Jenelle's Insurance Case Manager Earns Her Wings!

Our insurance case manager really earned her wings today… as in she is an "Angel with wings" and a true miracle worker! OK, maybe that is a big over the top, but I was amazed today by her quick response… I'll get to the full story in a minute, but first, the latest on Jenelle…

Last Friday, I got home from work and had a message from Dr. Ben-Ezer on our answering machine (grrr - don't you hate messages on Fridays?) Dr. Ben-Ezer consulted with the Rheumatologist at CHOC about Jenelle and decided to run two more blood tests to check for certain metabolic issues. One of which is a test for Lupus. Why we are checking for Lupus, I have no idea - Jenelle certainly does not fit the symptoms I've found on the internet, but hey, why not? I called on Monday to get the details, but Dr. Ben-Ezer is out until Wednesday. I will be taking Jenelle in for this blood work tomorrow (we had to wait a week after starting her bi-carb supplement) and will try to get a hold of Dr. Ben-Ezer to get her thoughts.

Also, I contacted Dr. Menkes today, who is a well known metabolic specialist at Cedars Sinai. He is going to see Jenelle this Thursday at 2:00 p.m. He first suggested an appointment for next week, but upon hearing that Jenelle was to be admitted next week for the Ketogenic Diet at UCLA, he said he could see her this Thursday in case he saw anything that might compromise the diet. Wow - an appointment with 2 days notice? How lucky can you get! Just after making the appointment, I got a call from UCLA's financial person and she was having problems again getting our admission approved for Monday. I told her we needed to give our new "case manager" a try, and gave her the number to Kathy at Health Net, Jenelle's new case manager. In addition, I also decided to contact Kathy to see if we could get approval to see Dr. Menkes. After explaining our reasons for wanting to see Dr, Menkes, Kathy said she would pull Jenelle's file and call me back. Five minutes later, she called and "everything" was approved, including our admission to UCLA for Monday! Like I said, she certainly impressed me and earned her wings - I've now dubbed her our new "Angel"!

I spoke to UCLA this evening to let them know about our appointment with Dr. Menkes on Thursday. They are glad we are going, and want a full report on his opinion! Unfortunately, I was also informed today that we may be in for a problem again with bed availability on Monday. Please start thinking positive thoughts that we'll have a bed available at UCLA next week! I'll keep you posted after our appointment on Thursday. Thanks for the continued prayers and positive thoughts - please keep them coming! I can't help but feel we are finally getting closer to an answer for our Jenelle!