Monday, July 30, 2007
California! Current mood: nervous
My mom just called me and told me that she had the OFFICAL LETTER FROM CALIFORNIA in her hand!!!!!!! The official plan, according to Dr. Hanley, is to perform a surgery called a unifocalization when Macy Jane is 4 months of age. 4 months! Macy Jane is exactly 10 weeks old today. We do not have the specific details of how we are going to get her out there or even when the exact date is, but at least we know for sure that the time frame is 4 months of age.
The letter also stated that if MJ showed signs of worsening heart condition and was not thriving, that the surgery would be done earlier than 4 months. Dr. Joshi, her cardiologist in Memphis, stated that it might be done as early as 3 months of age. Ahem.....that is only 2 weeks away?! I have butterflies in my stomach and am so thankful that the letter arrived.
My hope is that we can raise enough money between now and then to help cover our expenses and that Macy Jane will continue to gain weight and thrive and make it to that 4 month old mark. Some people have asked what expenses we would have etc. A brief summary would include: airfare for me & Steven to get to California (still not sure if MJ will be flown by medical jet, and if so if one or both of us could ride with her out there), lodging while we are out there, meals for us, and medical expenses. I will just tell you that her 2 week stay at LeBonheur when she was born cost us almost $67,000 and she has been in the hospital for 6 weeks so far this go around, you do the math. We aren't sure what insurance is going to pay because all of this is going to be out-of-network costs.
We have been told to expect MJ to be in California a minimum of 1 month. That means that Steven will not be working for that month and that means no money coming in. We were thinking of trying to get his California nursing license and work a little out there, but we are not sure that there is enough time between now and then to get that done. Anything just to be able to cover our bills back home. God is going to provide, I firmly believe this.
I just wanted to share the new update with everyone as we have all been waiting for 6 weeks to hear from California. I will keep everyone posted!
Love,
Bethany