Could it be because he likes the music he's listening to on his headphones...or more likely because Aetna FINALLY listened? We're happy to say that after months of fighting with Aetna, hundreds (700 to be exact) of letters to Aetna's CEO, Aetna sent us a check to cover "skilled nursing" until the Medicaid waiver program and Early Intervention kick in. VICTORY!! While Aetna still did not want to admit that they were responsible for Benjy's therapies as well, by sending us the check directly, they know that we will also be using it for therapy. So, THANK you to everyone who wrote letters on Benjy's behalf. Check out today's NYTimes...they did a major article on our situation. While some of the facts are wrong...for example Benjy can see and hear...we know that his eyesight was affected but that's even getting better each day...we are thrilled that they took an interest in Benjy's story. We hope to help not only Benjy but other families who are having trouble with insurance issues moving forward. Even without the therapy, Benjy continues to improve daily. He's moving his arms and legs more and tries to stand, with support of course, and often is able to stand supported for a second or two...something we never thought we'd see. We are on the hunt for good therapists now, we think we might put the ABR therapy on hold at the moment since it's more of a passive approach and Benjy seems to really do best with therapies that involve movement. We'll be meeting with a therapist the end of next week hopefully who is involved in another "unconventional" approach, MEDEK or CME, which we think might really benefit Benjy. We're also looking for aqua therapy programs and horseback riding therapy since they both have shown great results with other children. We're also looking for a pediatrician, since we're still in Valley Stream, we'd like to find one who is convenient to VS as well as Queens, where we likely will end up moving at some point...unless we can find an affordable apartment in Manhattan that can accomodate us with all of our needs. Thank you again...and please keep up the good wishes and prayers for Benjy and all of his friends who are recovering or going through transplants. Keep little Madison in your prayers, she's an adorable 11 month old little girl with Tay Sachs who is going through the grueling process now.
Here's the link to the NYTimes article...
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