Going Crazy with the Insurance

June

Now that we are back from our vacation we can get down to business and fight with the insurance company.  It has been so frustrating with them one minute you feel like you have done everything they have asked and then they come up with a whole other list of things.  One nice thing is it is giving Cody a break from the Chemo so he can take care of the spots in his bones with radiation.  We have appealed their decision several times and every time we feel like it will go through since we have jumped through every hoop possible, but yet still a no go.  They are now making us get a second opinion from Huntsman even though they have 3 Dr. referral letters stating that in their opinion they felt like MD Anderson was a great move for us at this point.  So of course we are put off even that much longer since Huntsman cant even see us until the middle of July.  At this point I'm hoping that we are not just waisting our time and letting his cancer start growing again with him not doing any kind of treatment for the liver.  Cancer is such a tricky disease one minute everything can be fine and with in just a few days it can get out of control.  I just wish we had a crystal ball that would show us the whole picture so you knew what you were working with.  I guess this is were your faith and prayers come into affect helping guide you in the right direction which is exactly what we we are doing.  I don't know where we would be with out our Heavenly father to help us through this trial.

Disneyland

Saturday June 4

So we left San Diego and headed up to Anaheim for our Disneyland adventure.  We absolutely love this place.  Its so fun to see the kids and Cody become a kid again.  Again the weather could not have been any better we totally lucked out.  The first day there we staked out a great spot to watch the parade which we love they are always so cute.

This trip was extremely fun cause Stetson was tall enough to ride almost everything.  The only rides he couldn't ride was Indiana Jones and Screaming.  His favorite ride was Space Mtn. and second was Splash Mtn.  These are our pictures from Splash Mtn.  We never got a good one of him on space since he could barely see over the bar.

These next pictures are of us getting ready to enter the TWILIGHT ZONE.  He was supper excited at first, but then wasn't quit sure what he got himself into.  He was so funny to watch during the ride I almost forgot that we were dropping.  After it was all said and done he said he had a great time, but didn't want to repeat it.

Next was over to the Grizzly rapids where I was completely fine sitting out with Stetson.  It just was not warm enough to get wet and as you can see they hit the fountain just right and were drenched.

Our family has fallen in love with the movie Tangled and of course they have added her tower to the park so we had to check it out.  I do have to say they were really cute with the kids.

Out of all our times to Disneyland this is the first time we have rode the tea cups.  The kids had a great time on them and as for us adults we were a little sick.  I do have to say I was glad we were not in the boys cup with them.

We do love our bugs and have to become an honorary bug.  This really is a cute show.  Stetson actually left his glasses on the whole time and it was quit comical to watch him.

One morning the kids were waiting for us to finish getting ready and we walked out to them with their animals all set up to the table have breakfast together.  I just had to take a picture of it.  they had a whole conversation and party going on.  I just love kids and their imaginations.

Then it was back to the airport to return home.  We had such a great time on this vacation thanks to my sister for helping make this come together.  The kids had a great time on the airplane rides. 



California Trip part one

Wednesday June 1

Well we have been very fortunate to be able to take another trip to California.  Cody and myself have wanted to go somewhere as a family to celebrate his one year mark.  My sister has been working for Jet blue this past year and had several buddy passes she needed to get rid of before she quit in the middle of the month.  I asked Cody where he would like to go now that we can fly and his response was Disneyland.  With the airline tickets for just the price of taxes and our timeshare the only expense we were going to have was park admissions and food.  So off we went and my sisters family joined us.

The kids were so excited to fly.  Stetson loves airplanes and any chance he gets to go up there and pick people up he goes.  We asked him what his favorite part of the trip was and of course it was the plane ride.

We started off the trip down in San Diego.  We thought the kids would enjoy the Zoo since we had never been there.  I couldn't believe how big it was.

The Panda Bears were so stinking cute!  This is the baby one and it was no little guy.

The kids really enjoyed the petting area.

After we left the Zoo we drove over to the beach.  The weather was a little cooler than normal for June so we didn't get in the water the kids just enjoyed walking in the sand.

The next day we headed over to Sea World.  We loved it here our kids have been begging to go see the Shamu show for over the past year.  I have to say its not quit the same now that the trainers don't get in the water with the whales anymore.  Our kids were a little disappointed also.  Don't get me wrong we still really enjoyed it.

Just outside the Shamu show there is a tank with Dolphins.  This is the interactive area where you can feed and pet the Dolphins.  Tenlie really enjoyed it Stetson was not quit sure of touching them. 

Then it was off to the Dolphin show. We LOVED the show!!!! They have started a new show with people on ropes and swings.  This show had to have been every ones very favorite.  Again the weather was perfect not to warm just right.  My nephew McKay was wanting to get wet all day, But for the most of us it just wasn't warm enough.  If you can tell in the picture below he talked the boys into sitting in the splash area and us girls sat several rows up from them. 

I do have to laugh cause again the crowd on the other side got it and they came out very dry.

 

Sea World was a great way to end our time in San Diego.  The kids really enjoyed it and still are talking about it.  We love the shows and all the little animals.

Radiation

Tuesday May 31

Today we had an appointment with Dr. Clark a radiation oncologist.  Since we can not move forward with Chemo for right now we thought we would address is spot on the pelvic bone and the spot on his spine.  After speaking with Dr. Clark about what our plans where with MD Anderson he thought we were heading in the right direction also.  So in the mean time we would be treating Cody with radiation on these two spots. 

Later that day after speaking with our rep from MD Anderson he informed us that we had been accepted and denied in the same day.  They accepted us which they don't do unless they feel like there is something they can do for you.  and our insurance denied us from going.  He began to tell us that we could still come, but our insurance would not cover it.  We asked what the cost would be just for us to have a consult with the Dr.  Never mind that we will fight our insurance and appeal with them.  What a frustration we were feeling.  How somebody else gets to dictate what you get to do with your life. 

Year Anniversary

Friday May 27

So one year ago today is when our lives flipped upside down.  Cody was diagnosed one year ago today.  This morning Cody received a call saying that Dr. Rich had spoke with the Dr. from MD Anderson and that we needed to come into his office and receive the bone hardener drug Zometa.  Now that we know of the two spots in his bones which can weaken them he needs to build them up to prevent injuries.  Everything we have heard about this drug has not been great.  They say you will feel like you've been hit by a freight train.  Cody was not looking forward to this at all. 

While we were there Dr. Rich told us that we had an appointment with MD Anderson on June 10th.  We were so excited about this.  We just needed to confirm with them Tues morning. 

Needless to say the drug held up to its reputation.  Cody felt like crap the next two days all he wanted to do was sleep and scream.  This was the first time I've ever seen him take any of his pain pills.

Round 5 of Chapter 4

Wednesday May 25

Well today was suppose to be another round of Chemo, but since his tumor counts keep creeping up we opted out of Chemo for now.  There was no reason for us to keep injecting him with all the poison for it to not be working.  So for now we wait and see if M.D. Anderson is in our cards. 

It was kind of a bitter sweat feeling knowing we were done for now.  We sure are going to miss our friends in the Chemo room and of course our wonderful nurses.  

Kindergarten Graduation

Wednseday May 25

Today was Tenlies big day Kindergarten Graduation.  Mom is still having a hard time with this.  I'm not quit sure i'm ready for my little girl to grow up.  Their program was really great and she did such a great job on her speaking part.  They counted, sang a song and some colors in all 3 of the languages they had this year, which were Spanish, Chinese and Arabic. 

Here she is with her Teacher Mrs. Ward which we absolutely just loved.