It's not OFFICIAL but...

we've got a date. Like a real, tangible date. Well, more like a week of dates but I'll take it. Sometime during the week of March 12th.

There's one more step that we have to complete before he can be admitted which I've already started working on. He has to pass a MRSA screening. I've already called his PCM at Barquist to see about acquiring one. Hopefully they don't take too long to get back to me about. I don't need to be the crazy lady that calls all the time (again, haha.)

I go tomorrow to sign all the forms for Daphne to start daycare. She'll start next Wednesday as long as everything is good to go. I want her to have a few days under her belt before Mommy and Jack disappear.

I don't know what's going to be harder, watching Jack go through this or leaving her for days at a time. This entire situation just sucks. I'm trying really hard not to throw myself an epic pity party but its not working today. I cried as soon as I opened the email and read that it was really, really happening. I know its in his best interest and most likely, he won't remember much of it in a few years but still it sucks that my little man has to go through this and that my little lady has to be without her Mommy and big brother for so long so he can get better.

I don't know what else to say other than our lives are going to be crazy for the next few weeks getting everything together. I have to label all his clothing, get his huge list of stuff to take together, plus pack for myself. I want to clean the house for Daphne and for Steve and get a few nights worth of dinner in the freezer for them so they aren't eating Little Caesar's every night.

I know we'll make it through it and we'll all be better for it in the end. Hopefully it'll work and Jack will start eating real food. No more Gogurt for breakfast, lunch and dinner with the occasional switch up of canned fruit. No more screaming when someone offers him a bite of chicken or banana or broccoli or pizza. Although, there could be a downside. He could start eating as much as Daphne and then we'll constantly be broke as our grocery bill will skyrocket!! Just kidding, that girl does have a huge appetite for only being 21 pounds though.

All in all, its for the best. I just have to remind myself of that. I just can't believe that in less than 2 weeks, my whole life is going to be upside down.

Tiny Update!

I got an email from KKI this morning! (Can I just say how much I LOVE our new case worker? I've never met her and she keeps me informed and I don't have to call her 800 times or email her to find out what's going on. She's keeps me informed every step of the way. Love it.)

Anyway, she officially faxed our formal request to Tricare on Friday so we should hear back sometime this week and get his start date.

Fingers crossed for good news! I'm praying he can start by the middle of the month. I really don't want him to have to spend his 3rd birthday in the hospital.

Anyway, just thought I'd share. Hopefully I'll have a bigger update later this week.

Getting Closer

I checked my email today (after previously complaining on Facebook about never getting calls back from KKI) and what do you know? I had an email from the Feeding Clinic. All about Jack's upcoming admission. As it turns out, it had been sitting in my inbox since yesterday afternoon. Guess I need to check my email more, huh?

Anyway. Back to the important stuff. It didn't contain an official start date but there's a good reason why. Number one, they wanted to make sure that the timeline they presented us with worked for us. And number two, once we approve the timeline, they need to get TriCare's approval before we get the real date.

But we do have a timeline. MARCH. Next month. I'm terrified and happy and anxious and worried and a million other different emotions. I'm so happy that everything is coming together and he'll be going in the NEXT month. But I'll be sad to leave Daphne for that long and to only see my beautiful, little girl on the weekends.

The email went into a bit of detail about his life there. He'll have a roommate. So we'll be living with another kid and parent. Awkward but okay. He'll be allowed to leave the hospital a total of 8 hours each week. He can bring a few of his favorite toys (I have to put his name on them, Theodore is getting a special name tag sewn in him with my phone number) and I can take my Kindle. We'll go on a tour when we get there. We'll see his room, see the therapy rooms, the "preschool" room, the cafeteria where I'll eat, good places to take him on his down time stuff like that.

The first week we're there will mostly be intense evaluations that will shape his treatment. I'm guessing they're still hoping it'll only take 6 weeks for him? But I'm not sure. I'm hoping it'll only take 6 but he'll stay there as long as he needs to (and TriCare will let him) until he gets better.

All in all, I'm happy that we're finally moving forward. Right now I'm just overwhelmed. I can't wait for it to be finished and for our little boy to finally eat. I know most people don't get it but it's going to be crazy to see him eat something as simple as a banana for the first time.

Anyway, if you managed to make it through this jumble of an entry, I thank you. Perhaps I should wait a day before I update but I wanted to get the news out as soon as we knew.

Waiting on a phone call!

Jack had another appointment with Kennedy Krieger today. He did SO well. He climbed into the high chair with no fight, ate his ten bites of fruit with his spoon, no screaming or crying or thrashing and waited patiently for his timer to go off so he could get down. After he ate, the therapist watched him play in the play room for a few minutes. Every time she asked him to clean up and put his toys away before getting something else out, he did. He followed directions, he played calmly and was all around a different kid there than he was a month ago.  (She thinks the class he's in twice a week through Infants and Toddlers is to thank.)

Because of how he was today, they are moving ahead with his Inpatient therapy. I'm overjoyed. I got the impression that last month's Outpatient "therapy" wasn't so much a therapy session as it was an evaluation to see how he'd handle the program. Obviously last month he'd failed. This month was much better.

So now we wait. I don't know when they'll call. She said soon. So hopefully it's real world soon and not KKI "soon."