I told you a couple months back about visiting Saint Francis to look through the girls' medical records in hopes of finding information to help us get approved for new insurance. Also, as part of this process, I wrote a letter to Cadie's neurologist, Dr. Benner, asking him to draft a letter explaining that Cadie no long has hydrocephalus. Cadie was released from his care back in July of 2007. I can remember how relieved we were to never have to see him again. Not because of him personally; he's an excellent neurologist and surgeon. He gave Cadie the potential for a future without "hardware" by performing a fairly new surgery. We were relieved at the possibility of never having to see him again because it would be a testament to Cadie's good health. When we left, though, neither Jeff nor I was brave enough to ask the question I'm sure we both were thinking of. If Cadie is released from your care, does that mean she no longer has the potential for hydrocephalus or any other future neurological problems? We'd already been through so much with the girls, we just didn't have the strength to face another worry, so we did what any parent does in our position who wants to keep their sanity: we shoved the concern deep down in the back of our minds and hoped never to have to think of it again. When it came time to get new insurance, though, we were forced to face that concern.
I'm not one to go down without a fight, so when the girls were rejected for coverage, I made it my mission to fight back with everything I had. In my letter to Dr. Benner I explained that it was our understanding that Cadie had completely recovered and was not at risk for any future problems. I clarified, though, that we had no intentions of asking him to write a letter stating so if it wasn't the truth. At least a month passed without a word, so I assumed he was too busy or not interested in responding. Finally, though, last week we received a letter. Jeff and I opened it together, anxious and scared to read what it said, more for fear of hearing what we didn't want to hear than not being able to qualify for different health insurance.
The first paragraph summarized Cadie's treatment upon birth and Dr. Benner's assessment during her hospital stay and subsequent VAD surgery. The second paragraph detailed Cadie's follow-up's with Dr. Benner and multiple CT scans as well as their results.
Finally, that last paragraph answered our question, the one we've silently feared.
"It is felt at this time that she (Cadie) had a transient hydrocephalus from her intraventricular hemorrhage, which has cleared. She is not at any risk for redevelopment of hydrocephalus or other associated neurologic problems."
After reading that final sentence, I looked up at Jeff, tears in his eyes, and I knew he felt the same relief that I felt. It's normal for parents to worry for their children, but at least now we can worry about the everyday things instead. Even if this letter doesn't help our application to be approved, I'm so glad that we tried again because this situation forced us to face a fear. And, praise God, it's the answer we wanted!
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