Gimme A Break

First of all, I apologize for being such a negligent blogger. That sinus infection was something else - I was caught between being worried that the front of my face was going to blow off to wishing it would blow off.

Warning: The post below is an angry rant that involves the Canadian healthcare system. I must preface this by saying that I do like our system, however, as someone who has been in the position of having to use it A LOT in the last 1.5 years, there are some major problems. In many ways our system is broken.

So, I'm wondering when Bennett is going to get a break. First of all, the kid had the misfotune of being in my belly during a horrific car accident. Next, we had a wonderful (insert HEAVY sarcasm) obstretrician who not only refused to see me in the hospital (despite desperate pleas from nurses) after the accident, but continued to refuse to see me until I could get to his office in a wheelchair. As a result, I had NO prenatal care for about 10 weeks. Then, despite having a mother who had been through enormous trauma while pregnant, being born a month early and spending the first couple days in intensive care, he fell through the cracks and was never referred for follow-up by our Infant Development program. Normally, any one of those factors alone would have been enough for referral. As a result, he had a late diagnosis (13 months) and did not start therapy until he was 15 months.

Now, because of my physical limitations (as a direct result of the previously mentioned horrific car accident) I have difficulty doing much of his physiotherapy. We applied to a program called Special Services at Home that would provide some funds (not much) to allow us to hire someone to help with this a few hours a week. Well, he was approved but guess what - for the first time ever apparently, there is a waiting list and we should not expect any money for months - perhaps longer - perhaps never.

The doctor at the Shriner's Clinic from a month ago, recommended Bennett for an AFO (ankle/foot orthotic). This should help his stability and help him learn to walk. Unfortunately, the guy who normallly does the casting wasn't there that day but we were reassured that we would be contacted within 2 weeks for an appointment. After that, the AFO would take 4-6 weeks. Well, we weren't contacted with 2 weeks or even 3 weeks. Finally, after numerous calls and messages on my part, we finally have an appointment for AUGUST 29th!! After that, it will take another couple of months to actually get the AFOs. So, if we're lucky (and you can see how that's going) he might have his brace sometime in late October of November. I was and am so angry at this delay. It's ridiculous that we have to wait so long for a device that can help a little boy, who has already struggled so much, to learn to walk! We are going to research and see if we have any other options, even if it involves travel and more expenses. Fortunately, we are in a position where we can do this.

If you've made it through this angry rant, I've rewarded you below with a cute video of Bennett dipping his french fries. Yes, it is MacDonalds - I confess. I just showed him how to dip before he started eating and he took to it like a pro. I don't know why but it just cracks me up to watch him dip! You may note the Santa bib - I promise, it's not an old video. I just don't see why I should only use a perfectly good bib once a year.