After Christmas Update on Jenelle

Just a quick update to let everyone know we had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed many smiles with Jenelle. Unfortunately on Christmas she started to get a Urinary Tract Infection and was quite miserable without the help of Motrin. I was able to call her doctor on the following day to get a prescription and she is doing better now. Unfortunately, it seems Jenelle does not want the year to end without another illness. She started coughing on Tuesday and has a viral upper respiratory infection. We saw the doctor this morning, and she prescribed some great cough syrup that also helps Jenelle get some much needed rest. Jenelle is doing well weight wise, and is almost 29 pounds! That means she has gained a total of 8 pounds since getting her G-Tube!

In other good news, Jenelle is still very close to sitting up and unfortunately has cuts and bruises on her face to prove it. Earlier this month, I asked our doctor to put in the request for a "helmet" and learned this morning it has been approved! We really didn't think we'd need a helmet until Jenelle was more independently mobile (ie: walking) but knew she'd eventually need one because of her "drop" seizures. And in all honestly, I didn't want to wait for a trip to the ER for stitches to prove she needed one, and fortunately neither did our Doctor! We are also excited about this news because our insurance is changing next month and we will have a $5,000 limit on Durable Medical Equipment. Fortunately Jenelle has most of what she needs equipment wise (Stander, Wheelchair, AFOs), but with her G-tube supplies, that $5,000 won't last long. Our previous insurance had no limit. It will help that this helmet will be covered by our old insurance as it won't count against the $5,000 limit we have with the new insurance. We are very pleased with the new insurance (via my employer) as they have already assigned us a "transition assistant" and "case-worker" to insure that Jenelle's appointments at UCLA in January and February will be covered.

Wishing you a wonderful New Year - we hope your holiday has been special. Thank you for the continued positive thoughts and prayers for Jenelle. It means so very much to us all!