She is approved!

We got word, although not officially in writing, that insurance has approved Audrena for bilateral CIs!!!!!!!!!! It was over the phone, but we're confident that this is really happening. I will say that up until an hour before the phone call, things were a little uncertain, although I don't feel like I can get into details on the internet. So to say that we feel a huge relief is an understatement.

Randy was on his lunch break, at a local restaurant, and he fought back tears as he called me to tell me. I was at another local restaurant, having lunch with another CI mom. I had to fight back the tears, too. My stomach has been in knots for the past week, and the relief is an awesome feeling.

Today has been a wonderful day. I had such a nice conversation with this other mom. Her son has bilateral CIs, and it was great to talk, in person, with someone who has been through it all. Plus, she lives here, so she is familiar with the school system and the people we are working with here. We both left the restaurant saying that we'll have to do this again.

Now we will just wait for a surgery date. I'm confident it will happen very soon.

UPDATE: We did receive a call from our surgeon's nurse this evening, so things are really official! She has sent our file to surgery scheduling, and we should get a phone call from them tomorrow! It sort of sounds as if the surgery might happen either the second or third week in July, and it's always on a Monday or Tuesday. So that narrows it down a bit.

Today has just been full of awesome! As we were getting home this evening, just after hearing from the nurse, my phone rang. It was a CI mom from a nearby town. Our family doctor had asked Randy if she could give our phone number to this family. I was so excited to hear from her, and we look forward to meeting their family soon! They have a wealth of experience to share, as their son received his CIs somewhere around 7 years ago. He was younger than Audrena when he was activated. He has quickly surpassed the need for an IEP, and he will start the next school year without one! They also know the mom I went to lunch with today, whose son is doing great with his CIs as well. It's so nice to be developing a network, so to speak, since we are in a relatively rural area.