FEATURED ARTICLE
"Put A Praise On It!"
- Part Two
Submitted by Genevieve Casey
The hospital told me I would have to pick an agency to help with her care at home. I was capable of the job. I had done it before. I was a trach and a vent nurse. I knew the likelihood of nursing in the home was a far stretch. I knew I was being broken down piece by piece. What I used to do for work was no longer, I would have her discharged home with me. I called Children's Special Health Service every day after discharge for two months, for approval. I was told there was no processing time for services and that the hospital had not released her discharge paperwork to the State for authorization for services. The devil and his fear mongering tactics. Without approval for services through Children's Special Health, we would be responsible for all the cost of treatment. I called my state senator, Senator Hopgood. His office worked with me to call the head of the Health Department who worked with me to get dispute resolution, as my husband with a full-time job received his Medicaid Card prior to my daughter who had a trach in the home with no nursing.
I had filed the TEFRA paperwork with the hospital, I had verified our income sources. I just wanted help with care with my daughter. I realized as a nurse, there were others in more need. I knew there were more children on ventilators who
(This is part II of the amazing story of Autumn Elizabeth's battle against death and her visitations to heaven.)
She walked, after the trach was placed. She responded. She smiled. She was my Girl. She moved from the Intensive Care Unit. I cried again as I recounted her story, our story to the team on the rehab unit. My daughter did not try to, or did she harm herself. No one would listen. The devil is the author of all lies. She was not talking because of her brain, she was not talking because of vocal cord dysfunction. She could walk, talk, but she had an infection. She went into respiratory acidosis, after trach dislodged. The devil uses his sickness and lies to try to harm our family. I prayed against him. I wanted her to come home.