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Last weekend, the Fojas clan celebrated the matriarch's 70th birthday party. Here's Liam with about 10 of his cousins:
Also of note, Liam has started pulling himself up in his crib (if not sleeping in it...).
Can you see his pride?
Truly happy with himself!
Loads has happened since my last entry. Mark dropped calc 3, we went out to LA, returned, Liam can sit up by himself, we bought a crib and Liam has had his first successful nap in it, my parents visited and I have finally managed to get Liam a pediatrician.
That last one? A nightmare.
I've worked with children, teens and adults from low-income households. It's exhausting work. Some of them have got attitudes on them as big as the day is long.
I now count myself among them. The treatment I have received is totally, completely unnecessary. A pharmacist lost my Medicaid ID card (for all three of us), shrugged and said, "well, don't you just get a new one each month?"
Momentarily, I wanted to do her bodily harm. Hi - that's all of our access to medical, gone.
I called pediatricians who were listed as taking our insurance (because Medicaid farms us out to other providers). Each one asked, "what insurance do you have?" I replied, and the immediate answer, "No."
Wow. So, like, you'll take other kids, but not mine. Ouch. Finally, I was told to call the Children's Hospital line and get an appointment at one of their clinics.
So, my next question is how do I go about this process for my own doctor? It seems to me none of the doctors listed as taking my insurance actually will, but I have to find some low-end clinic that warehouses us lowlifes so that, you know, no one else has to acknowledge our existence.
Haha. And presidential candidates are talking about health care for all? How ironic.
It's exhausting, stressful, and demeaning.
It feels slightly wrong, too, knowing that if I could tear myself away from Liam, I am totally qualified to be on the other end of the phone, giving half-information to families in need. But then, part of me thinks, "no, darn it, I'm a mother, and every mother deserves to receive the assistance I'm seeking. Mothering IS my job."