Botox is scheduled, 3rd times the charm!

I filed an appeal for botox and won! Yeah! She goes in the last Friday of Feb. Here's hoping results are positive this time around! She's nervous about it. I explained that "in theory" it should help her walk better. She had to make sure that she will be able to run better too. She's okay with it now! Our favorite Dr Shafron is still doing it.
I swear Miss Hope has shot up another 3 inches! The pj's I bought her right before Christmas are now way to short! I can't keep up. Since she has been growing, she is really tight again. I'm hoping it will start to loosen up this week. I made a deal with her this week but I felt bad since she was so tight. I think I will make the deal again this week. If she walks all week, using whatever she wants to walk with, her and I will go to a movie on the weekend.
Her medicine is a God send! I don't know why I have been so against medicine for so long! I'm still against excessive meds, but this stuff is great! Just have to get the sleeping pills straightened out. She's still doing great in school. We had to cancel her reading test with the teacher last week. We are now doing it this Friday. Hope is reading to herself for fun! My inspiration! A learning disability, reading disability, physical disability and still pushes through it all. I don't have a clue how I am ever going to keep up with inspiring her! I think that's why it takes a village to raise her! I couldn't do it without all of our respite workers, hab workers and therapists!
This Saturday I will have a table at the Joni and Friends event in Tempe for the Lending Closet. I am so not a sales person! Not that I am selling anything, just to shy to walk up to strangers and start talking. I am breaking out of my shell though. I went out last night with my friend and a bunch of girls from my college class. I think it may become a regular thing. I had a blast! I'm still surprised that my legs aren't on fire from all of the dancing I did. I need to make sure they keep me away from the karaoke mic though!
I volunteered to talk in front of another 3 classes this month at Glendale College. The best part, it is 2 days before my 10 minute presentation in school. Good prep for that! I have my medical terminology final on Monday. We received our 6 quizzes back on Thursday to study from. I received 3 100's, 2 96's and a 95. Go me!!! It's nice to know that no life during the week is actually paying off! Now to pass my anatomy quiz this week! I start communications this week too. Ugh! I have a feeling I will be standing in front of the class a lot more than I would like to. They are grading our speaking ability starting this week and expect it to improve over the next 17 months. :(
Everyone around me is having a really rough time right now. For the first time in a long time, I am happy. As it turns out, happy looks really good on me! I haven't been hit on this much in a long time and I am breaking down my walls. Thank you Brandi for helping me knock them down! No Helen, Rachel and Uncle Jerry, still not dating. Still waiting for the white knight to knock me on my butt!
Well, that's all for now! Thank you everyone for your continued support! Love to you all!

Life of a student

Who knew! Every Wednesday I go to my local spot called Buffalo Wild Wings. I get dinner and enjoy a few beers while I study after school. This week however, I had to use my happy hour money for school supplies. Ugh! I guess that is called a dedicated student. So far I am averaging 96% on all of my quizzes. We had a 50+ question pop quiz that we had to finish in 15 minutes. I was one of four people done! I think I did well but our professors aren't great at returning quizzes in a timely manner. I have a quiz everyday this week, 2 quizzes on Tuesday, a final on the following Monday and a paper due on Tuesday. This is just crazy! Monday through Thursday I do Hope's school and therapy, leave at noon for my school, get home at 5:30 and study until after midnight. Friday is normally appointments for Hope that I couldn't fit in during the week. The weekend is left for a little play and a lot of studying. Still trying to figure out where I can fit dating into the equation! For those of you that ask the question a lot, I am not currently dating. I'm still waiting for someone to step up to the plate and join my never boring life! :)
Miss Hope. Well, her Botox was cancelled. Insurance decided they weren't paying for it. How they can approve to very expensive Baclofen Pumps and deny a couple hundred dollar Botox injection is beyond me. So I wrote up a long letter, made my therapists gather a bunch of paperwork and I certified my appeal over to them. Another thing I really don't have time for but is worth it. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.
Hope is doing really well in school despite all odds against her. The new ADHD medicine is helping keep her focused. The down side, the sleeping pills are no longer working. She is up until after 11pm every night. I'll be calling Monday morning to get something stronger. The other ADHD pill I was offered requires blood work every 6 weeks. Like I need another appointment! Plus Hope has a thing against needles. Can't say I blame her.
Her counseling is still going well. She should be released soon. I'm still amazed at how well she has done with all of it.
Her school is still refusing to have her tested for Dyslexia. I was asked to volunteer at another parent panel in a couple of weeks with Raising Special Kids. While I am there I will see the lady that handles all school complications. Hopefully we can get that straightened out.
Many of you probably don't know that I do a lot of volunteering too. With Raising Special Kids (RSK), I go and talk to college students about life with a disabled child and I do one on one "guidance" for mom's with special needs children over the phone. I am still running the Lending Closet but some really amazing therapist friends offered to store and manage the equipment. I don't know where my life would be without them!
There's probably more but my brain is so fried. Thank you to everyone for your continued support!

An everything update!

Hope's botox has been pushed off to the 15th and we are still waiting for insurance approval. The specialist we were suppose to see has been denied by insurance. Ugh! Gotta love insurance! Hope has been officially diagnosed with ADHD and has started medicine. Here's hoping it works! The nice part, a side effect of the pill is insomnia. So where's the nice part you ask, she gets sleeping pills!!!! For any of you that truly know Hope, you know that sleeping is a constant issue. It is so nice to see her wake up without bags under her eyes. I finally spoke with her Special Ed coordinator at school today. They are working on accommodations for her AIMS (spelling?) testing and other school work. I also sent them a script from the psychologist stating that she has ADHD and insurance will not cover Dyslexia testing. So hopefully the school will send us somewhere to get a learning disability diagnosis. I think that is all on Hope for now.
School for me is CRAZY!!! I had a pop quiz on day 2, a final exam on Thursday which will be a presentation, a paper due on Monday, working on a second 10 minute presentation due next month, ugh! After this final I have medical terminology which we will complete in 2 weeks. Yes, another final. I have at least one final every month. We finally saw the lab yesterday. It is awesome!! I can't wait until we are spending more time in there. Next week I adjust to scrub life! Thanks to Rachel I found the most comfortable scrubs on the planet. I may never go back to real clothes for work! My next 18 months are in a blue polo, khaki scrub pants, white tennis shoes without mesh, hair up, unpolished nails, no jewelry and a thermal top under the polo. I love it though! I feel like an adult, my vocabulary is expanding and my brain is trying to explode in my head! I could go without the 70 pound backpack though! Hope was excited to see that Mommy received a coloring book for school! I had to go buy colored pencils. Ha! Almost 30 and I'm buying colored pencils in the kid isle for myself! (anatomy coloring book) 2010 is proving to be a life altering year! In a good way! Here's hoping my 6'2" husband comes walking through the door! (Still single, class options are not appealing!)
Thank you everyone for your continued support! I hope everyone is having a wonderful new year!