, I was dumbfounded and frustrated by how tired I felt and how dizzy I was. I am hoping for a somewhat better result this time, but if it's anything like it was then, I want to be better prepared this go-around. We had a lot of support from friends and women from church...they brought a lot of food the first few days...but I could barely stand the first two weeks, due to the vertigo and tiredness, and sure didn't feel like cooking. We ate out a lot...but I hate doing that...with five kids, it's a real budget-buster....so I'm trying to prepare our kitchen and freezer so that I can take a few weeks off, if necessary. And who knows...maybe this time it'll be different and I'll feel like a million bucks...that would be nice! :)
Tomorrow it's time to hit the girls' room. This week I'm working on getting their toys organized, weeded out, thrown away if necessary. Then I'll move all their furniture out, decide if that bedroom needs to be painted, then we'll start moving our stuff in there from downstairs...then the entire decluttering/sorting/cleaning/painting cycle will begin again for a couple more rooms. Should keep me busy right up until Nov. 5th! :)
Several of my CI readers know who Michael Chorost is...I read his book, Rebuilt, just before my activation back last October. Laurie sent me an e-mail today with some good news: Mike's second CI has been approved by Aetna and he will be having his surgery in December. Aetna covered Laurie's second implant last January, but has stubbornly balked at doing the same for everyone else. Laurie, along with many others, I'm sure, has invested some of her time to changing that, and, according to Michael's web page, on October 19th, Aetna officially changed their policy to cover bilateral implants in adults. I have a few friends who have policies with Aetna that will be glad to hear the news! :)
And thanks so much to Linda and Baba...Linda treated me to the Sweet Treat to Read award and my beloved Baba shared the BFF (Blog Friends Forever) award. I do want to share these, but can't do it tonight...it's 1 AM! I didn't want to let these ladies think I'd forgotten about them, though, or didn't appreciate them...you both are so sweet!! (((HUGS)))
And one last treat...this picture makes me smile every time I see it (it's my desktop picture right now...Sandy's husband said that it would make a good Halloween picture!). It's already been posted, so no danger of me being shot over it...so here's me and my girls in Savannah. Daisy took it upon herself to be a one-woman deaf ministry last week...and she and I laughed our way through the week with some of our "interpretations" of things. I taught her one sign that my little girls taught me..."WOW". Daisy and I were "WOWED" by a lot of things during the week...but when I showed up with purple hair Thursday night (I couldn't let Melli outdo me with her red hair, understand?), we managed to get a group "WOW" shot! It never fails to crack me up!!!Love y'all....
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