Kyle's NICU Story in Pictures

Saturday, March 29, 2008

ECI visit - Kelly

Luke 4:40 "When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them."

I have good news and great news!  I should have posted sooner but honestly - we have been having too much fun.  The weather has been good and our back yard is one of the coolest places to be! lots of toys, lots of water, lots of dirt and grass, lots of popsicles.  of course kyle is kind of on the sidelines for now - but he is enjoying the outdoors too!

good news first - I talked with a hospital Medicaid representative - the person who is actually over getting us coverage for the first 10 days of kyle's life.  I spoke to her - so I have her number, she is working on it and hoping to have it all accomplished (get this... ) before she leavers her job in a week.  Ya - i finally meet her, find her and get her to work on it and then she leaves....  but she says she is going to try and have our case finalized before she goes!!!!  we are almost there!  this is huge - not just in money but HOURS upon HOURS of frustration that will be out of my hair.  the medicaid thing is very beneficial though so the frustration is worth it.  I talked with the hospital rep when I was looking into all this friday (some of my hours on the phone for the medicaid stuff!) and she has become a friend of mine over our stay there - she is awesome - anyway, she was telling me what my insurance and medicaid have paid out to the hospital for kyle since his birth!  are you ready for this - BCBS (our ins) have paid over $714,000 for Kyle's stay and Medicaid has made 2 payments, one for over $500,000 and one over $250,000. Can you believe that?  anyway and this is just the hospital and nurses.  the nurse practitioners and doctors and all the add-ons he has seen are separate!  crazy.  anyway - provision - it has been huge!

okay - for the GREAT news!  we had our ECI visit - our first physical therapy one - actally we met with an occupational therapist.  She did kyle's evaluation and strangely enough for their reporting they will only allow the therapist to rate kyle for being 2 months corrected.  meaning instead of correcting for the 4 months and one week early that he was they can only give him 2 months.  so when the grade him he is being graded like he is a 3 month old instead of a 1 1/2 month old.  so basically don't panic when I see their notes.  (if that makes any sense - I have NO idea why they do it that way.) but anyway - I look at kyle like he is a 6 week old - not like he is 5 1/2 months old.  This is how we should gage his development.  So they evaluated him and he scored as follows:

If 100% is average:  87% cognitive, 93% communication, 85% social and emotional, 80% physical, 80% adaptive behavior.  BUT GET THIS.... this is for Kyle's birth age - meaning for a 5 1/2 month old!!!  so when you translate it to what it looks like for kyle - cognitive he is like a 1 month old, communication like a 3 month old (who knew as a member of the sherrill clan!), social-emotional like a 2 month old, physical like a 1 month old, and adaptive behavior like a 1 month old.  This was all really great news for me.  Kyle is very mildly behind in some areas and ahead in some areas according to their evaluation.  ECI will be seeing him once every other week for now!  

Thank you so much for those of you who are still praying for kyle and for me too.  ECI gave us some homework and Kyle is working hard everyday to achieve his milestones!  He is proving to be like jadon once again in that he likes his "homework". We have lots of fun!  His therapist says she does not see any major signs of CP right now either!

I will keep updating - this week we go to the high risk Pedi - we will see about the oxygen!  and next week is neurology and cardiology and hematology!  

We are praising God for Kyle's growth - everywhere I go I am meeting people that have been touched by Kyle's story (we are starting to venture out now!) and all of it is so encouraging to me.  thank you to all of you.

16 comments:

Becky said...

THAT .. IS ... AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So fun to read about tonight ... Why don't you "venture" yourselves to Colorado and come see us!!

love you,
B

Anonymous said...

I'm SO happy to hear all of this great news!!!! It totally made my night!

I have been praying and will continue to do so!! :)

Book Fairy said...

I'll continue praying for you guys, too. Thank you again for letting us share your progress and struggles through this blog.

Anonymous said...

AWESOME x ONE MILLION doesn't begin to measure how excited I am to hear Kyle's report. But then as I try to remember: PRAY expecting MIRACLES!!
We serve an AWESOME GOD so why not expect awesome answers to our humble prayers!!
Love you Sherrill gang~ ~ ~
GranMammy B
Barbie Weller - Mansfield

Tabaitha said...

I started jumping for joy when I read that medicaid and insurance are finally paying the hospital. I'm glad that everything is starting to get cleared up.

Thanks for the updates on Kyle. I will be praying for you guys this week.

Elyse said...

AWESOME NEWS! I will be praying for you all this week!

Anonymous said...

Wow, I had always wondered what families with preemies faced on medical bills. Over a million dollars (plus) and to think that medicare and insurance have paid quite a bit! I'm so glad you guys have been able to get this done so far. I pray that your rep can finalize everything needed before she leaves! I can only imagine relief you guys have for now. Glad to hear Kyle is growing and progressing so well! Can't wait to hear more about him growing and developing and see some more pictures!

Have a great weekend!
LP

Anonymous said...

ECI is a wonderful thing. Cooper sees a visually impaired teacher, an orientation and mobility specialist, a PT, and an OT on a weekly basis. Your post remind me to be thankful of the many way God provided for our family during our NICU stay through today with our 16 month old miracle baby!

Amber Hooks

Anonymous said...

I am praising the Lord with you on Kyle's progress and good reports! He will be your million dollar baby! LOL Have a great day. Can't wait to see photos!

Candy Humber

Lindsey: Mama of Andrew, Adam, and Ally said...

Sounds like a fantastic report! Way to go Kyle!!

Anonymous said...

He is just amazing!!!
Stefanie

April said...

Kelly,
It was so good to finally meet you yesterday at the gym! We will continue to pray for you and your precious Kyle and praise God for his progress! I know it can be rough, especially therapy....there are good days, not so good days and then there are just flat out BAD days! We went through it w/our youngest. Feel free to talk about it, all of it....I think this blog is a great avenue for release! :0) I'm looking forward to getting together sometime~Hope y'all have a great week!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

This is great news!

The Holland's are still praying!

Chaplain Glenda said...

Hey Sherrill family,
I try to keep up with Kyle on your blog when I can. I rotated back to NICU this week. It made me think of you and miss seeing you. I love the posts. I continue to pray for Kyle as well as the two of you and the 2 "big" brothers. Sounds like fun is being had at the sherrill home. Blessings to you today.

Anonymous said...

I am going to assume that since you have not posted anything in the last couple of weeks that things are going well. i have faith that they are!

.... still think of you all often and pray for you whenever the Holy Spirit places you on my heart.

Candy Humber

Click below to go to my Personal March of Dimes Page

Our Story

This story begins with 5 people. John, Kelly, Jadon, Jack, and Kyle (he is only 23 weeks old... and he is still safely tucked away in his mommy's belly) In an hour's time Kyle made his way into the world. 1 pound, 3 ounces- 11 and a half inches long. This family will never be the same. This child is a warrior. He has the spirit of a Lion, and more courage than a whole pride. He is fierce, and fearless- and he is teaching us to fear the Lord- and to believe that God is in our midst and healing even now. Join us as pray, as we praise, and as we journey through this life as lovers of God and all His glory.

Kyle is in the March of Dimes Promo!