There is light at the end of the tunnel!!!!!

At last we hear from Medicaid!!!!! The Toledo office will be contacting Mom in the next 2 weeks (from Thursday 12/3/09) to set up a time to come out and look at the house to let her know for sure what improvements need to be made. The Columbus office will be coming out in the next 2 weeks to assess Jon's condition in order to decide what services/needs he will have once home. So there is finally a light shining at the end of the tunnel!!!!!!! It is pushing it really close to say that Jon will be home by Christmas to stay. If the rental van comes through Dad has agreed to drive Jon up to Mom's for the day. He can't spend the night until we have a hoyer or some way of getting Jon in and out of bed. I have not seen Jon since we received the news. I will be going over this evening.

Jon met with the Rehab Doctor. She wasn't sure why they were meeting with her. It was a very frustrating visit for Mom and Jon. The Rehab Doctor doesn't see a need for Jon to come to Dodd but says he needs to have a pyschological test (nothing out of the ordinary, typical for situation). We are assuming he will go to Dodd for the test unless it is something that Village of Westerville can administer.

Jon is finally starting the IV drip for the wound infection. He was given a choice between the drip and pills and he chose the pills as he did not want to be tied down to a drip. He likes his freedom and he isn't able to drive around when on the drip. The IV drip is more effective and the pills are not working as they would like so like it or not he is on the drip.

We have been looking at a van to purchase. It is a 1987 Chevy van that has around 75000 miles on it for $2,500. Dad and Mom are saying no, Jon and I are saying we would like something for at least a year until we can get something newer. We don't know how owning a $14,000 - 29,000 van affects Jon's Medicaid. That is the range we have found on the internet for current handicapped accessible vans. It costs roughly $50,000 to convert a typical van to a handicapped accessible van. Medicaid will pay for the conversion only if you currently own a van. They will not pay for a van just the conversion. To me it is cheaper to buy one that is already converted but we are dealing with bureaucracy.

That is all for now. I will write more after talking with Jon. I will see if he wants to write a post.

Please pray that we can bring Jon home before Christmas to stay!!!!

Barb