Why My Daughter is Skinny and I Stress Eat

What a long-feeling week.

I'm still fighting the Regional Center on, well, everything really. They sent me on a wild goose chase for the following after I asked for help with PediaSure:

1. A denial letter from WIC. Ok, whatever. I could tell them that we didn't qualify, and they could easily look online and verify, but no. I needed to make an appointment, take off from work, and get a letter. - Done.

2. A prescription from the Ped saying that PediaSure was recommended. So I called and requested one. Which required me to play phone tag with the Ped for a while and then explain to her what I needed it for. Granted, it was nice to chat and go over the issue as a whole, but then I had to send BD over to the office, 30 minutes away, to pick it up in person. - Done.

Mission Accomplished.

I was pretty proud of myself too. I got it all done in record time.

Then, I spent the next few days attempting to get in touch with our Service Blocker Coordinator, who eventually tells me that I've "forgotten" something.

Yeah, whatever. That is so not the case. Unlike her, I write down important things that people tell me.

Back to the now-longer list.

3. Obtain a denial letter from our insurance company. Uh-oh. Now this one is tough. Apparently, they just don't give stuff like this out all willy-nilly. [deep breath] First, call the insurance company. They tell me that I need to request the Ped's office to request from them an authorization for PediaSure. Then, they will say no decide how to rule and send notice back to both me and the Ped's office within 14 days. Hm. So I did that last week and then, in the midst of typing this out, I call the Ped's office (again, some more) and see if they've heard anything. Amazingly, they have. Today. Not so amazingly, the answer is no. Yay? - Done.

I mean, I would have been happy with a "yes" of course, because that would mean that we'd be done, BUT I knew it wasn't covered and now this means that I remain at the mercy of the Regional Center and our PITA lovely Service Blocker Coordinator.

So, in the midst of all of this, I went to Social Services, remember? That was...fun.

The thing with MediCal is that if you qualify for it? You qualify for WIC.

And with WIC you get to drink all the PediSure you want.

Well, maybe not really. I'm sure there's a limit, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to write that because for some reason, that would be really hard to explain here, it cracks me up and I need a laugh.

Anyway, so not only would we have the elusive MediCal that comes in handy when you really need something to come in handy, we'd have insta-access to PediaSure, which is how this whole most recent mess got started in the first place.

Win-win. Right?

Of course not.

Insert Service Blocker Coordinator.

Again, trying to get in touch with her is difficult, but I do realize that she is not my personal concierge so I cut her some slack. Nevermind that I'm still waiting, after 3 weeks, for a new IFSP meeting. Slack? Being cut.

Oh, so wait. I did accomplish something at Social Services on Wednesday. I turned in enough personal paperwork so that, in the wrong hands, we'd be financially ruined. When I called the Case Workerto inform her that the info had been submitted, she informed me that the only thing that remained was the letter of support from the Regional Center.

*sigh*

Back to the Service Blocker Coordinator. After a lot of blah blah blahing with other people in the office, I find out that she is there and get transferred to her, but only because no one else there has a clue about the Institutional Deeming waiver I'm seeking. Not that my Service Blocker Coordinator does either, but still. I'm her responsibility, for lack of a better term.

More blah blah blahing about how busy she is and how she went on vacation and...(I stopped listening. Don't worry, it wasn't relevant.).

Then she asked me about the IFSP meeting. Huh?

I reminded her that I was still waiting to hear back from her about that.

Totally different can of worms.

So then she tells me that her boss said that only permanent clients of the Regional Center can qualify for Institutional Deeming and permanency is determined at age 3.

I call BS. Immediately.

My child does not have a singular condition that is considered temporary in nature. She is not possibly going to "age out" of the Regional Center at/before age 3. This does not apply to us. Try harder.

Plus, I have this nifty guide on Institutional Deeming (from another Regional Center) that I found somewhere and thankfully held onto that reads:

The child must be an active client of the regional center. Although this status is generally determined for the child at age three, if his or her medical condition warrants, a child may be given active status prior to age three at the discretion of the [regional center] physician.

So there.

And this? Is why I want Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cake for dinner.