Babalu

Yakima 728
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Sitting here with Jeff now, watching a hockey game on the tv. One team breaks out and scores a goal on a nifty pass and Jeff stutters out "Sc... Sc... Sc...".
I tell him to keep at it and after a few more tries he gets out "Score."

He's making progress!

PTN
 
Is he still ugly?

I keep tellin' him... he's been in the hospital since August... ya figure the doctors could make him better lookin'. Not yet apparently.
 
Jeff's had a great couple of weeks.

WRT insurance, they're doing a story on Jeff at 6 PM on WBZ channel 4 here in Boston.
 
Yeah, the insurance company has been royal d-bags throughout a large percentage of this ordeal. Jeff's wife is going through enough already with Jeff being sick in the first place and on top of that it is almost a daily battle with with BCBS.

I honestly think it is a tactic of the insurance company that if they make it SO hard on the family, they'll just give in and the insurance company can save a few bucks.

They picked the WRONG family to try that with.
 
I'm so sorry to hear all the issues with Insurance. They're heartless money grubbers. I'm glad to see she got the media involved. Bringing it to the spotlight should at least help her individual case as they might not want to look the DB's they are on the news. Insurance companies can make or break a hospital visit. As if the family doesn't have enough to worry about already, the reason we have insurance is to limit the financial concern when we have more important things to worry about. I'm also glad to read that they have a good social worker helping them fight the system. Our social worker at Childrens was such a big help in getting us everything we needed and then some. They don't get enough credit for what they do. Here's hoping Jeff not only recovers, but that his family is left in a comfortable situation afterward. Money is the last thing you want to worry about in a time like this, but it is the unfortunate reality of extended stays. I know what our daughters 2 month stay cost, I can't imagine his stay.
 
Insurance companies stink, but they're a necessary evil. It really stinks that they're screwing with Jeff and his family. I hope they take them to the cleaners.
 
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

I would strongly urge everyone that responds in this forum to sign the comment page on the local tv stations link. Let them know what you think of Blue Cross and this process. I had fought with an insurance company. I took the advice of a popular person in the business and his recommendations was that the insurance company doesn't care about you. They only care about their image.

He recommended telling them that I was going to get a lawyer (whether you were or weren't) and that I was talking to the local tv station that wanted to do a piece on my predicament. The insurance companies don't care about you and the local TV station has done their part. The station will only stay on top of this if they recognize people are reading this article. So please put comments in on the bottom of the page.

I used this advice and the insurance comany didn't care until I told them about the local tv story. They honestly started to ask more and more questions and got off their ass. I didn't even talk to the local tv station. It was the threat of making my story public. You have no leverage as a person but this forum and all of Jeff's friends can make this very visible. Making this visible to the local news will keep it on their radar too.

Don't worry Massachusetts has had universal health care for a long time thanks to our fearless leader governor and it's being pushed by his buddy in DC. I know all of his close friends and family are doing everything possible. I'm suprised no government officials have taken over the cause. This is a perfect example of someone that has insurance and is being treated as a cost.

I hope Blue Cross comes back with the appeal saying it was all a big misunderstanding to make themselves look good. If Jeff didn't have his friends they would have dumped him out the door a long time ago.

Maybe I'm just flaming but I think showing your appreciation to this station will keep one of the many irons burning.

And no I don't work for the news station :) Keep up the fight!

in case you missed it: http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/02/10/family-of-eee-patient-fighting-to-keep-insurance-coverage/
 
Sorry, I never got back to let you know about the BCBS issue. They eventually approved him to stay until March 7th, this will be the end of his alloted 60 days of rehab. The next step is still unclear at the moment.

But we had an update from our friend Brian today.

----------------------------------------------------------------
Hey All,
I just wanted to shoot out a quick note on Jeff as I went over to see him today.

He's still making progress although it continues to be very slow progress. According to Jeff's speech therapist, today was the first time Jeff has been able to read anything since he's been there. She was showing him peices of paper with his wife's and children's names on them. She was showing them to him upside down or sideways on purpose. He would take the paper, put it right-side up so he could read it... and then read the name out loud.

It continues to be baby steps.

He continues to make small progress in his PT. One small example is that he was able to help his therapists get him off a table and into his wheelchair today. Up until then, I've always seen them use a lift mounted in the ceiling to pick him up and place him in the chair. He was able to push up with his legs enough that they were able to kinda pick him up and slide him into his chair without the lift.

Again... it is little things like that.

