Monday, February 6

Thank you for your encouragement. It really helps!

We saw our family doctor last Friday. He has given us a new medication to help with nausea. It seems to be helping. Ryan isn't feeling as poorly and he didn't get sick this weekend. He ate a little both days and loved the Super Bowl goodies I put out while we watched the game. It was great to see Justin and Phil - Ryan's two closest friends. He really enjoyed their visit.

The HMO hasn't backed down and I couldn't get them to budge in expediting our appeal. I've contacted just about everyone I could, to try to get this pushed through, but the wheels of bureaucracy move so slowly and unless your loved one is dying, they will not expedite your requests. Both the HMO and the government agency established to help with such issues have said this isn't an emergency and will go through "fast track", but not expedited review. (Which basically means we won't have an answer for a few weeks.) I feel less frantic because of Ryan's improvement.

Tomorrow morning we meet with a new neurosurgeon at UCSD. His name is Dr. Marshall and we're hoping and praying he will make immediate arrangements for the surgery. We are resigned to having the flap transferred down here and replaced by someone here. Amazing though, we would have been done last Monday - a week ago had the insurance left us alone.

I'll post again tomorrow if we get some positive news.

Love to all,

Debi