Angela had her 15th laser treatment for her port-wine birthmark today.  The treatment has sparked a lot of different thoughts for me:

1) The Oregon Health Plan does not provide adequate care for children with special needs.  Angela has an open card, rather than one of OHP's managed care programs.  The open card presumably provides the most options for care and providers.  For the past 15 months, OHP has denied Angela's doctor's repeated submissions for authorization for the laser treatments.  Despite her diagnosis of a progressive disorder and multiple pictures and letters sent by the doctor OHP decided that she no longer needs treatment.  Her treatment today was made possible by her addition to our private insurance after her adoption.  The doctor noted that she has had some regression in the condition of her skin due to the delays and I do blame OHP for that.

2) Parents who have children with special needs are overwhelmed and working overtime.  Today, as I sat in the waiting room of the surgery department, I listened to parents on the phone making deals with insurance companies, employers, respite providers and schools.  I watched them reassure and comfort their other children and try to appear at ease as they awaited news from their child's doctor.  They looked calm, but I knew better.

3) Children with medical and developmental challenges experience a different, unparalleled reality from the rest of us.  They submit to never-ending tests and procedures and the routine of that becomes comfortable and predictable.  I am so touched by Angela (and others) as she calmly describes the procedure of the day as we drive to the hospital.  She is not scared and she is not shaken.  This is her reality.  But just because it has become her "normal" does not make it easy.  It is a hard life and her courage and strength should not be minimized.  Her experience has made her a bigger, better individual and she is a member of a small, exclusive group of heroic souls.

I continue to learn and grow each day that I am in Angela's presence.  Today was no different.  I am in awe of this brave, strong individual.  She is beautiful inside and out.  Here are a couple of Before and After pictures:

She will recover for a couple of weeks and then will repeat the process in early August.  And two months later......and so on.  You get it.