On small kind of light-hearted moment... and I think you HAVE to laugh at least a little bit because the alternative is too depressing... but... whenever I go and see Jeff, I try to talk about ANYTHING that might click a light on in his head... any kind of memories I KNOW he has... so I was talking to him about the Jamboree this past summer. I kegged up another keg of my IIIPA last night and I was joking with Jeff saying, "You remember my IIIPA.. my AWARD WINNING IIIPA... the one that won the big award at the Jamboree"... and he scrunched up his face and said, "That was MY beer!".

"What??? That wasn't your beer!! You make the Dahkness... the black IPA! My triple IPA is waaaaaayyyy better than your Dahkness"

... and that got a nice smirk from him.

He continues to make very slow progress but they are still steps in the right direction.
 
Someone mention to him about tomorrows U3 brew day, and ask about the a..clown shirts from last year
 
That's really great news. I've never met the guy, but it's hard not to feel for him, and his family. My dad has had 2 strokes and has mild dementia (and he's only in his late 60s), but one of the things I like to do with my dad is draw memories out of him. Even when it seems like he's not entirely sure what's going on from day to day, I can still draw a chuckle out of him when I bring up something I know he remembers.

I hope that Jeff continues to receive the after-care he needs, additional PT, speech therapy, etc. I would not wish this type of illness on my worst enemy - let alone having to fight the beurocratic nightmare that is BCBS.

Sending out well wishes to Jeff and family - hope that he continues to make good progress and that God continues to keep a watchful eye on him :)
 
Looks like the facebook page (linked in my sig) is getting lots of attention. Glad to see there are more than a few of us HBTers taking notice.
 
Sorry I haven't sent an update in a while. Jeff has been making slow and steady progress, he's eating real food now and feeding himself and his therapy has been going pretty well. I was kinda waiting for something big to report. Unfortunately I don't have anything like that to report right now.

At 2:00 AM Friday morning, Jeff's wife called to see if she could drop the kids off because Jeff had spiked a temperature and she was headed to MGH. Jeff's gall bladder was extremely inflamed and he was suffering from pancreatitis. They did a procedure to insert a drain in his gall bladder and they've removed a large amount if nasty fluid from it. He's starting to recover now from that infection. They'll likely remove his gall bladder when everything gets back to normal. And he'll remain at MGH for a little while. Where he goes after that is still to be decided. His time at Spaulding is likely through. Jeff's the family had been leaning towards a Neuro-Rehabilitation Center in Jeff's home town, but he needs to be medically stable to go to a facility like that. So, we'll have to wait and see.

On the up side, while at MGH they have stopped all of his meds except his anti-seizure meds. While the infection has him run down, he's still alert and talking, even without the neural stimulants they had him on.

More than ever, Jeff could use your positive thoughts and prayers.
 
I'm not just "hoping" anymore. I fully expect to see Babalu at Masstoberfest '11. Dude's going to be a damn medical miracle, I'm convinced of it.
 
Babalu is my hero. We have a coworker's HWMNBO who is going through his own bout of encephalitis. He fell leaving work a month and a half ago and has been in Milwaukee at Froedert (the Mass General of WI) ever since. This thread has made his wife feel better every time Babalu takes another step towards recovery. So keep on getting better mate. You are making another soul out there feel better every day!
 
Thanks for keeping us updated. It's unbelievable that he's going through this- a big strong healthy young guy like him being struck down by such a rare illness.

Tell him that if HE makes it to Masstoberfest, then I'll make it also. Not that it would motivate him, but I'd sure love to hug him when he's out of medical facilities.
 
Paul can we put a date in the calendar now for Masstoberfest 2011? Let me know if there is anything John and I can do to help with for this years event.
 
Jeff has been back at Spaulding since last Thursday. The BCBS insurance fight should be over, as he's now being covered by another provider. So, he'll likely be at Spaulding until he's ready to leave or he stops making progress. That's good news.

They're still treating him for his gall bladder infection, but he's winning that battle. This whole thing has probably set him back a few weeks or so. Thankfully he's now back to his daily OT, PT and Speech Therapy sessions and back to making small daily progress.

If you're local and you can make some time, try and get over to see him. These setbacks are obviously frustrating to all of us, but they must be even more frustrating to Jeff. Visiting him is a great way to encourage him an show him how many people care for and are rooting for him.

As always, please keep Jeff and his family in your thoughts and prayers. And if its something you can manage, some new donations wouldn't hurt either.
 
I am glad to hear that this insurance mess seems to be behind him and that Babs will continue at Spaulding. It is ****ty that BCBS who more than happily took his money wasn't willing to actually cover him, but impressive that his family was able to find someone that would! Stay strong Jeff, a lot of people are pulling for you.
 
I don't know Jeff, except through this site, but I'd love to be close enough to stop by and say hi. I'll have to have someone else say hi until he can use a computer again.
 

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