Saturday, July 3rd, 2010

Despite hitting my brother the other night, I am still allowed to keep my bat. I am not super good yet at hitting the ball when my parents throw it but I am certainly trying hard!

Tonight, Uncle Jeff, Daddy, Mommy and I went to a 4th of July BBQ at Kim and Jonathon's house. I had a great time playing with Jackson, their golden retriever and the bunny. My parents were a little nervous about all the smoke with my trach so they made a quick exit as those were starting up.

Peyton Nicole Smith

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

One of the problems with sharing a room with my parents (along with my brothers) wanting to take over their bed! A queen size bed is really not big enough for all five of us but I am willing to give it a shot!

Peyton Nicole Smith

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Today Mommy came home early to meet with a representative from the waiver program. Looking at the criteria, I am not going to qualify for nursing hours through Medicaid but will still get the 50 hours of respite nursing hours a month which will be great. Mommy next has to choose a pediatric nursing agency and then have them come out for an evaluation. But my parents could start using the nursing hours within the next few weeks.

In the afternoon, all five neighbor kids came by to play. Mommy was just a wee bit overwhelmed with six of us running around but I had a great time being the center of attention!

Peyton Nicole Smith

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

This evening when we got home it was still too hot to go outside and ride my tricycle. So we spent some time visiting with a friend of Mommy's from junior high school (thanks for the cookies Judy!) and then once it had cooled down Mommy let me ride up and down the sidewalk. My parents have purchased a bike helmet for me but it is still too big and difficult to wear with my hearing aids. Luckily, the tricycle can't get going too fast!

Peyton Nicole Smith

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

+

+

= closed head injury!

I love to have my parents throw a wiffle ball to me so I can hit it with my red, plastic bat. We were having a great time tonight playing when Chili caught sight of a car passing by and started into some excited barking. Without a thought, I stopped mid-swing and whacked him hard with the bat. My parents were NOT happy (although I think I caught them laughing about it a few minutes later). Chili wasn't really hurt but you should see him cower and run any time I got close to him the rest of the night ; )

Peyton Nicole Smith

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Mommy got a call today with some exciting news. After almost three years on the waiting list for the waiver program in Utah, I am finally coming off 7/1! So a little background - when I was getting ready to come home from the NICU in California, my Mommy learned about California's waiver program. What is a waiver program? Good question.

"Under Section 1915(c) of the Social Security Act, Medicaid law authorizes the Secretary of the U.S Department of Health and Human Services to waive certain Medicaid statutory rqeuirements. These waivers enable States to cover a broad array of home and community-based services for targeted populations as an alternative to institutionalization."

What does that really mean? For someone like me with a trach and a feeding tube there was a time that I never would have been able to come home. And then along came Katie Beckett and her family fought to bring her home despite her medical needs and changed all that. The government realized the quality of life at home far exceeds that in a nursing facility and that it is actually more cost effective too. So waiver programs were created and allowed States to "waive" the financial requirements normally associated with Medicaid for qualifying kids like me. Instead of taking into consideration my parent's income, they look at my income instead. But waiver programes in most states are limited. Luckily, when I came home in California, I didn't have to wait. At that time, my parents were pretty sure they would move back to Utah some day. So just in case, they got on the waiting list in Utah. So here we are, almost three years later, and the wait is over! Now, we have only been living in Utah for two months but I would say that is pretty good timing.

By qualifying for the waiver program, my parents get some respite nursing hours but the biggest benefit is I automatically get signed up for Medicaid. And with Medicaid I will probably meet the criteria for some additional nursing hours. At this point should I meet the lifetime maximums on my parents insurance plans (not unlikely - already halfway there on Mommy's plan) then I will have Medicaid as a back up.

Yee haw!

Peyton Nicole Smith

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

When the dog bed is as nice as what my brothers have, who says I can't climb in too?

Peyton Nicole Smith