Friday, April 27, 2012

Doctor Visit

Maggie's been coughing for nearly four weeks.  A small cough took a turn for the worse when she picked up more germies from somebody at church.  She couldn't sing at Easter.  She began to improve, but then worsened.  Over the last few days, she began to be unable to talk after coughing, felt like there was something stuck in her throat, and finally complained that it was like she wasn't able to breathe when she was done coughing. 

At that, they squeezed us in right away.  X-rays showed no pneumonia, but there is an unevenness in her lungs, with the right one better than the left.  (The left was the one that collapsed after her last open-heart.)  So now it's a round of non-cillin antibiotics, oral steroids, and an inhaler.  I intend to make my first batch of homemade yogurt to help her get through the antibiotics. 

5 comments:

  1. Maggie, sorry you are still sick. I hope the doctor's medicine and your mom's medicine will help you.

    Pam Kirk

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  2. Hope Maggie is feeling better very soon. Have you tried acidophilus capsules to combat the antibiotics? We've had very good luck with them.

    Also, re: your other post mentioning health insurance, we finally had to get our son on Medicaid because Blue Cross kicked him off our policy when we moved from IL to WI. He was 14 at the time. Maybe she'd qualify for Medicaid? They don't cover everything, though; recently we had an appt. at the Down syndrome clinic at the Children's Hospital in Milwaukee and they wouldn't cover a penny of it. :(

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  3. Thanks, Mrs Kirk. I gave the girl your message.

    Barbara, I'm assuming that she'll end up on Medicaid. That's what we're in the process of figuring out. With a homeschooled kid, we're not sure how to demonstrate a need. Normally, the kids struggle in school, and that shows their need for assistance, which spills over into needs for transition services and health care and transportation help, etc.

    I can't believe they wouldn't cover an appt at the DS clinic at Children's. I wonder what was the logic that led them to deny that claim?

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  4. Apparently there was no logic involved, Susan :(

    Re: Medicaid, our son's diagnosis from birth made it easier to qualify, I think. Do you belong to HSLDA? If so, their special needs coordinator may be able to help you. They also rent tests like the Brigance, the results of which become evidence of the special needs. We once paid an educational psychologist $400 to give our son the Brigance. Later I found out that I could get it from HSLDA for $35, so after that I gave him the Brigance.

    HTH. Good luck with this!

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  5. We're not HSLDA members. We did have an evaluation done at Univ of California shortly before Mag turned 15. And she was diagnosed at age 5, with a genetic test to confirm the Dx when she was 14. I wonder if the Brigance is one of the tests the school will be giving her.

    And the yogurt turned out nicely. This is pretty cool! Hee hee hee; I made yogurt. [joyful giggle]

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